Pitting families against each other seems to be effective for this week’s “Criminal Minds” killer. The holes were already there, thanks to secrets, affairs, and lies, but he was able to exploit them even further. It makes you wonder what some people are hiding.
The killer targets families where the sons seem to be weak, either physically or mentally in some way. For anyone who’s watched “Criminal Minds” as long as I have, you know this means they identify with that kid. Especially since his body is not found with the rest of the family. With family number two we get to see them unravel in the basement they’re being held in before he kills them.
First up is the father. The son’s tutor shows up in a room that’s separated from them by a glass window. It’s pretty obvious right off the bat that something happened between the tutor and the father.
Otherwise, why would the killer ask him all of the questions? Turns out he won’t admit he had an affair with her, so the teacher dies. The killer explains that only the truth will set the family free.
Next, the daughter has to admit the first drugs she took were her mother’s prescription pills. Through the BAU team we learn the daughter has a drug problem, as does the boyfriend they’re looking for. The mother apparently also has a spending problem, which becomes her “moment of truth.” The daughter’s boyfriend is shown in the next room and the killer says the mom has to choose between the money on the table or saving the boy’s life. The mom emphatically choses the money, sending her daughter into hysterics. The killer very specifically asks if she’s willing to kill someone else’s son, and she says yes.
While all this is happening, we’ve been seeing different clips of the son with the killer. The killer is painting some sort of Samurai action figures. At one point, the boy is able to escape, but unfortunately, he’s caught not far from the house. The killer then puts him in the extra basement room and asks the mother if she would be willing to let her son die. She says no, but he points out she was willing to kill someone else’s son for the money.
The team is operating under the assumption that the man is kidnapping the families as a group because he covets what they have. Once they find the tutor’s body and discover the killer’s identity – he’s one of the men who found the son of the first family – they start to see the whole picture. Turns out when he was a boy there was this perfect family across the street that he used to dream of being a part of.
Then one day, he saw the father making out with a teacher. It shattered his ideology of family perfection.
Back at the house he says the parents must kill themselves and the daughter if they want the son to survive. The dad says he can’t do it but the mom grabs the gun and shoots herself. The BAU team arrives just in the nick of time. But it turns out the gun was loaded with blanks. The killer says he wanted the family to appreciate what they have.
I think they will and I think having Garcia bring them all drinks at the end was a nice touch. They are, after all, a family. On another note, I was happy to see that they are going to leave Hotchner’s girlfriend in the picture. I know she’s on another show but I think that guy deserves some happiness after years of chasing the Reaper. It’s about time he smiled.
