One of the most common topics this show has dealt with over the years are the concepts of rehabilitation and redemption. Is it ever possible for someone who’s committed horrible crimes to turn their life around? Are some people just destined to be bad? Can there be some shades of gray in regards to one’s criminal past?
This week’s episode attempts to deal with and answer some of those questions, using one of the most reviled groups of criminals to explore that concept. The writer for this episode was responsible for last season’s “Breath Play”, an episode that creeped me out in a not-so-good way (this show’s always creepy, mind, but that one just unsettled me a little too much), and upon hearing about the premise for this episode, I was a little wary about how this topic would be handled. Fortunately, while the episode is still unsettling in some ways, it doesn’t quite reach the same icky heights that “Breath Play” did, and it does touch on some intriguing questions along the way, even if it doesn’t really give us much in the way of actual answers or explanations.
The Case:
As has been custom with many of the episodes this season, we’re immediately dropped into a crazy, hectic, horrific crime scene. A man is standing outside covered in blood and panicking, as an officer tries to ask him where his wife is. We learn the answer shortly thereafter: she’s been brutally murdered, and she’s lying in a bathtub. She’s also dressed in a cheerleader outfit, which somehow makes the entire setup even more macabre.
And where does this terrifying crime take place? A little community known as Glenport Village. Sounds like a nice name for an area, doesn’t it? Very quaint and pretty and innocent.
The name sounds much less attractive, however, when one realizes just who it is that lives in this community: Sex offenders.
Yes. An entire area comprised of nothing but sex offenders. Non-violent ones, thankfully, as Reid points out early on during the team briefing (even children are allowed to live in this community, which is saying something). Still, people side-eye the very concept regardless, for obvious reasons.
Tara proceeds to inform the rest of the team on how Glenport Village came to be, and the basic backstory is this: A local man known as Reverend Santos brought up some land a few years ago with some church funds. Sex offenders started moving there because they were barred from living in or near many other places in the area (schools and the like), and Santos apparently thought this would make for a great opportunity to help rehabilitate these non-violent offenders. Better they have a stable place to live as they get their lives back on track rather than be out on the streets causing trouble and becoming even worse criminals, right?
Needless to say, however, some other residents were not at all happy with the idea of any sex offenders living anywhere near them, non-violent or not, and frankly, it’s hard not to sympathize with their sentiments. Whether their judgments were fair or not, bottom line, those residents moved out, and as a result, Glenport Village became strictly inhabited by the aforementioned offenders.
If that setup sounds ludicrous to any of you, research informed me that there actually is a real life equivalent of Glenport Village. It’s known as Miracle Park, and it’s a small community just outside of Pahokee, Florida. Like Glenport, Miracle Park is also run by a local reverend and his ministry. Unlike Glenport, however, they don’t seem quite as restrictive over the kinds of residents they allow.
The Wikipedia page didn’t really give any information on how successful Miracle Park’s experiment has been thus far, but Glenport Village, surprisingly, seemed to be doing just fine. The people basically “self-police” their community, and even Sheriff Paul admits that it’s the quietest area he’s patrolled over the past six years.
Until Paige Lincoln’s death, that is. Now Glenport looks even shadier, and the team has an entire town full of possible suspects to wade through. Yaaaay. There’s also another natural option, which is the possibility of an outside threat. Perhaps the unsub is a victim seeking revenge, angry that such a community could exist in the first place. Or it’s a former resident disgusted at what their old neighborhood has been turned into.
As for Paige, we learn she had her own iffy past. She was a teacher, and she wound up in this community because she was caught making out with a student. Her husband, Kyle, was a fellow offender, and they met once she moved here. Ah, love…
As Morgan and Reid interview her husband, they ask about the possible significance of the cheerleader outfit (which we learned was put on her after her death…ew), and he admits that that sort of getup happens to be a fetish of his. Kyle is a natural immediate suspect – always look at the loved ones first, after all – but he’s clearly devastated over her death, and his alibi checks out. As for the blood? Simply the result of his attempts to revive his wife. So whoever committed this murder either shares Kyle’s fetish, or knew of his particular interest and tried to frame him. That’s…a deeply creepy thought. During the interview with Kyle, Morgan and Reid also come to learn a little more about this community, and the reverend.
Apparently, one of the reasons Glenport has been such a quiet, crime-free community over the years is because everyone had to fill out an application and sign a contract to move there, as a means of proving they’re telling, and will tell, the truth about their offenses. Residents are also offered the option of a surgically implanted tracking device courtesy of Reverend Santos. A little on the extreme side, the team thinks, but Santos insists it’s completely voluntary, and they can request it be removed if they so wish. If the device is removed without Santos’ approval, however, he’s notified, and they’re investigated.
Despite the team’s reservations about the device idea, they acknowledge that it would be a good way to further weed out potential suspects. Thanks to their investigation of the devices, the team does learn that there was one man in Paige’s house the day she died, a guy by the name of Randy Nelson. Tara and Morgan interview Randy, and they learn very quickly that he’s been hiding a disturbing secret. He was sent here initially for flashing married women…but it seems he shows much more interest in the children of the women whose attention he tries to catch.
At this point Morgan tenses up big time. He’s already been looking mighty uncomfortable about the very concept of this community, as well as the case in general, thus far, and this revelation just adds to his building discomfort. He never discusses his past at any point throughout this episode, but I do like the wordless ways in which we get to see how someone with Morgan’s past might react to a community like this.
Of course, Randy will be kicked out of the community if his dark secret is revealed. Paige apparently was the only one who knew all of this about him, and that could prove a good motive for him to kill her, to help keep his secret. But there’s not enough evidence implicating him, so he’s set free for now.
A second murder soon completely throws off the team’s initial assumptions and conclusions. The victim is also a female, and also wearing a cheerleader outfit…but she had hers on prior to her death, and whereas Paige was an adult, this girl’s a teen. This murder also took place outside of Glenport Village, so it’s time to expand the suspect pool. The team is starting to believe that their unsub has to be someone who’s trying to frame the Glenport residents, thus taking the spotlight off him.
They also believe their unsub is a man in his late thirties to early forties, and that brings me to Sheriff Paul. He never actively did anything questionable this episode – we saw him being a loving family man to his kids, whom he took in after his ex-wife passed away. He tries to set boundaries while still being relaxed enough to let his kids, his teenage daughter, Riley, especially, have some fun. He’s also been incredibly protective of them, and understandably so, considering where they live.
However, there were so many moments this episode where it seemed like the camera lingered on him just a little too long, and his immediate vocal protest to Reverend Santos’ restrictive regulations could’ve looked questionable under the right circumstances. Plus, he’s law enforcement. Who better to frame residents than someone who knows them and the area well? He’s the “good guy”. They’re not. And when the teenage girl was murdered, we saw the back of the unsub’s head for a brief moment, and they appeared to have sandy brown hair. Guess who has sandy brown hair?
I’d been dreading the possibility of Sheriff Paul being our unsub, honestly. Like stated, the writer for this episode was responsible for “Breath Play”, and the father being a criminal in that episode, and his daughter actually walking in on one of his crimes in action, was a big part of what I found so disturbing about that episode. And I was seriously hoping history wouldn’t repeat itself here.
Thankfully, that turns out not to be the case. Sheriff Paul is a good guy, and when Riley becomes the latest victim of their unsub, his panic is genuine, and he’s right there alongside the team, ready to take their unsub down.
On the note of Riley, by the way, it’s hard not to feel conflicted about her actions at one point in this episode. Her first attempt to hitch a ride to a party comes through a school friend who kicks her out of his car when she refuses his advances (charming, no?). And given she’s in some iffy areas already, I wouldn’t blame her for hesitating to walk alone at night, or being unsure if she could trust a neighbor for help.
But still, when she gets into the car of the man who turns out to be the unsub, it’s hard not to cringe all the same. Sure, I could understand her thinking she couldn’t possibly be unlucky enough to encounter two jerks in cars in one night, and sure, she knows this guy. But she knew the first kid, too, and look how well that turned out.
As for said unsub? His name is Matt Franks, and it turns out Riley knows him because he happens to be her family’s next door neighbor. He’s also a tech guy, and therefore has easy access to people’s homes. We also learn that Randy, the pedophile Tara and Morgan interviewed, had seen him the day of Paige’s murder. He observed the work vehicle Matt drove, and watched him go into the house. And why was Randy able to be witness to all of that important information? Because he was watching for the little boy nearby, who played outside often. As disturbing as that is, there is an interesting irony in that sort of setup.
But how can their unsub be a young man? His age doesn’t match the team’s initial profile. As “Profiler, Profiled” once reminded us, though, we should never get hung up on a suspect’s age. In fact, it’s often the hardest thing to predict. And their unsub’s erratic crime spree (varied age range, experimenting with pre and post-mortem behavior, brutal overkill) does wind up matching what one would expect of a young, budding unsub.
Unfortunately, we don’t really get to delve too deeply into what caused him to become a killer. We learn he started off stalking a girl, and was suspected in the murder of another woman. And as he states at one point when the team bursts in, he believes there’s no possibility of him ever being redeemed after all of that. In fact, he doesn’t think anyone in the community can be redeemed.
Then Tara asks him about his parents, and just as he’s about to go off on some sort of rant about them…she puts a bullet in his head. Kind of a frustrating ending in some ways, as it seemed so abrupt. But he clearly posed an immediate threat, and ultimately, Tara did what she had to do.
Not that that fact makes her feel much better, of course. Right or wrong, she still killed someone, for the first time, no less, and her conflicted feelings are written all over her face as she leaves the house. But as Morgan noted, she also saved a young girl’s life in the process. Just another example of the extremes this job brings.
As stated, though, I do wish they had been able to talk to Matt a little longer and delve a little deeper into his issues. Was he right that he had no chance to be redeemed? Was he right that everyone in that town was forever incurable? These offenders’ crimes were non-violent ones, after all – creepy ones, sure, but perhaps if they had some therapy or things of that sort, they might have a chance. They seemed to do just fine keeping each other in line within their community, after all. It would’ve been good to see the show explore the pros and cons of such communities a little further, and perhaps let us get to know some of these residents a little more. This show has always been about trying to understand criminals that most of society refuse to even acknowledge, and I wish the episode had touched on that aspect of things a little more, instead of spend so much focus on the family drama with Sheriff Paul. The premise would’ve lent itself quite well to such a discussion.
Meanwhile, on the personal front…:
Tara’s struggle to deal with shooting a young man isn’t the only thing she’s dealing with this episode. Early on, Hotch calls her in to inform her about a new job opportunity. She’s been asked to aid in a research project involving convicts. It’s a big opportunity, and she’s very interested in the offer.
However, she’s also become quite fond of her teammates in the short time she’s worked with them, and doesn’t want to leave the team (and really, who could blame her?). However, given her reaction to killing Matt in this episode, as well as her difficulty dealing with the case in New Mexico a few weeks ago, it’s obvious the BAU’s type of work is taking quite an emotional toll on her. Sure, her previous work was dark, but she wasn’t actively getting her hands dirty.
At one point, Rossi has a brief heart to heart with her about her potential decision, and I really liked their talk for two reasons. One, I’ve just enjoyed their interactions on the show in general thus far. Two, I loved the nod to Rossi’s whole deal with Yates from “Profiling 101”. Not only was that a nice bit of continuity on the show’s part, but it was also a great reminder that even all these years later, there’s still a lot about this job that affects the regular team members, too. We clearly saw how much those meetings with Yates weighed on Rossi in “Profiling 101”. They take place on Rossi’s birthday, of all days, and he only gets one name each time, and has to go through the whole painful process of informing yet another family of a tragic loss year after year. But it was interesting hearing him expand on that struggle this episode, and his admiration for Tara’s ability to talk to prisoners with much more ease and compassion was sweet.
Fortunately, good news comes at the end that puts an end to Tara’s dilemma. Hotch has managed, somehow, to work out a deal that allows her to get to work on that important prisoner project and also consult with the BAU when needed. She may not be with them full-time, but she’s not completely gone from the team, and can still stay in touch.
I will say that the solution seemed kind of pat and neat, especially considering Hotch seemed to imply at the beginning of the episode that there was no middle ground, and she had to make one choice or the other. And with as busy as Aisha Tyler is, it’s likely that after whatever remaining few appearances Tara may make in future episodes, she’ll eventually sort of quietly disappear, so to speak.
That said, however, I do like Tara, and I’m fine with her sticking around on some level, even if she’s only popping up every great once in a while. All of the other team members who’ve come and gone over the years have just up and left altogether, and none of them, save for Emily, have made a return visit so far. It’d be kind of nice to have at least one team member on call, just in case she was ever needed as backup or something.
Thankfully, the team won’t remain short for much longer, though, because as the promo for next episode indicates, JJ is back from maternity leave! And it seems she’ll barely get much time to quietly settle back into work, if the creepy case they’ll be dealing with is any indication.
What did you think of this episode? Were you happy with Tara’s decision about her job? How do you feel about communities like Glenport Village, or the aforementioned real life example, Miracle Park? Did the constant shift in possible suspects work for you, or did you have your own assumptions as to who the unsub might be? Are you excited for the old gang getting back together soon? Sound off in the comments!
