First things first, my deepest apologies for the extreme delay in getting this review up. Mix of internet issues and real life stuff held me up recently, pushing my focus on the review back as a result. With that said, let’s get to the review.
It seems rather appropriate that this episode left me a little conflicted in spots. The entire premise alone had many fans feeling that way. On the one hand, Emily Prentiss returns for a visit. Yay! Something to celebrate.
On the other hand, that visit is coming on the heels of losing Derek Morgan as a regular team member. This is the first episode in the show’s run without him, and that fact is made all the more apparent in the new opening credits, especially with the ending image of the entire team standing together. The team looks so much smaller without him, don’t they? Very surreal and bittersweet.
But of course, as the old saying goes, the show must go on. And so it does, with the BAU teaming up with Emily to try and track an international killer who’s now made his way stateside. Which brings me to my conflicted feelings. In many respects, the case, as well as Emily’s reunion with the team, had many enjoyable and interesting aspects to them.
And yet, I still felt like there were a few things missing, or overlooked, in both areas as well. Sure, this was Emily’s second time guest starring on the show in recent years, so there wasn’t quite the kind of fanfare that there was with her return in “200”. But I still felt, given how notable and beloved a presence she was on the show, that there could’ve been...more to this somehow.
But I’ll get further into that as we go on. So let’s delve into the events of “Tribute”.
The Case:
Things get off to a pretty intense and dramatic start. Emily’s working her way through what looks like some sort of old warehouse, following some mysterious black-clad figure who appears to be trying to run from her. They always seem to be one step ahead of her, however, and she can’t seem to catch up to them.
As she passes by various rooms, she stumbles upon a disturbing sight. A woman is sprawled out on a mattress, bloody and beaten, saying nothing but, “Help me...” over and over. Emily comes to check on the woman, whose name is apparently Louise. But before she can offer any help or aid, the shadowy figure she’s been following sneaks up behind her. They hit her over the head with something, and she immediately tries to shoot at them.
Except her aim isn’t working. The figure just stands there, unfazed, as the bullets continue to bounce off them. Has Emily lost her touch in the field?
Nope. Turns out all of the above was just a very terrifying dream. She’s thankfully safe and sound in her bed (but not alone in that bed...more on that later). The nightmare’s still got her rattled, though, understandably so, and we learn that this isn’t just some run of the mill scary dream for her. She’s feeling intense guilt over the case that seems to keep inspiring this recurring dream, blaming herself for something related to it. Emily later tries to work out her frustration at the shooting range, but it’s still not enough (though she’s making pretty good shots, so hopefully she’s not lost confidence in her shooting skills).
“Good people died trying to catch this guy, Hotch. I need your help.”
The next day, at work, she logs on to her computer only to get an alert. And not just any alert, either – it’s a tip that might be tied to her mysterious unsub. Apparently, he’s in the U.S., of all places, specifically, in New York City. He’s committed yet another crime, and everything about his M.O. just further clinches the fact that it’s the same man she’s been following. Emily’s hopes of catching him are rekindled, and fortunately, she knows just the group of people to turn to to try and help her finally nab this guy. Cue an online chat with Hotch as the team’s returning home from another case, and after listening to Emily plead her case, he agrees to have the BAU meet her in New York.
On the trip there, Garcia helps fill the team in on the man Emily’s looking for. He seems to have a history of replicating notable serial killers in various countries. His first crime was in Russia, mirroring one of that country’s most notable killers, Andrei Chikatilo. Chikatilo was famous for sexually assaulting, murdering, and mutilating fifty plus women and children between 1978 and 1990. This unsub thankfully didn’t match Andrei in terms of numbers of victims, but he did assault and brutally murder a little girl. The team’s reactions as they listen to this tragic piece of news are pretty much mine. Eesh. Her body was also found not far from where Chikatilo’s first victim was found, and a suspect was found in the area, but got away before police could nab him.
From there, the man moved on to London, where he did a mini-recreation of the Jack the Ripper killings. Emily had come very close to catching him when working with Scotland Yard, but unfortunately the plan didn’t work out. An inspector working the case with her was killed by the unsub, and he was gone by the time Emily and her team had arrived. Emily’s reaction when discussing the inspector’s death with Tara indicates there’s more to that story, which likely ties into her dream at the start. But she doesn’t elaborate for the moment.
After the unsub’s escape from London, he then made his way to the U.S. and continued his spree. His first stop was in Boston, strangling a young woman in the style of the Boston Strangler killings.
And that brings the team to the latest crime scene in New York City, which Rossi, Emily, and JJ head out to investigate. A woman was shot to death in her car, but she wasn’t the only victim. Another woman had been with her, and was also wounded...but not mortally. The unsub let her escape. A similar incident happened when the Son of Sam (aka David Berkowitz) stalked the city back in the 1970s. Another notable serial killer crossed off the guy’s list. Soon after, the local police find a lady named Monica who fits the description of the surviving victim. She’s now recuperating in the hospital, so Emily and JJ can interview her.
Monica’s story seems pretty cut and dry at first. She claimed she was mugged by their unsub. Considering the Son of Sam parallels, however, Emily’s not buying it, though, given the eerie Son of Sam parallels. She proceeds to launch into a big speech about her work for Interpol, and this case, and how desperate she is to catch this unsub, in the hopes that Monica will tell her what really happened.
Her plea thankfully works, and Monica finally tells the real story. Turns out she was an escort! She’d been hired by the boyfriend of the woman who was murdered in her car. He’d hoped to set up a threesome between them, but wound up creeping Monica out. When she tried to back out of their deal, he got mad and shot his girlfriend and her. She’s got texts from her interaction with the guy that back up this version of the story. She also says that he didn’t have a foreign accent, that he sounded American, and his name is Mike. It could be his real name, it could be a fake, but either way, at least it’s something to go on.
Reid makes another notable observation about this Mike guy at one point. All of his crimes are committed between the months of March and September. Why that specific time frame? And what does he do from October to February? The team theorizes that he likely spends that “down time” working to pay for his trips around the world...but how? Perhaps he’s involved in organized crime? Or the drug trade?
His traveling the world also implies he’s likely multilingual, so Emily considers the idea that he might be a diplomat, or have some other high-level, well paying job that would allow him to travel (and his being a diplomat would also give him immunity, something that would bode well for a criminal). The fact that he can go from country to country and replicate notable killers without being caught indicates he’s very cunning, exceedingly intelligent, and likely well-educated, too. In short, they’re dealing with a rather unusual unsub here.
Shortly after, the team gets an alert from local police that someone spotted their guy lurking around a nearby warehouse. They rush out and search the entire place...but true to form, he’s gone by the time they get there.
Unfortunately, they do find something else nearby: a couple more victims. A married couple is found dead in their car a short ways away from the warehouse, and to make things even more tragic, the couple had two young children. Emily is understandably angry over this turn of events. Not only did they miss their guy yet again, but now two children have lost their parents forever.
She’s also utterly confused. In some ways, this couple’s murders are similar to ones committed by the Son of Sam...but Mike had to reload his gun a couple times with this particular killing. Berkowitz didn’t do that, and the only man he ever killed was one he’d mistaken for a woman. This unsub didn’t follow Berkowitz’s script to the letter, which seems to imply he’s starting to forge his own special method of killing. There’s also an expensive Rolex stuffed into the male victim’s mouth, and any other expensive items the couple had on them are still there. So robbery’s not a motive. This fact has Tara wondering if maybe they’re wrong about this guy being rich. Maybe he’s jealous of people with money.
While all of this is going on, we get a glimpse into Mike’s activities thus far. Our first glimpse of him is a rather innocuous one initially: he’s getting himself all cleaned up at his house while a nature documentary plays in the background.
But then we see him nibbling on a bullet. So that’s not good. The next time we see him, he’s on a bus with a bunch of other passengers. He zeroes in on a child who’s sitting across the aisle from him, and the two strike up a conversation. The boy’s going to see his grandpa for a while. Fun! When Mike asks the boy about his parents, he mentions that he only sees his dad on weekends. Mike reacts oddly to this, saying something about family being important, and that’s a rather ominous hint.
He then proceeds to give the boy the bullet he’d been holding on to. “That one’s lucky. You wanna know why? Because it doesn’t have your name on it,” he says.
Okay, two things:
1) That is SUPER creepy, and this child needs a serious “Do not talk to strangers” lecture, pronto.
2) Mike wasn’t exactly whispering when talking to this kid, and that bus was pretty crowded with passengers. I’m now wondering if anyone sitting nearby heard that comment from him, and if they did, did they consider calling 911? ‘Cause I sure would’ve.
Anywho, Mike being on the bus confirms Reid’s earlier analysis of how he’s likely making his way across the U.S. (he also thought the unsub might take a train or a car). He then comes up with a pretty ingenious method of trying to figure out where Mike will strike next. He highlighted states and cities where notable serial killers struck within the last fifty years. Chicago stands out as having a particularly long history with serial killers (gooooo, Chicago!), and Jeffrey Dahmer and Ed Gein are just a ways up the road in Wisconsin. So Reid pretty firmly believes that Mike is on his way to the Midwest, Illinois in particular.
As the team makes their way out there, Emily kinda zones out on the jet, and has that dream again. Only this time, instead of Louise lying on a mattress, it’s JJ. Chilling. It’s then we learn more about just why this case has haunted Emily so much. The inspector who was killed on that case is the “Louise” in her nightmare. Her full name was Louise Hulland, and she was a teammate of Emily’s. When they were working with Scotland Yard on this case, Emily decided to have Louise go undercover in the hopes of luring the guy out. Despite reservations from higher ups, Emily was adamant that this was the best plan of action. She also thought it’d be good for Louise’s career, and felt they needed more women in positions of power.
Unfortunately, the unsub got to Louise and killed her. Ever since then, Emily’s blamed herself for her death, and for not catching the guy in time. Despite the team’s reassurances that it wasn’t her fault, she just can’t shake that feeling.
JJ talks to Emily one-on-one a short time later about her near-miss in London, and Emily’s confused about one thing regarding that night. The unsub could’ve killed her, too. But he didn’t. JJ initially thinks it’s because she didn’t fit his overall M.O.s, but Emily got this sense that he was enjoying the fact that he could be just out of reach and taunt her. This leads JJ to believe the near-misses were intentional on the unsub’s part. He gets a thrill from having the cops right on his trail, and escaping just in time.
It’s at that moment that Garcia pipes in with new information. Mike was discovered getting off a bus in Chicago thanks to the facial recognition software. Reid suggests they narrow down where he’s going by where the most notable serial killers reside, since their unsub likely grew up near there.
The team further discusses their theories about what Mike might do for a living to help fund his travels. If he were a drug dealer or thief, he would’ve likely stolen the expensive items from the couple he’d murdered. But he didn’t. So his job has to be a seasonal one that pays well, but involves risk. Then Emily remembers the unsub’s knife that she’d seen in that dream, and makes a shocking revelation: Mike’s a fisherman. It’s the sort of job that entices thrill-seekers like himself...and the kind of fishing he does takes place between October and February. Ta-da. This also explains that nature documentary Mike was watching early on at home.
Garcia then gives them the complete details on the man they’re looking for. His full name is Michael Peterson, and he grew up in Joliet, Illinois. He works as a deckhand for a fishing company. His family was poor, and his dad soon descended into a life of crime. Eventually he was arrested for armed robbery, and imprisoned in Statesville Penitentiary. Notable killers Richard Speck (responsible for the mass rape and murder of eight nursing students at a college dorm in the span of one night in 1966) and John Wayne Gacy (known for assaulting and murdering multiple teenage boys and young men in Illinois in the ‘70s) were also residing there at that time. Seeing those guys kickstarted his fascination with serial killers.
Michael and his mom visited his dad constantly, and as a result, he came to learn about the hierarchy of the prison system (serial killers were at the top of the social pyramid, snitches and pedophiles were despised and at the bottom of the chain). Creepily, he might’ve even met and talked to Speck on some of these visits. Eek. As a result, he came to appreciate the thrill of killing people, and wanted the kind of respect his father never received.
Eventually, his father was transferred to another prison, and was nearly killed when he was close to testifying against his partner in one of his crimes. Not long after that, in 2006, his mom died, and then when his father passed away in 2014, Michael used his skills he’d gained in his job to begin his killing spree.
Since he grew up in Illinois, that further confirms Reid’s assumption that that state will be Michael’s next destination, and that leads the team to assume that he’ll likely emulate Richard Speck’s student massacre as a result. And indeed, it’s not long after that that we see Michael arriving at a university campus, making pleasant conversation with a young woman, Megan, who introduces herself to him. He tells her he’s a new teacher at the college, and I’m telling her to run the hell away and not look back.
So now he’s at the scene of his next crime. The question is, will Michael follow Richard Speck’s killings to the letter? Or will he deviate, like he did with the married couple he’d murdered? If he does go “off-script”, the horrific possibilities of what all he might be capable of doing are enough to make one shudder.
Later that evening, Megan is hanging out with a friend, Charlotte, in her dorm room. Charlotte mentions that the school has been put on high alert because of a rumored killer in the area, and she tries to shrug it off...until Megan tells her about her encounter with the new teacher that looks suspiciously like the killer. She’s in the process of calling the official hotline to tell them he’s here when a man bursts into her room. Three guesses who that man is.
Mike proceeds to take both girls hostage and marches them down to the room of a girl named Kasey. He shoots and kills her, and all the while, Megan and Charlotte cower in the corner, terrified out of their minds. After Mike moves Kasey out of the way, he begins taunting the two girls, trying to decide who’s next. Luckily, they both get a sudden attack of boldness and instantly begin fighting back. Megan gets taken hostage, but Charlotte manages to escape, and runs into the team just as they’re making their way through the dorm halls. After getting her to safety, Emily, JJ, and Rossi barge in and try to talk Mike down, appealing to his desire to be famous. Mike’s not cooperating, however. He keeps inching closer to a nearby window, seeming to indicate his desire to escape, and gloats about the fame he’ll receive.
Emily’s not having that. She fires her gun, finally taking down the man who’d haunted her for so long, and saves another girl’s life. Finally, she can close this case for good. Whether the nightmares will fully go away, however, that remains to be seen. We’re all aware of how much and how long these cases can continue to haunt these people well after they’re closed.
I thought the setup for the case was a good one, if not exactly the most original concept. We’ve had stories about people copying infamous serial killers before. There was the guy who emulated multiple ones in “Zoe’s Reprise” back in season four, and then, of course, there was the Replicator in season eight, who’d stalked the team throughout season eight while recreating crimes they’d solved. And there was also the woman from “Jones”, back in season two. She was a female version of Jack the Ripper.
But still, the international angle was intriguing, especially since there were so many possible world-famous killers he could’ve emulated. And yeah, it was kind of an easy way to explain Emily’s presence in the U.S., and her work with the BAU, but hey, it worked, so I’m not complaining.
I just feel the unsub’s motivation was rather flimsy and meh, though. Somebody this powerful, this cunning, someone who could outwit some of the most intelligent international law enforcement officials imaginable...I would think their motives would be a little bigger than simply wanting to get the respect their father didn’t get. Especially given how brutal his murders were, and how he zeroed in on emulating some of the most particularly violent, shudder-inducing serial killers in history. Someone with that intense an interest in violence, I tend to think there’s got to be more to their motives for killing people. Yes, he got a thrill out of killing, but did he always have that desire? And if not, when and how did it start? He got into fights when he was in school, but did he show any other hints of his murderous inclinations early on in other juvenile crimes?
And I would’ve also liked it if the show touched a little more deeply on his early exposure to serial killers thanks to his visits to where his dad was incarcerated. I imagine there could’ve been some really good commentary on and exploration of the influence of that lifestyle on a child (especially since the crime that put his dad in jail, while certainly serious, was the sort that he might’ve been able to stop committing had his time in prison been more focused on rehabilitation and options to help him turn his life around). The fact that society has glorified killers like Speck and Gacy to the point where kids almost see them as heroes and cool outlaws, instead of the horrible people they actually are, would’ve been a particularly fascinating topic to touch on. Especially in connection to Michael’s possible motives for killing people. Was he just born evil, or did his childhood warp him and turn him into a murderer? I would’ve liked to see the team debate that a little further.
The best part of the case was the exploration of how it affected Emily. Seeing her frustration over not catching Michael, it was hard not to immediately think of everything she went through with Doyle. He was never mentioned by name in this episode, but he didn’t have to be. The message came through loud and clear, which spoke nicely both to Doyle’s impact as a memorable unsub and Emily’s determination these past few years to move on from everything involving him. That tied in nicely to the comparison between her adjustment since leaving the team and the adjustment Morgan will have to make in moving on from everything he recently went through before his own departure. Doyle will no doubt linger in her memory for a long time, if not forever, as will many other unsubs she’ll catch in the future...but at least we know she’s got better ways of dealing with that pressure now.
So basically, pretty good case that was wrapped up a little too quickly. In some ways I get that, though – the main focus of this episode was Emily’s return, after all, and her getting to interact with the team once again in the wake of a rather tough moment for them. How did that part of things play out?
Meanwhile, on the personal front…:
‘You miss him, huh? Yeah, me, too.”
“Me three.”
We’ve got two big stories on the personal end this week. Obviously, the main one is the team’s struggle to deal with Morgan’s departure from the team. Reid can’t stop staring at his empty seat on the plane (aw), and Garcia passes by his empty office at the end, looking all forlorn (and apparently she’s the one who collects the name tags after a team member leaves – she did the same thing after JJ left in season 6).
At one point, Emily talks a bit with Rossi and JJ about Morgan leaving. She mentions how sad she was when she left the team four (!) years ago, and reminds them Morgan’s likely feeling the same way. But she also reassures them that he’s doing fine, and he’s happy. Not only is this a sweet way for her to try and help her friends feel better, but it’s also a quiet way to let us know that her own life has been going well since she moved to London.
And we got further proof of that this episode with the second big personal development: Emily’s seeing a guy! That man we see her waking up next to at the start of this episode? He’s her boyfriend. His name is Mark, but we don’t know a whole lot else about him, or how long he and Emily have been dating. We do learn, however, that Garcia told Rossi and JJ about him – the risk you take when telling your friends about your love life, hehe. To say I’m deeply curious about him would be a massive understatement!
Of course, on another lighter note, as sad as the team is about losing Morgan, they’re also beyond thrilled to see Emily again. There’s sweet hugs shared all around when they first see her at the police station (I loved Emily telling Reid she liked his haircut), Garcia’s all excited to talk to her on the phone (very meaningful given the person she normally chats with isn’t there anymore), and aside from their discussion about Morgan, Emily has a couple other good heart to heart conversations with Rossi and JJ. It was also cool to see Emily and Tara get a chance to meet and hit it off, though it’s a shame they didn’t get to chat much further.
At the end of the episode, when Emily finds Garcia in Morgan’s empty office, she does her best to cheer her up by doing a hilarious impersonation of him. It’s cheesy and dorky as hell, but in a very cute way, and it makes Garcia smile and laugh, so mission accomplished. Emily then asks Garcia how she’s doing, and Garcia’s expression pretty much says it all. To further help her feel better, Emily pulls out a bottle that Morgan had stashed away in a spot in his office – apparently he’d kept it after a Halloween bet Emily had lost to him, another story I want to know more about now – and she and Garcia share a drink, making a toast to their friend.
Also, since Garcia’s still taking care of Sergio (who’s not old, just has some gray whiskers, she says), she takes the opportunity to show Emily just how happy her former pet is. This scene was super adorable, and I just love any reminder that Sergio’s still being taken care of.
Shortly after, JJ stops by, and the women all agree to a girls’ night. That’s quickly changed when Rossi overhears and wants in, and then Reid shows interest, and eventually, of course, Hotch gets roped into the fun, as does Tara. Cut to everyone gathered at a restaurant, sharing drinks and laughing and just celebrating being together. After all these guys have had to deal with this season, it’s nice to see them having a moment of happiness, and it’s a sweet reminder of the deep family bond these people share.
Overall, I enjoyed Emily’s return to the show. Not only was it fun to see her again, but it was also fun to see her working alongside the others once more. There’s always been a special chemistry between her and the rest of the team, and that was thankfully on display here. I also enjoyed getting a glimpse into how her life in London’s been going, professionally and personally. Last time she visited the team, we didn’t really get much chance to see or hear about how her life’s been going post-BAU. But now I really want to learn more about this Mark, I was intrigued by the work she’d been doing at Interpol (for reasons noted above in regards to the case), and it’s just comforting to know that she’s settled into her new life there and made a home for herself.
I loved the one-on-one talks she had with Rossi and JJ. Emily and Rossi’s discussion about the frustration of dreams where they don’t catch the killer was fascinating. It’s not often we get that kind of vulnerability from him, but these two were always really good at getting each other to open up (Emily telling Rossi about her abortion as a teen, him telling her about everything with Carolyn), so it was nice to be reminded of that fact here.
Their discussion about those kinds of nightmares also made me think more about the other notable cases and unsubs that have haunted them. Hearing about Emily’s frustration with not catching this unusb was, again, a subtle nod to the specter of Doyle. But for Rossi? It had me wondering what unsubs he’s had those kinds of dreams about over the years. Maybe he has dreams where, instead of Yates being in jail, he tries to kill him, but can’t? Maybe it’s an unsub from his earliest days in the BAU that haunts him? I feel like that’d be grounds for a really interesting Rossi story worth delving into more deeply someday.
And I enjoyed the moments between Emily and JJ. These two have always been very close friends, but the events with Doyle, and later, Askari and Hastings, in recent years have only further deepened their bond. They’ve seriously bent over backwards and gone to crazy extremes to help each other, and it’s no wonder that closeness would manifest itself yet again in this episode. We saw Emily’s hallucination of JJ being in Louise’s place in her nightmare, an eerie echo to JJ’s hallucination of Emily finding her in that warehouse in “200”. And JJ can sense Emily’s mood on the plane, can tell when she’s being haunted by something, and “gets” what’s upsetting her. I’ve always loved the deep friendship between these two, and it was wonderful to see that on display here.
My biggest nitpick? We didn’t see any one-on-one conversations between Emily and Hotch or Reid. I liked the whole thing of Emily pleading her case to Hotch to convince him to take the team to New York – it was a neat (albeit likely unintentional) reminder of when she first showed interest in joining the team, and showed off her profiling skills to prove to him that she deserved to be there. Seeing her use that ability again to convince Hotch to let the BAU take this case was a neat way to bring that part of their history full circle. Plus, seeing how Emily and Hotch were at odds over the case with international connections in “Demonology”, it seemed fitting that she’d make an appeal with a similar case again here.
But given the fact that she’s running Interpol now, I think it would’ve been particularly great to see her and Hotch comparing notes on what it’s like to run a team, and the difficulty in making tough decisions (like the regrettable kind Emily made with Louise). Considering some of the risky situations Hotch has let his team go into, I imagine he would’ve had some good advice or sympathy for her regarding her own mistakes. And I also would’ve really liked to hear them talk about what it’s like when a team loses someone, either via death, like with Louise, or via the team member quitting, like with Morgan. Especially since Hotch had both experiences in regards to Emily. Sure, her death was fake, but he had to try and keep a team who thought otherwise together afterward for a time. Just so many possibilities for discussion between them.
As for Reid, he’s long been one of Emily’s closest friends, so I was quite surprised that we didn’t get a little moment with just the two of them. Reid was so affected by Morgan leaving last episode, so I honestly thought the show would’ve expanded a little more on that in the form of hearing him open up and talk about it with Emily (or anyone else, for that matter). I would’ve very much liked to hear him discuss how he dealt with Emily leaving the team, and compare that to how he’s dealing with Morgan being gone.
Especially since Emily knows all about his struggle with losing people! She was the one who talked to him about the letter he got after Gideon left the team, and she had to try and repair things with him after her “death”. She’s also been there for him through other rough times in his life - the uncertainties he struggled with when he turned thirty, and his headaches. As a result, you just know she would’ve had some excellent advice and ways to reassure him as he dealt with this difficult situation. Such a missed opportunity with those two, which was particularly disappointing.
All in all, though, there was still plenty about the episode for me to like. If nothing else, this was a sweet reminder of how close these people have been and always will be, and for those of us missing Morgan, it’s a reminder that the door is always open for him, or any other team member, if and when they wish to return. A rather pleasant thought to carry with us going forward.
And so after this, we’re now down to the final three episodes of this season! Time sure flies. Whatever the show’s plans as they wind things down, I look forward to seeing how it all plays out.
What did you think of the episode? Was the case intriguing? Were there any particular aspects of it you enjoyed or wanted to see expanded on further? Which part of the team’s reunion with Emily was your favorite? Which one did you want to see more of (if any)? Did you enjoy seeing Emily herself again? What do you think about this Mark guy? How else do you think the show will continue dealing with the team’s reactions to losing Morgan as the season finishes up, or what would you like to see on that front? Share your thoughts in the comments!
