Five episodes into Reid’s prison arc, and I bring a mix of good news and bad news in regards to this storyline.
The good news? Reid is spared another beating this go-round. So thank goodness for that.
The bad news? There’s still little to no movement on his case or any attempts to get him out of jail. And on top of that, one inmated he’s spent the last few episodes befriending is looking more and more shady, while another suffered a very unfortunate fate thanks in part to Reid’s actions. What’s that saying? The road to hell is paved with good intentions? Certainly describes this entire storyline in a nutshell, doesn’t it?
On a significantly happier note, however, this episode brought progress in a couple team members’ friendship, and we got a case that was both interesting and heartbreaking, and which felt a lot more developed than some of the other recent cases.
The episode wasn’t entirely perfect, mind – this was writer Dania Bennett’s first time writing for the show and it does show in some respects, notably in terms of some of the main characters’ behaviors throughout the episode. Even so, this is still a pretty decent first effort in many ways, and there’s still enough interesting things happening in regards to this storyline with Reid that seem to be (slowly) setting the stage for something big coming down the line. As always, let’s settle in and run this whole thing down.
The Case:
And we’re back to normal! Yes, after a few weeks without an opening “watch a crime being committed” scene, this episode brings us back to its more typical setup, with an opening scene involving a hunter chilling in the woods with his gun. Is he hunting animals...or will he wind up hunting humans?
Well, the ultimate answer is “neither”, because shortly afterward, he’s shot to death by an unknown figure. The only trace of this killer we do see are his feet and hands as he quietly grabs his gear and walks away.
As the team learns later at their briefing, the murdered hunter is just the latest in a string of hunters who’ve been shot to death recently throughout the town of Burlington. That’s not all, though. This case joins one the team had already been consulting on with local police involving another string of murders in that area, with two women being stabbed to death in recent home invasions. Two entirely different methods of murder in the same area? Logic dictates that Burlington may have two unsubs roaming about. Creepy, no? Certainly not the first time the BAU’s had a case involving multiple unsubs, however, so this will just be another one to add to their list, it seems.
While the team prepares to make their way out to Vermont, we jump to a guy at home, just doing a bit of exercising. His quiet evening in is soon interrupted by a knock at the door, but when he goes to answer it...nobody’s there. Hmm. Just as he’s about to go back inside, however, he’s stabbed right in the chest. So now there’s a sixth victim to add to Burlington’s current death toll.
On the jet, the team tries to figure out the types of unsubs they might be dealing with here. The unsub killing hunters keeps his distance; the home invasion unsub, meanwhile, is up close and personal. The team also notes that the unsub murdering hunters started their killing spree before the home invasion unsub did. There seems to be nothing connecting them to each other, no communication or hints of competition, so they likely don’t know each other and are operating alone. But what could be the first unsub’s motive for targeting hunters? The team thinks it could be political in nature – perhaps the unsub’s an angry environmentalist of some sort seeking retaliation, or making a statement.
Upon turning their attention to the unsub going around stabbing people, Garcia informs them of the recent male victim, and it doesn’t escape the team’s notice that the gender of that unsub’s victims has changed. They’re not sure what this particular killer’s motive could be yet, but the fact that they’re not being specific in their victimology anymore indicates an escalation to their crimes. About the only similarity the team can find between the two unsubs thus far is that they’ve each killed three victims in a fairly short period of time, and neither one seems to show any signs of stopping. Basically, it’s an increasingly scary time to live in Burlington right now.
Once they arrive, Rossi and Stephen head out to the woods where the hunter we saw earlier (whose name is Bob) was killed. They deduce that despite the unsub’s distance from his victims, he had to have pretty sharp aim – he were able to hit his victims square in the heart, no messing up. Not an easy thing to do in an area where your sight can be obscured by the various plants and such around. The unsub’s also careful to make sure there’s no trace of him anywhere – there doesn’t seem to be any DNA left behind that the team can see, there’s no bullets, no equipment of any sort to indicate he was there. So he’s clearly calculating and experienced.
Rossi’s own expertise as a hunter proves helpful here, as he notes that the unsub is targeting those who are going hunting out of season, which seems to lend credence to the team’s “angry environmentalist” theory. Emily’s visit to the medical examiner’s office, however, seems to indicate a possible new motive for the unsub. These guys who were killed weren’t so much hunters as they were poachers, and most hunters hate poachers. Since the unsub used a hunting rifle to kill these men, they could be a hunter taking out poachers. The M.E. also tells Emily that all three men were apparently not very well-liked in town in general, and that’d be enough reason to want them dead as well. So it looks like the team’s got a pretty good case building in regards to unsub number one, then.
Elsewhere, JJ and Tara investigate the crimes of unsub number two, going out to the house of the latest stabbing victim, Mike. He was discovered by his poor girlfriend, who’d stopped by hoping to surprise him. Ouch. This crime scene definitely shows a drastic difference from the wooded crime scene, in that there’s DNA virtually everywhere JJ and Tara look, and no attempts to cover up his crime scene at all. The man’s death is even different from that of the two women who were stabbed. They had multiple stab wounds on their bodies. Mike only had the one.
There is one curious similarity between Mike’s death and those of the poachers, however. You’ll remember that all the poachers who’ve been murdered thus far were shot through the heart. When Mike was killed, the unsub also stabbed him through the heart. Could that be a mere coincidence, or is it a sign that the town may actually be dealing with one unsub instead of two?
The idea of one unsub doesn’t seem to make sense to the team initially, given the dramatic difference in crime scenes and types of crimes. However, if the killer is struggling with a severe psychotic break, that could explain the notable differences in their crime sprees and behaviors. Shortly afterward, trace DNA is found in the woods, and upon comparing it to the DNA at the home invasion scenes, it confirms the team’s growing suspicion: there is only one unsub stalking Burlington. And given the time of death of the various victims thus far, the team concludes that this unsub is killing poachers by day and stabbing people in their homes by night. This raises two important questions: Why target these particular people, and why change his method of killing depending on the time of day?
Unfortunately, it looks as though the unsub’s about to add two new victims to his list. A young couple, Jon and Lyn, are spending their evening together watching what looks to be quite a cheesy horror film, with Lyn freaking out and Jon teasing her. The woman’s soon spared by the sound of the doorbell, signaling what they believe to be the pizza guy, and she goes to find some money. All of a sudden, the unsub strides right on into the house and...well...you can guess what happens next. So now he’s up to attacking two people at once, which is a further change to his M.O. However, just like both Mike and the poachers, this couple was also each stabbed through the heart. Apparently that’s the only part of his killing spree that’s remaining consistent now.
There’s another new and strange element to the unsub’s behavior for the team to figure out. They discover, through bloody footprints, that the unsub apparently walked through the house completely barefoot, stepping over broken glass. An unusual method for an unsub, as most of them naturally want to cover up any chance at prints where possible. Tara and JJ come to the conclusion that the killer must have a condition of some sort that doesn’t cause him to feel any pain. More specifically, it has to be one that mirrors psychosis, and which causes the unsub to be up both day and night, showing no signs of slowing down.
That’s when Tara hits on what might be affecting this unsub, and explains why his crime scenes are so haphazard and strange. He’s sleepwalking. Seriously. When people sleepwalk, they often can’t feel any pain they experience, because they’re so far into their dream state that it doesn’t register, the way none of the other things they say or do during that time register. And if this guy’s sleepwalking is severe enough to where he can literally blank out for long periods of time and commit crimes of this nature with no memory of them, he clearly has some sort of mental disorder. He also probably wakes up feeling extremely tired, and the killings are his attempt at finding some kind of release, at getting him exhausted enough to maybe finally try and catch some sleep. Pretty miserable and disturbing life.
And when we finally get our first glimpses of the unsub, it’s even more apparent just how messed up his headspace truly is. He gets spooked upon seeing bloody clothing in a basket, to the point where he tries to burn the clothes in his furnace. He takes a shower to try and cleanse himself of what he knows he’s done. He tries to drink coffee and energy drinks to stay awake, tries to call his doctor for help with his sleep issues, to no avail, and beats on himself, partially to stay awake and partially to seemingly berate himself for his actions. And when he sees a news report about the murders on TV, it spooks him. Big time. So clearly the unsub’s feeling some level of remorse for his crimes.
And yet, try as he might to fight his urges, he can’t keep them at bay forever. He eventually falls asleep, and the cycle starts up once again. That night, after having unsettling visions of what looked to have been a pretty abusive childhood, he finds himself grabbing a knife and walking through the neighborhood once again, entering yet another home.
Unlike the previous victims, however, this particular homeowner, whose name is Paul, is ready for him. He pulls out his gun and charges after the guy. The unsub is, naturally, quite spooked by this, and manages to slip away before Paul can catch him. Paul hasn’t escaped the situation completely unscathed, though – the unsub somehow managed to stab him in the side in the process. Thankfully, it’s just a small, treatable wound, and later, while being prepped to go to the hospital, he tells Luke and Emily about what happened. He also describes the guy’s looks and behavior to them, and says shooting at the unsub seemed to wake him up and scare him off.
The team also observes that the unsub wandered through the house as though he’d been there before. This allows Tara to point out another common aspect of sleepwalking: most people who sleepwalk do so in places they have some familiarity with. Once the team notes that all the home invasions took place in the same neighborhood, they decide to do some digging into that area’s history, and learn that it wasn’t always a charming, innocent place to live. No, at one time, it was a place overrun with druggies and prostitutes, and the unsub and his family happened to live there.
Said unsub’s name is revealed to be Trey Gordon, and as his flashbacks throughout the episode indicated, his childhood was quite a rough one indeed. After his mom died when he was young, Trey was left alone with his abusive father, Samuel. Samuel was a poacher (aha), but that’s nothing compared to the truly horrific things he did, namely to Trey. He liked to hook up with prostitutes in the area...and bring his young son along on these visits. Yeeeeeah. Ick.
The absolute worst part of all of this? When Trey was a mere eight years old, police raided a brothel in the neighborhood only to find him sitting in a room with a naked prostitute who’d molested him. And where was his sorry excuse for a father during all of this? Well, he was just too busy with a prostitute in another room nearby. Talk about your nasty piece of work.
Needless to say, these traumatic events messed Trey up pretty badly, to the point where, as an adult, he began taking medication for anxiety, OCD, and borderline personality disorder – all of which can lead to sleepwalking. The final straw, however, came with his dad’s death, which happened right around the time the murders began. So yeah. Basically, poor Trey’s been under so much stress and experienced so much trauma that it’s manifested in him trying to confront his dad through his sleepwalking episodes. That’s...incredibly heartbreaking, I have to say. Initially, he simply targeted men who looked like his dad, hence the murders of the poachers. But when that didn’t satiate his need for revenge, his sleepwalking led him to start frequenting his old neighborhood, trying to see if he could track him down there...and he unknowingly killed innocent people in the process.
And unfortunately, despite his continued attempts at staying awake (he even tries to lock his knives away), Trey shows no signs of stopping his killing spree, as shortly afterward, he invades yet another home, one that’s occupied by a young woman named Janis. Her home was the former brothel that Trey had been found in as a child, so he’d have some familiarity with the place. Fortunately, Emily calls Janis ahead of time to warn her about Trey possibly roaming the area, and even after he breaks into her house, she’s able to get away and lock herself in her closet. The team arrives to try and talk Trey down, but when he moves threateningly towards Rossi, Stephen fires a warning shot to shake Trey awake. It thankfully works, and he’s taken in without further incident, and Janis is saved. As he leaves, Trey begs for somebody to help him, and at long last, he might finally get some seriously much-needed sleep.
Suffice to say, this is definitely one of the more sympathetic unsubs the show’s had in a while. Lately, most of the unsubs featured have been people who were just plain cruel and sadistic, showing virtually no remorse for their victims. So it was kind of nice to finally have an unsub you could genuinely feel for again for a change. When Trey pleaded for somebody to help him during the team’s takedown at the end, not gonna lie, my heart ached for the guy. He just sounded so scared, and looked so alone and helpless, and his regret for his crimes came through loud and clear. The fact that he tried to take great pains to keep himself from killing again helped add to the sympathy towards him – not often you see a killer actively trying to fight their urges like this.
And while one’s childhood isn’t an automatic excuse for their crimes, at the same time...the guy’s dad took him to a freaking prostitute at the age of eight, and didn’t seem at all troubled by the fact he’d been abused by said prostitute. I mean...you have to be some kind of heartless to let your kid wind up in that sort of horrible situation, and not do a damn thing about it. Trey needs psychiatric help far more than he needs to be in prison, and while the show doesn’t say what happened to him, I prefer to believe that’s how things played out for him going forward.
The sleepwalking aspect made the case that much more interesting, too. It’s certainly not an uncommon explanation – there have, after all, been real life cases of people reportedly committing murders while sleepwalking. And there are plenty of stories of people who’ve done other bizarre, non-murder related, activities during sleepwalking episodes as well. That said, I don’t know that I can even recall any other unsubs who’ve suffered from this particular sleep disorder while committing their crimes on this show, so it’s a novel twist on a certain type of crime we’ve seen on here many times before. I also found it interesting that Tara in particular knew so much about sleepwalking and all it entails, to the point where I feel like there’s a story there that could’ve been worth exploring a little more.
My main nitpick is with the initial “two unsubs stalking a town” setup. Again, it’s a type of storyline we’ve seen before, with varying degrees of success, and in this case, I think making all of these crimes the work of one unsub ultimately worked better. Sure, going with one unsub might’ve been a bit unrealistic when it came to attempting to explain the notable differences between the types of crimes, but I think the fact that we were able to better empathize with the unsub as a result helped balance that out better. Plus, given the fact that the show’s continuing to juggle its case of the week with the “Reid in prison” story arc, any opportunity to keep the cases relatively tidy and uncomplicated is probably a good thing overall.
At the same time, however, I think it might’ve worked better if the reveal that the team was looking for one unsub came much later in the show. That could’ve upped the tension a little more, and perhaps make the twist reveal pack more of a punch. Maybe they could’ve kept the unsub shrouded a little longer throughout the episode, and showed him in two different places to help throw us viewers off. And maybe we could’ve seen a moment or two with some of the townspeople locking their doors or talking to the team and local police about how scared they are at the thought of two serial killers running around town. Little things like that. I think that would’ve gone a long way in making the story that much creepier.
And in terms of small nitpicks, when Tara and JJ were talking about the unsub’s inability to feel any pain when walking across that broken glass, my mind immediately went to the unsub from season seven’s “Painless”, who had a specific disorder where he literally couldn’t feel any pain. I think it would’ve been good if JJ had brought him up during the discussion about what was causing Trey’s odd behavior. The team went to sleepwalking so quickly as their explanation, but perhaps bringing up that prior unsub could’ve at least given them another possible angle to consider and explore. It’s often better when the team has multiple theories they need to work through, instead of immediately coming up with the right answer.
Those critiques aside, however, I did like the case this episode. It felt much more balanced against everything going on with Reid, it was well-paced, we were able to get into the unsub’s head a little more deeply (kind of the main premise of the series, after all), and it was the kind of case that was unusual enough to keep my interest, but it wasn’t so out there that it veered into the ridiculous.
The case was also another welcome distraction from Reid’s increasingly frightening stint in prison. And sadly, this week just brings new pain for him. Not physical pain, no – we’re thankfully spared yet another scene of him being beaten up. But now the gang’s moved on to playing emotional and mental games with Reid. And tragically, one of Reid’s fellow inmates winds up paying the ultimate price in the process.
Rusty Cage:
“He’s hurt.”
“How bad?”
“Like, really bad, like ‘he should be in protective custody’ bad.”
To briefly recap: last week, we were left with the deeply disturbing image of Reid being violently attacked by the group of prison creeps who’ve been harassing him since his stint in jail began. He’s been trying to protect another inmate by the name of Luis, who was beaten up to the point of winding up in the infirmary with broken bones. Reid’s sense of justice compelled him to try and alert the guards to the messed up situation...and risk his own safety in the process.
Well, this episode, we get to see the aftermath of what the creeps did to him...and Garcia’s words to Luke pretty well sum it up When we first see Reid, he’s in his cell, lying on his bunk, and his face is virtually covered in bruises. I’d wager a safe bet that one would find plenty of them all over other parts of his body as well. And judging from his facial expression, he’s visibly shaken up by his ordeal. The injuries are so concerning to Garcia that during a recent (offscreen) visit to see Reid, she actually threatened to chew out the warden about letting this happen to him. Reid keeps her from doing so, however, insisting that her actions would only make things worse. To add to the heartache, even her attempts to reassure and comfort Reid don’t seem to prove helpful – she’s starting to fear that Reid has lost any sort of hope that he’ll be out of jail soon, if ever. A chilling thought indeed.
“Next time, they’ll come to us with demands, and if we say no, we ain’t going to the infirmary. We’re going to the morgue.”
Luis later tries to talk to Reid about his recent beating during their daily laundry duty, but Reid, as is typical, plays down the extent of his injuries. Luis thanks him for risking his life to protect him. “You would’ve done the same for me,” Reid says modestly. “No, I wouldn’t have,” Luis admits. He’s far too scared of getting killed, and rightly so. Still, his gratitude is sincere, and Reid doesn’t seem to regret putting his life on the line for Luis.
Luis then confesses to Reid that he’s in something of a nasty bind with this troublesome gang now. Apparently, they’ve got some demands they want him to follow, all of which seem to involve smuggling some shady/illegal supply of drugs into the prison. And if Luis wants to avoid another beating, he’ll do what they ask of him. Reid tries to suggest Luis stand up to them, which, uh, yeah, Reid? Take a look at the bruises decorating your body and try telling him that again. Far easier said than done.
Despite this rather obvious issue, however, Reid will not be deterred from trying to help keep Luis safe. He even goes so far as to ask Shaw if there’s anything he might be willing to offer this gang (within legal means, of course) so that Luis can avoid having to follow these guys’ demands. This leads to an unexpected and bizarrely amusing conversation in which Shaw asks Reid if he’s “hetero-flexible” and Reid reacts by sputtering, “I meant I would help them with their taxes or teach them to read!” Mmkay, then. But as frustrated as Shaw’s been with Reid’s behavior thus far, he does seem willing to offer to help Reid figure out some way to keep this gang at bay.
“Reid will not get hurt in here again. Ever. If he does, I’ll make you suffer.”
Before he can do that, however, Shaw must visit with somebody else who’s been rather unhappy about these shady goings-ons at the prison of late: Luke Alvez. Once he’d heard from Garcia that Reid had befriended Calvin Shaw in prison, Luke immediately felt the need to go see the guy. Turns out he’s quite familiar with Shaw. Not personally speaking, no – they didn’t work together. But Luke did study Calvin when he worked with the Fugitive Task Force, as part of a class discussing indicators of guilt among criminals. Interesting. And it’s during his conversation with Shaw that we learn that there’s apparently a LOT more to Shaw’s initial story about how he wound up in prison beyond what he told Reid.
You’ll recall that according to Shaw, he’s in jail for killing an informant by the name of Elena, and he killed her because he believed she was a double agent who would blow an FBI undercover sting Shaw was working, and put his fellow agents at risk in the process. Luke, however, is more than happy to bring up a few details that Shaw seemed to conveniently leave out. Like, for instance, the fact that Shaw turned himself in for the murder...but not until a full year after it happened. Why turn himself in at all, Luke wonders. Shaw had gotten away with the crime. Why not just enjoy his freedom?
Shaw doesn’t seem all that eager to play this little game with Luke, however. He freely calls Luke a “mouth-breather”, and taunts his “slow mind”, and at this point, any goodwill I’d had towards Shaw thus far is eroding pretty hard and fast. Luke’s continued discussion of Shaw’s story just adds to my increasing unease about the man as well, especially when he pulls out the big guns by bringing up Shaw’s son.
Yes. Son. See, apparently, Shaw’s wife was pregnant at the time he killed Elena. This fact got Luke to investigate Elena’s autopsy results further, and he discovered that she had a large quantity of a pregnancy hormone in her when she was murdered. Shaw insists she wasn’t pregnant, but Luke points out that one of the bullets that killed her went right through her uterus. So his theory is this: Shaw got Elena pregnant, too, and killed both her and the baby in order to keep that hush-hush from his wife and co-workers. The whole thing about killing her to protect his fellow agents was a flat out lie. As a result, when Shaw’s son was born six months after Elena’s murder, Luke believes seeing his baby boy awakened whatever conscience Shaw still had, and as a result, he felt compelled to confess to his crime.
Shaw still isn’t willing to open up to Luke, though, continuing to shrug off everything he’s saying to him Luke isn’t intimidated, however. He continues to stand his ground with Shaw, and that’s when he finally gets to his main reason for coming to see him. Luke then proceeds to inform Shaw, in no uncertain terms, that Reid will remain safe while in prison from here on out. If not, he warns, he won’t be afraid to use Shaw’s son against him in order to get him to comply with the team’s demands in regards to Reid. Damn. Lesson officially learned: do not get on Luke Alvez’ bad side.
While all this is going on, Emily gets in contact with Reid’s lawyer Fiona to talk about what’s been happening with him, and asks her if there’s any way she can get Reid moved into protective custody. Fiona does put in a request for a transfer, but as she informs Reid when she goes to do a wellness check on him at one point, sadly, the request is ultimately denied. The higher ups are responsible for making the final choices on those matters, and her hands are tied. There is one piece of good news in her visit, though: she managed to get Reid’s trial moved to another federal court, and what’s more, the trial could be moved up to as early as next month. Woohoo! The less time this mess dangles over Reid’s head, the better.
Fiona also mentions in passing that Luke came to see Shaw earlier in the day, much to Reid’s surprise. Naturally, he’s curious as to what they discussed, and goes to talk to Shaw. Shaw tells Reid that he’s done his part to make sure that that gang doesn’t hurt him again, which, yay, but Reid still wants to find out how they can protect Luis. He tells Shaw that he’s actually going to offer up his cell so that Luis can stay there, and I’m torn between wanting to hug Reid for his selflessness and wanting to shake him by the shoulders and yell at him. Shaw seems equally as frustrated and perplexed by Reid’s risky behavior, but as he’s quickly learning, he just can’t seem to stop Reid from doing what he wants.
Reid really should’ve been heeding Shaw’s warnings, though. Later, while he and Luis are in the laundry room, the gang arrives and separates them. One of the men holds Reid, while another grabs Luis. The guy holding Luis makes abundantly clear that Reid needs to learn these two rules: 1) He will see to it that the gang’s stash gets into the prison safely when it arrives; and 2) He is never to mess with the gang’s stash under any circumstances, because people who do that get hurt.
To further drive home that last point, the man holding Luis pulls out a knife...and slashes Luis’ throat! After that, the gang bolts, and poor Luis is left bleeding on the floor, as Reid tends to him while screaming for help. And with that, we end another episode on a deeply unnerving note.
As has been the case with the last few episodes, I’m both deeply sympathetic towards and somewhat frustrated by Reid’s actions here. I continue to love the way he’s trying to look out for Luis, and the way he’s trying to stand up to the injustice he’s seeing. It’s all true to form for Reid, and it’s a comforting reminder that prison has yet to destroy his compassion and desire to help others. I’ve also enjoyed the friendship Reid and Luis have kind of cultivated thus far – yeah, Luis kinda keeps to himself as much as he can, but it’s clear he appreciates knowing somebody’s looking out for him and having his back. And it’s great to see Reid in a protective role in turn. Normally he’s the one being looked after, and while I quite like those moments, too, any chance to see him looking after somebody else is always welcome.
The way he’s so intent on protecting Luis has me rather curious, though. Would he be like this if it were any other prisoner being harassed, or is there something about Luis in particular that seems to bring out this intense determination to keep him safe. Does he remind Reid of somebody he knows? Maybe, when he kept visiting Nadie, he met somebody associated with her that he might’ve attempted to help, or did help? Obviously he would try and do whatever he could to help anyone in distress, of course, regardless of who they were, but Reid’s interactions with Luis seem to indicate there’s more to his reasons for wanting to help him that have yet to be revealed. If that’s the case, I’d be very interested to learn what those reasons are.
All of that being said, however, as I noted in my last review, I would really like to see more of Reid actively fighting this prison gang themselves. If he’s going to stick his neck out, he might as well go head on and confront them face to face. Maybe he could’ve tried to talk down the prisoner who was holding Luis hostage at the end. Maybe he could’ve concocted some sort of plan to mess with the gang’s attempt to sneak this stash of theirs into the prison. Just something to indicate he’s using that sharp mind of his to outwit this gang would be great to see.
As for Luis, well, suffice to say I’m horrified by what happened to him at the end of the episode. I was rooting for him to make it out of this whole ordeal alive (especially since it seems he was innocent, just like Reid) and it sucks that it doesn’t look like that will be the case. If Luis must die, however, it’ll be interesting to see how Reid reacts to his death. Will this tragedy cause him to further retreat into his growing feelings of helplessness, or will it finally light a true fire under him, and bring back his fighting spirit once and for all? If the synopsis for the next episode is any indication, it looks like the latter might happen. I hope so, and I hope whatever risks Reid takes ultimately prove helpful to him as well. Time will tell, I suppose.
I’m also troubled by these constant comments throughout this story arc about Reid’s innocence, especially in comparison to that of people like Luis or Shaw. I just can’t help that little fear in the back of my mind that something might happen that either implies or actually proves Reid’s guilt regarding Nadie’s murder. And if that’s the case, I shudder to think of what that could mean for him going forward. It just all feels like unsettling foreshadowing, and as eager as I am to get to the trial and finally have all the answers about Mexico at long last, at the same time...I’m honestly not sure if I want to know what happened.
As for Shaw? Well, as noted, he’s not exactly looking so helpful anymore after this episode. Luke may be new to the team, but he’s proven himself to be a trustworthy, no-BS guy thus far, and his theories about why Shaw did what he did make a lot of sense. And yet, Shaw clearly has a shred of conscience, if he ultimately confessed to his crime, so that’s good, and he keeps trying to advise Reid how to survive in prison, and managed to get the gang to back off beating Reid up again this episode. It’s hard not to agree with him when he chews Reid out for doing something that could put him at risk of getting hurt or, God forbid, killed.
But the question is, is he doing that for Reid’s protection, or because he doesn’t want Reid disrupting whatever system he’s got going? On the one hand, I’m troubled by the thought of Reid befriending somebody who might be secretly trying to screw him over and put him in danger, but on the other hand, I like this ambiguity they’re setting up with Shaw. I think that’s been one of the most interesting aspects of this prison arc so far, and the uncertainty over his trustworthiness adds to the suspense of how this whole thing will play out and resolve itself. And regardless of whether he turns out to be a good guy or a bad guy (or a mix of both!), his scenes with Reid always remain intriguing, especially when they’re at odds over how to proceed in any given situation. They make quite the interesting pair, and there’s enough similarity between them for their connection to make sense.
On that note, I especially loved Luke’s confrontation with Shaw. He did a great job of holding his own against Shaw’s attempts at mind games, and he was as smooth and cool as a cucumber in the way he dissected the details of the case against Shaw. It was neat to see the skills he’d honed as part of the FTF coming into play here alongside his burgeoning profiling skills, and shows that as easygoing as he may often be, he will be dead serious and focused when needed. And, of course, it was great to see him being so protective towards Reid in general. He knew how to be intimidating like Morgan, but in a much more subtle, calmer way that was equally as effective as whatever Morgan would’ve done in this situation.
Reid wasn’t the only person Luke was concerned about this episode, either. He also managed to make a significant breakthrough with another particular team member, one who’s taken a little longer to warm up to him thus far. And I think you all know who that team member is.
Meanwhile, back at Quantico:
“I know I may not be the someone you want to talk to, but I can’t walk away with you like this.”
As the episode begins, we learn that Garcia’s taking Reid’s recent prison attack especially hard, to the point where Luke finds her alone in her office, crying. Aw. Despite her insistence that she’s fine, and her attempts to shoo Luke away, he thankfully chooses to stay and comfort her instead. Aw. He continues his efforts at the end of the episode as well, meeting up with Garcia at the elevator and giving her a squeaky kitty stress toy to help her feel better. It works wonders, and puts a true blue smile on her face. And it gets her and Luke having a genuinely friendly chat, with Garcia admitting she’s glad he’s there, and even going so far as to call him Luke! Yay! It seems the ice has officially completely thawed between these two, and they’re finally starting a proper friendship of their own.
Elsewhere, Stephen does his part to try and get Emily to buck up and think positive about everything regarding Reid. He brings up a case the two of them had worked years before, one that had Emily sweating the outcome, and he reminds her that that case turned out the way they wanted it to. This placates Emily for a brief moment...until she reminds Stephen that the person in that case was found guilty. Not exactly the sort of outcome she’s looking for here.
“That’s why I don’t give pep talks,” Stephen jokes. Gee, thanks?
I very much liked the moments between Luke and Garcia this episode. I’m glad Garcia had somebody there to comfort her as she fretted over Reid, and it makes sense it was Luke. This is a big chance for her to see that Luke cares about her teammates as much as she does. Every other time a new team member has come on board, Garcia’s always been nervous about whether or not they’ll treat “her family” right, and Luke proved that in spades here.
And yet, as always, he still manages to respect whatever space she still wants and needs. Fortunately, that plan seems to be working, and I’m glad that she’s finally feeling much more comfortable around him. There’s only so long Garcia could keep up this front of refusing to make a new friend, after all, and if anything can bond two people together, it’s the desire to protect and help a fellow friend. I can see where some people might feel the banter between them seems like an attempt to recreate the banter she shared with Morgan, and maybe it would be wise for them to kinda hold off on the new nicknames and whatnot for a bit, and just let things continue to unfold organically But banter and nicknames are always going to be Garcia’s thing regardless of who she befriends, and if she and Luke can find their own rhythm and back and forth in the process, I can only see that as a good thing.
Incidentally, my main issue with Garcia this episode wasn’t even tied to Luke, and it wasn’t even her fault so much as that of the writing. For somebody who’d started out the episode crying over Reid’s situation, she seemed to snap back to her usual self awfully quickly during the case. Obviously she needs to retain some level of professionalism, sure, and she always covers up her fears by trying to remain her bright, cheerful self, but after that opening scene, we didn’t really see any other indication of concern in her behavior or voice, or a moment where she kinda seemed distracted. Perhaps she was reassured at some point that Reid was ultimately going to be fine and that helped her feel better, but even then… It just felt a bit jarring, is all.
The same applies to Emily. She seemed awfully casual about the fact that one of her team members and closest friends had just suffered a nasty beating in prison. I’m not saying they have to constantly walk around crying or looking scared, but, like, maybe, when Fiona tells Emily her hands are tied in regards to transferring Reid, that causes some friction between them, because Emily demands Fiona do more. Maybe she gets more snippy on the cases if she feels things aren’t moving fast enough. Maybe we see her figuring out how to work with or go over the higher ups. Something, anything, to show more of the same kind of fighting spirit in them that I want to see with Reid. I’m just not used to seeing these guys appearing so...stalled. Hopefully next week will bring us some major news or changes, one way or another.
What did you think of this episode? Did you sympathize with Trey and all he struggled with? Did the “two possible unsubs” concept work for you? Are you happy to see Garcia and Luke finally getting closer? What do you think of the new revelations about Shaw’s criminal past? Do you have your own theories about what plans, if any, he might have in regards to befriending Reid? And what impact do you think the attack on Luis will have on Reid, and his future in prison? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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