My Top 20 Favorite Criminal Minds Episodes
No matter how hard life might be right now, at least we’re not being gutted by a serial killer. (If you ARE, then I’m really sorry. This article isn’t for you) That thinking has gotten me through some tough times in my life, like when my husband battled cancer a few years ago, and now when it seems like the world has gone to hell in a hand basket. Criminal Minds reruns have become a mainstay for me — it makes me feel better about my own life.
My day job is considered non-essential — so, like many of you, I am stuck at home until further notice. What else am I going to do but make a list of my favorite episodes of this amazing show?
Criminal Minds recently ended its 15-season run; I’m still in a slight state of mourning, so be kind to me. I’ve watched this show from the beginning. The characters seem like my friends, and I already miss them… especially since I can’t see my living friends during these stay-at-home mandates.
Luckily, the show lives on forever in reruns.
What is the criteria to make it into my Top 20? If I’ve watched it more than 10 times and/or if whenever it’s on TV while I’m flipping channels, I’ll stick around and watch the rest.
You may notice I don’t have any favorites from the past few seasons; in my opinion, the earliest seasons were the best. The show redeemed itself these last two seasons although none of my Top 20 were chosen from them.
In chronological order, here are my Top 20 favorite episodes.
1 . LDSK
Season 1, episode 6
Blurb: The team scrambles to catch a sniper who preys on people in the middle of the day (at least he was practicing social distancing). When they suspect the unsub is in law enforcement, things get extra dicey.
Why I like it so much: The thought of being in someone’s crosshairs — being hunted — just freaks me out. This episode had some great twists, , and I loved the “fight” between Hotch and Spencer. “I was a twelve-year-old child prodigy in a Las Vegas public high school. You kick like a nine-year-old girl,” Spencer tells Hotch.
2. Profiler, Profiled
Season 2, episode 12
Blurb: When Morgan is arrested and charged with murder, the BAU team learns about some troubling aspects of his past as they strive to prove his innocence.
Why I like it so much: I love everything Morgan, so it was fun watching him have an episode written around him. We learned about his tragic childhood, and it was heartbreaking.
3. Open Season
Season 2, episode 22
Blurb: When bodies of missing people are discovered in the Idaho wilderness, the BAU soon determines the unsubs are hunting people for sport.
Why I like it so much: Humans being hunted again. This is one of the creepier episodes — when the agents found the bodies hanging in the trees… Yikes. Even though the unsubs were horrible people and had been raised to be socially distant, you kind of felt sorry for them in the end because they didn’t know any better.
4. Big Game/Revelation (two parter)
Season 2, episodes 14 and 15
Blurb: The BAU investigates when someone places 911 calls quoting Bible passages seconds before murders occur. When Reid is kidnapped and a live feed of him being tortured is broadcast on the internet, the team races to find the serial before it’s too late.
Why I like it so much: One of the best villains in all of Criminal Minds — poor, twisted and confused Tobias Hankal. But the biggest reason I love this this two-parter is Spencer!!!! I just wanted to crawl through the screen and rescue him myself (wearing gloves and an N95 mask, of course… if they were in stock on Amazon).
5. Lucky/Penelope (two parter)
Season 3, episodes 8 and 9
Blurb: A cannibalistic serial killer scrambles the BAU and forces Morgan to question his faith. Garcia is romanced by a hottie, but their first date ends when he shoots her. What a jerk — talk about a mood killer. The second part of the episode is the race to find the shooter before he can finish what he started.
Why I like it so much: This was another super creepy and disturbing episode, which was why I loved it, of course. “God is inside all of us,” says the priest to the killer. The cannibal replies, “So is Tracy Lambert.” OMG! Every time I’m tempted to eat chili from a food truck, I think of Feylinn’s Fine Bar-B-Q.
6. Damaged
Season 3, episode 14
Blurb: A brutal murder of two parents, witnessed by their three young children, has haunted Agent Rossi for years. He goes off to solve it on his own, being smart about social distancing, but his team rushes in to help him solve it, whether he wants their help or not.
Why I like it so much: I’m addicted to shows about unsolved murders and cold cases. Those with happy endings are even better.
7. Masterpiece
Season 4, episode 8
Blurb: A serial killer turns himself in to the BAU and challenges them to find and save five people he has kidnapped and hidden…before it’s too late.
Why I like it so much: Another all-time favorite villain. Jason Alexander was outstanding as the narcissistic psychopath, Henry Grace. My favorite part was the suspenseful twist at the end, and the way the team outsmarted the unsub. Like you really thought Rossi wouldn’t be able to read right through his tricks? But..how many masks were destroyed in the making of this show? If they only knew then what we know now.
8. Brothers in Arms
Season 4, episode 10
Blurb: A serial killer targets police officers in Phoenix
Why I like it so much: This episode probably affected me more than almost any other episode because it involved the death of police officers. I love our men and women in blue. I’ve probably watched this episode more than any other one, and I still tear up when the officer says he was too scared to get a good look at the shooter. And “I’m still scared,” he said. The two twists at the end were pretty satisfying.
9. Zoe’s Reprise
Season 4, episode 18
Blurb: A young criminology student clues the BAU into a copycat serial killer murdering people in her town, and then falls prey to him herself.
Why I like it so much: Zoe was such a likeable character, the first time I saw this episode I thought she’d end up becoming part of the team or something. But no. They killed her off! This unsub was really creepy too, particularly because he just looked like a normal guy. When he locked the gate behind him in that yard with Zoe, I wanted to yell, “Stay six feet away from her!” In an odd coincidence, the actor who played the unsub turned out to be a killer in real life when he murdered his landlady.
10. Uncanny Valley
Season 5, episode 12
Blurb: The team investigates an unsub who is abducting women and turning them into living (and dying) dolls.
Why I like it so much: Isn’t it every girl’s dream to turn their friends into living dolls and stitch their wigs right onto their skin?! That’s taking the stay-at-home mandate just a little too far. Yet this unsub was sympathetic because she wasn’t trying to hurt anyone — she was just lonely. And severely mentally disturbed, of course.
11. Mosley Lane
Season 5, episode 16
Blurb: The BAU investigates a kidnapper who’s been abducting and keeping children for more than eight years.
Why I like it so much: This one was good on so many levels. A horrible and creepy couple has been taking children for years and keeping them in a dirty basement fortress, and god only knows what they’ve done to them. While this one has a happy ending when some of the children are reunited with their parents, it was so heartbreaking for the one couple to learn their son — who’d been kidnapped years ago — had just died the day before. “He was alive yesterday?” the anguished father asked. Gawd! Heartbreaking. I also love a good redemption story — the mother of the boy who’d been kidnapped eight years ago was convinced this whole time her son was still alive. Nobody believed her. Everyone thought she was crazy. Her husband even divorced her because of her obsession. Well, she was right all along!
12. JJ
Season 6, episode 2
Blurb: The BAU works on a case of a missing girl. Two young men are in police custody, but their stories aren’t consistent and the team knows they’re being played.
Why I like it so much: This was JJ’s last episode (until she returned again later), so every scene with her was bittersweet. The plot was really good too — made me think of Natalie Holloway, who disappeared while on a tropical vacation with friends. Like Natalie, this victim was last seen in the company of two young men. These unsubs were really well done. And the happy ending — where the victim had simply been practicing social distancing by hanging onto a large buoy way out in the middle of the ocean — was a nice surprise.
13. Into the Woods
Season 6, episode 9
Blurb: When a child is found murdered on the Appalachian Trail and another is kidnapped, the BAU is called in to help.
Why I like it so much: Little kids are kidnapped and then later found safe, so what’s not to like about that? There are also some really creepy underpinnings — the unsub is pure evil and did some unspeakable things.
14. 25 to Life
Season 6, episode 11
Blurb: Morgan recommends that a prisoner is ready for parole, then the man murders someone days after being released.
Why I like it so much: I love redemption stories, and stories where innocent people are jailed and later released. This episode has all of that plus an evil politician who gets nailed by the BAU.
15. Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Season 7, episode 9
Blurb: The BAU investigates after an apparent mass suicide at an elite military academy.
Why I like it so much: I like stories where the supposed bad guy is actually the good guy, and the good guys are actually the bad guys.
16. Foundation
Season 7, episode 18
Blurb: When an emaciated boy is found wandering the Arizona desert and another boy goes missing, the Morgan uses a tragedy from his past to bond with the rescued boy while the BAU races to save the other.
Why I like it so much: As I mentioned earlier, I like stories with kidnapped kids later found safe. And I loved the relationship between Morgan and the rescued boy — it’s heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.
17. The Company
Season 7, episode 20
Blurb: When Morgan’s long-thought-dead cousin resurfaces, the BAU needs to figure out why she would willingly stay with her captor for all those years, and must save her before she goes off the radar again.
Why I like it so much: Morgan is center stage. Extra creepy yet charismatic unsub who took the term social distancing a little too literally. A kidnap victim who willingly signs a slave contract. A Stepford Wives vibe. All good stuff.
18. Hit/Run (two parter)
Season 7, episodes 23 and 24
Blurb: The BAU battles wits with a gang of serial-killing bank robbers in the nation’s capital. The stakes rise when one of their own is wounded and becomes a hostage.
Why I like it so much: The plotline was good, but it’s the relationship between JJ and Will that makes this episode a favorite. He’s held hostage, she’s panicked but still manages to kick some serious bad-guy ass, and they have a super romantic wedding in the end. “Ask me again,” a relieved JJ says to Will once they’re reunited. “Jennifer Jareau, will you marry me?” Ahhh. Love those two.
19. Entropy
Season 11, episode 11
Blurb: Reid goes toe to toe with a beautiful hit woman, with each trying to outsmart the other before anyone else dies.
Why I like it so much: An entire episode focused on Spencer Reid, need I say more? Plus, the chemistry between him and the hit woman is pretty spectacular.
20. Exit Wounds
Season 5, episode 21
Blurb: Garcia follows the BAU team to a small, remote town in Alaska to catch a serial killer, and the locals decide to take justice into their own hands.
Why I like it so much: The setting is the biggest draw for me — the cinematography of Alaska is gorgeous. Garcia plays a big role in this episode, too, which makes it extra good. They arrest the wrong person, and while that person is in jail, another heartbreaking murder takes place. Good stuff. (Yes, I’m totally warped.)
Honorable Mentions:
· The scenes where Spencer and Morgan play practical jokes on each other. (Season 11, “Painless”)
· The scene where JJ and Will are introduced as a couple. Swoon! (Season 3, “In Heat”)
· The episode where Hotch’s wife is murdered. Yikes. Powerful episode, but I only watched it once. Couldn’t watch it again. (Season 5, “100”)
