We open in Harringtonville Tensesse where a young boy Wally Brisbane is finishing a vocal lesson with Annie Stuart who is accompanying him on the piano. He’s practicing the song “This Is My Father’s World” which was written by Maltbie Davenport Babcok in 1901. He’s going to perform it at a local Christmas party. Get ready to have this song stuck in your head for the next three weeks. Also, as a vocal teacher, this kid has a pretty voice but lots of throat tension. To diagnose the cause of the tension, normally I’d conduct a full vocal assessment. But based on this brief encounter, I believe the throat tension is caused by the unnecessary jaw movement which is stressing his overall mouth and thus effecting the sound. Wally finishes his lesson with Mrs. Stuart, and her son Charlie walks him home. We see a hooded figure walking towards the Stuart’s house, interspersed with dramatic music, and Mrs. Stuart playing “This Is My Father’s World”. The unsub attacks her, she screams, her head smashes down on the piano. Blood drips onto her music (you can see “This Is My Father’s World” credited to Alex Myers??). We are 2:11 into this episode.

Cut to BAU headquarters in Quantico, VA. JJ introduces the team to the case. She informs the team that it’s been 64 years since Harringtonville has had a homicide, but they’ve had two in the past 48 hours. The first victim was a 57-year-old widower named Paul Thompson, ambushed in his year with 18 stab wounds to the neck and chest. Second victim was Annie Stuart who we saw earlier, she was bludgeoned to death in her home. Both victims homes were burglarized, but only specific items were taken. The BAU is immediately suspecting two different killers. Reid notices impressions of blood left by three circular objects left at both crime scene. Also Gideon is on crutches this episode because he went skydiving, so he has to stay behind.

Cut to Harrington Tennessee. Reid and Elle survey the music teacher’s house. Elle notes that all the items burglarized were taken from the upstairs bedroom, the unsub did not take anything of value and even left the victim’s purse or any of her personal items with included jewelry. This unsub identified with Mrs. Stuart and likely knew her. What was taken were things from the medicine cabinet, leading Reid to believe that a psychotic killer murdered Mrs. Stuart, and then a different unsub came in and burglarized the place looking for drugs. Elle discovers that Wally likely saw at least one of the unsubs from where he was standing during his music lesson. Wally describes the unsub to Elle. The team arrests Dominio Thacker (played by the famous Doug Miller) who confesses to burglarizing both crime scenes.

Back at Quantico, Garcia and Gideon are clashing. Gideon sets up shop in Garcia’s office which throws Garcia off her game. They discover that the unsub took Annie Stewart’s liver and stomach. Gideon realizes that the unsub is taking the blood and organs from the victim’s bodies and putting them in cylindrical containers, which is anthropophagy, literal Greek translation means “Man Eating”.

We see a quick cut of the unsub’s fridge. Tupperware + blood you’re never getting those stains out!

PROFILE

- 20-30 year old male who engages in cannibalism

- A psychotic conviction that he must drink human blood and possibly eat human flesh

- This suggests an extreme level of psychosis and disorganization, unsub could not have ventured far from his home

- Lives or has lived in town

- Not that hard to catch because they don’t try to hide, and will keep killing until he’s discovered

The BAU stakes out Paul Thompson’s funeral. They discuss potential suspects with locals including Sherrif Hall and Mary Mays. They suspect Oley Maynor who was recently released from an institution. The BAU team finds him at his brother’s butcher shop and brings him in for questioning. Oley and his brother Jess have a heart to heart about their living situation.

Cut to Wally Brisbane practicing his singing with his grandmother Lynette Giles. She licks her lips and at first you think she’s the unsub. But then the real unsub shows up, murders grandma and kidnaps Wally. Wally’s parents are incensed. Morgan wonders if the unsub was after Wally all along. Hotch and Reid examine Lynette’s body, noticing that the unsub split her rib cage open with pliers? The unsub took Lynette’s heart. Gideon realizes that the all the organs that have been taken were though to be “the seat of the soul” so the unsub is trying to see the divine.

The unsub returned to the Annie Stewart crime scene, and returned a human stomach. Not sure if it was Annie’s? Reid believes it might be a sign of remorse. Because it’s the Bible Belt, the BAU stakes out churches. Elle and Morgan arrest Eddy Mays at the church they’re arrested at. He is out of his gourd and carrying around Tupperware full of body parts. And screaming. Wouldn’t be a Criminal Minds episode with a good scream. Wally is still missing.

Eddy is severally mentally ill. Hotch says “the ironic thing about psychotic illness is generally they’re less violent then the rest of the population”. And Elle says “but by the nature of psychotic delusions, when they do get violent [it’s worse]”. Sherriff Hall gives the BAU background on Eddy, who was not known by the Sherriff to be violent or mentally ill. The BAU talks to Mary Mays (who they met at the funeral) and who signs a form to allow the BAU to medicate Eddy. Garcia speaks to Eddy’s roommate from college who describes Eddy’s move as over protective and controlling. Apparently she would call Eddy three times a day, and one time Mary Mays drove to Boston to break Eddy and a girlfriend up. Eddy partied constantly, suffered a delusional break due to crack cocaine and meth. While in college he studied comparative religion.

Morgan and Elle search Mary May’s house. They learn that Mary Mays suffers from OCD, you can see in her kitchen all her cooking utensils are cleaned out. There’s a pervasive smell of bleach in the house, and the fridge is empty. Morgan notices blood spatter under the fridge.

Dr. Lindsay medicates Eddy Mays, gives Hotch a stern talking to. She says she medicated Eddy because he needed it, not so the BAU could interrogate him. Hotch is rude to her. But Wally is still MIA. Hotch talks to Eddy who is chewing his fingers. We have to hear that stupid fucking song again. Eddy keeps saying “I brought you an angel” meaning Wally. Eddy attempts to kill himself and is brought to a hospital.

We learn that Eddy was released from a mental facility and Mary Mays never went to pick him up. She also never went to visit her son while he was in the hospital. She also tries to explain the blood on the floor by saying that she cut her legs pruning the roses. To which Hotch says “in the winter??” The BAU uses GPS on Mary’s car to find where Wally is. Hotch takes Mary Mays to the location, she’s wearing pearls and a fur coat. Talking about her proud family line. The BAU finds Wally. He was just left in a shed, it doesn’t look like he was locked in.

Hotch tells Gideon he got on Garcia’s nerves. Gideon is like “Who?” Hotch is like, Penelope, the tech with the glasses. Gideon’s like “Oh she’s great!” Hotch and Gideon discuss Gideon’s bucket list. And we learn that there is someone Gideon has been putting off calling. Hotch convinces Gideon to call this person- we learn it’s his son Stephen.

Rating Criteria

Criminal/Serial Killer: 10/20
Character development/ character arcs: 13/20
Forensics/Context: 13/20
Script writing: 10/20
Background characters: 13/20

Overall: 59/100

S1E11 - “Blood Hungry”

S1E12 - “What Fresh Hell?”

S1E10 - “The Popular Kids”