We open on a creepy man eating steak in Tampa Florida. We see a close shot of him eating the steak. He says: “I was really hoping you’d get your appetite back. You’re gonna need to eat. You’re gonna need your strength.” We cut to a woman who is clearly gagged and tied up, watching him eat.

We cut to BAU Headquarters in Quantico Virginia. Morgan thinks Elle has a boyfriend. JJ introduces the team to a four murders that occurred over the past two months along Florida’s Central Gulf Coast. All victims were tortured and then drowned in hotel bathtubs. Gideon apparently consulted with law enforcement in Florida, and they were able to match DNA evidence at the four crime scenes to Mark Gregory. Gregory was romantically involved with the first victim, and know the last three as acquaintances. He is the unsub. However, Mark Gregory ran away before he could be arrested and is still out on the loose killing people! Gregory has been missing for 36 hours, and has kidnapped is latest victim, Nicole Wegener. Unlike the other four victims, Gregory did not have any previous relationship with Nicole.

Profile: MARK GREGORY

- Single white man

- 38 years old

- Graduated from FSU

- Started his own Real Estate Company

- Frequently travels for work around the country / overseas

- Worked as a chef at a French restaurant

- Staff photographer / then started working with models

Profile: DROWNER

- Used different methods of torture for each victim

- Drowning was the only constant (unsub’s signature)

- Classified as wet drownings- the victims were alive when submerged

- Drowning is used as a “purification ritual”

Hotch and Elle talk to Gregory’s previous business partner Hank Bloomberg. Mr. Bloomberg says that his Gregory’s best friend and that he does not believe Gregory is guilty. Says that Gregory is a lady’s man and was previous married and then swore off marriage. Garcia and Morgan later discover that Gregory’s marriage lasted only 23 days. Garcia is trying to find Gregory’s ex, but she’s in hiding.

Reid and Gideon go to Gregory’s house, which is a “typical bachelor pad”. He’s got expensive furniture. He’s got catalogs for police/ workmen uniforms. They also find fake driver’s licenses. Reid says: “This guy is a chameleon he can adapt to any challenge”.

We cut back to Gregory and Nicole. We see that Gregory has just drowned Nicole. He seems very calm and composed, gets a knock at his hotel room door for room service. He’s like “come on in” and calls Nicole his wife. He tells the busboy that she’s taking a hot bath. He’s emptied is bank accounts and put his dogs in a kennel- the BAU is certain that he’s left the area and is not coming back.

As Gregory is now on the run, he’s classified as a spree killer…

Profile: SPREE KILLER

- Goes through two phases, guided and random

- Guided means that this killer will stay in his comfort zone and regular geographic area until he breaks down

- In the guided phase there is usually a final destination in mind

- Like Edmund Kemper and Andrew Cunan- they saved their most meaningful kills for last

- When the random phase begins, the kills seem to be without design

- Less time in between them (rapid escalation)

- At that point the unsub has lot total control

- As he devolves he’s going to take fewer victims and become harder to track (less torture / more time spent on what gives him sexual release, i.e- drowning)

- Most spree kills end by suicide by cop

Nicole Wegner’s body is found in Georgia. Elle and Morgan go to visit the crime scene. Apparently Gregory is super familiar with Georgia and set up businesses there, so the BAU is still considering this his comfort zone and these moves as part of his guided phase. However, crossing state lines- now it’s a nation wide search. Elle and Morgan investigate Nicole’s crime scene. They discover that Gregory used a photographer rouse to abduct Nicole.

We see Gregory, dressed as an airplane captain, trolling an airport parking garage for his next victim.

Garcia found Gregory’s ex-wife- she’s still in Florida. Hotch talks to her, we never get her name. She tells him that she’s surprised that the BAU found her- she paid a lot of money to have her past erased. She is NOT surprised that Gregory is a serial killer. She confides that Gregory stalked her for a few years after their marriage annulment. States that during their marriage Gregory was controlling and manipulative. He thought she was constantly cheating on her.

Reid and Gideon talk to Gregory’s father, Doug Gregory, who believes in his son’s innocence. Doug Gregory tells the BAU that Gregory’s mother, Elizabeth, died in a car accident. There are no pictures of personal effects of Elizabeth around the house. Reid and Gideon ask Doug why Gregory seems to blame his mother and targets women. Doug Gregory says there’s no reason, he says that Gregory and Elizabeth were very close.

We cut back to Gregory, who has abducted his next victim (possibility with the pilot rouse). They’re in a hotel room, and he is in the process of torturing her. JJ holds a press conference to alert the rest of America about Gregory? The BAU realizes that they have to figure out why Gregory drowns as part of his signature to find out why he kills.

Elle and Morgan head to South Carolina where the find Gregory’s latest victim. Not sure if we ever get her name? The BAU determines that Gregory spent the least amount of time with her and did not know her at all. He is beginning to devolve, moving towards the random part of his spree. Garcia determines from hospital records that Gregory was in the car crash with his mother Elizabeth. Gregory uses a rouse and abducts victim Allyson Glenham.

Reid and Giden question Doug Gregory again. They find out that Gregory’s mother was having an affair, and would sometimes take young Gregory to the hotel with her. Doug Gregory never took his son to therapy.

A motel employee catches Gregory in the act of drowning his latest victim, Allyson, in a pool. Gregory pretends that his wife is drowning and runs off, and Allyson survives! We later learn this happened in Tennessee.

Reid and Gideon share their suspicions with the rest of the team that Gregory’s first victim was his mother. Gregory would have been 10 at the time. Gideon says: “Mark Gregory was a child, but he was old enough to understand what his mother was doing. He was protecting a weak, impotent, passive-aggressive father who wanted his wife dead. He read the old man like a book and lived the life he couldn’t.” Based off the car accident reports and Elizabeth Gregory’s death certificate, the car crashed into a lake. The crash alone would not have been enough to kill Gregory’s mother, so Gideon thinks Gregory held his mother’s head under water and drowned her.

We see Gregory abducted his next victim in a mall parking lot- Kelly Dalton. In the car with Gregory Kelly, an absolute icon says: “Do you want money or something? Because I’ve got a rich husband and I know he’d pay a lot to get me back.” The BAU determines that Gregory is taking Kelly to the lake where he murdered his mother. Gregory devolves further and starts talking to Kelly like he’s her mother. Absolute icon Kelly crashes the car on purpose and honks the horn for help. She then gets out of the car and runs away. Gregory blitz attacks her and tries to drag her into the lake, but she fights back.

Gregory drags her into a lake, Kelly grabs a poker she finds in the water and hits Gregory. The BAU shows up and shoots Gregory- and Kelly is saved. Pretty sure that Kelly had it under control though.

Rating Criteria:

Criminal/Serial Killer: 20/20
Character development/ character arcs: 10/20
Forensics/Context: 15/20
Script writing: 18/20
Background characters: 20/20

Overall: 83/100

S1E20 - “Charm and Harm”

S1E21 - “Secrets and Lies”

S1E19 - “Machismo”