S2E6 - “The Boogeyman”
If you didn’t listen to our last episode, “Aftermath”, you definitely should before continuing with this episode, because there are spoilers! Last episode dealt with a rapist who was targeting women in Dayton Ohio and attempting to impregnate them. The BAU in their infinite wisdom decided to have Elle go undercover to see if the unsub, William Lee, would attack her. Elle, still suffering from the trauma of being almost killed, breaks cover and ruins Lee’s arrest. She then later stalks and murders him, but tells everyone it is self-defense. Nobody knows that she murdered Lee, but Hotch and Gideon suspect her involvement.
We open at FBI headquarters in Quantico Virginia. Elle meets with Hotch to discuss Lee’s case. He advises her that the bureau has cleared her, but advises her that he has ordered a psychological evaluation on her. Elle tells Hotch: “Not everyone’s an unsub.”
Cut to Ozona Texas, we see quick grainy footage of a boy running through the woods. Cut to a group of children: Henry (the oldest), Simon (annoying), Matthews (scaredy cat) and Tracy (played by Elle Fanning). Henry is telling the younger kids that a young boy was tortured and eaten by an evil old man. He then points to a house far off in the distance and says “That evil old man who lives on the hill, and watches us all the time.”
Cut back to the BAU. JJ tells the team that Nicholas Faye was beaten to death roughly 13 hours ago. We learn that a previous victim, Robbie Davis, was killed in the same exact way two months ago. The team prepares to fly to Texas. We learn that Elle skipped her first psych evaluation. Hotch decides to skip Texas and focus on Elle. He sees her leaving a hotel (guess she hasn’t stayed in her home since she was attacked which is understandable). He rings her cellphone, she sees him calling, and dumps her cellphone in the trash. Iconic. She gets into her blue convertible and he tails her.
On the private jet (hey girl) the team discusses the case further. We learn that although they died gruesome deaths, thankfully the two young boys were not sexually assaulted. However, this complicates matters for the BAU, because serial killers who target this age range usually are driven by some sort of sexual component. JJ then gets a phone call, alerting her of another death- this one that of a little girl named Sarah Peterson.
Gideon travels to Nicolas Faye’s crime scene with Ozona police Chief Jones. Because the location is so isolated and there are no signs of a struggle, Gideon determines that the victims knew the unsub and followed him into the woods willingly. Reid and Morgan meet Deputy Mack at the most recent crime scene. The Coroner is there collecting the body, and he informs Reid and Morgan that the unsub continued to beat the latest victim even after she was dead. Reid says: “Suggests the unsub is getting more brazen.” To which the Coroner says: “He’s getting brazen, all right. I’ve bagged three children in the last month.”
Gideon meets with parents at the Ozona Elementary school and gives them a list of precautions to enforce with the BAU is on the case. Also the school’s guidance counselor, James Charles, is there and he is portrayed by Sean Bridges who is one of my favorite horror movies, Jug Face. Meanwhile JJ and Morgan teach children about the Buddy System. There is also a mandatory curfew at 5pm. Nicholas Faye’s mother is the audience and asks if they have found her son’s red hat. The local police have not, meaning that the hat could potentially be a trophy that the unsub has kept.
Cut to the three boys we met earlier. Henry and Simon are daring and peer pressuring Matthew to go up to the scary house they were discussing earlier, and ring the bell. After they bully Matthew into doing it, Henry and Simon then run away leaving him alone at “Ole Man Finnegan’s” house. Cut to the BAU giving the profile.
PROFILE
The unsub is very familiar with the woods and trails, has likely lived in Ozona his whole life
Physically fit
Shy with a kind disposition (yes they really did say that)
Someone people might trust with their own child
Because he targets children might be small in stature himself
Just as things are starting to get good, Matthew’s pregnant mother shows up with Matthew’s younger brother in tow, and tells the BAU that Matthew never came home from school. Matthew’s little brother tells the BAU/police that Matthew went to Ole Man Finnegan’s house. To which Deputy Mack says: “Supposedly he watches the kids from his window. Hunts ‘em, skins ‘em, eats ‘em. Standard.” Morgan is like ??? Why haven’t you told us about this??
Hotch finds Elle at her father’s grave. Hotch questions Elle about what’s been going on. She says: “I really wanted to be a part of the team. But when I needed the team, I was all alone. I was alone in the one place where I have the right to feel safe. And that’s my home. Just like the women in Ohio who were attacked had a right to feel safe in their homes.” Hotch tells Elle he believes that she murdered William Lee, but tells her that he has no evidence. What an ally.
Meanwhile- The Ozona Police / BAU storm Ole Man Finnegan’s house. It’s actually kind of nice inside, considering all the hype we’ve been hearing? Gideon finds Matthew hiding behind an outdoor staircase? He’s fine. Garcia digs into Finnegan’s past- his wife is missing as of 50 years ago, but there are no current police reports that have any credit. Today’s newspaper was delivered to the house, and Reid finds it on the kitchen table, meaning that Finnegan must be around somewhere. Morgan finds backpacks for two out of three of the missing kids in Finnegan’s house. Things are looking pretty bad for Ole Man Finnegan. But then the police locate his corpse- covered by leaves! Our iconic Coroner is back to fill us in on the deets: “It looks like Joseph Finnegan died of natural causes. Those coyotes were gnawing on him for a week.”
Reid later discovers that Finnegan’s wife left him for another man 50 years ago. He would look out the window on a daily basis to see if she’d come home. Awwww. Also Reid calls Finnegan a “reeeecluse” instead of pronouncing it correctly. The BAU determines that the unsub discovered Finnegan’s corpse and had been using his house. The local church was delivering meals to Finnegan’s house as part of an elder care program. And the BAU discover that the unsub has eaten the meals, except not the creamed spinach. The creamed spinach has been taped up with duct tape.
Garcia finds prints from the Ozona Elementary school’s guidance counselor, James Charles, on the trays of food at Finnegan’s house. Chief Jones reveals that James Charles’ wife left him and his son Jeffrey a few months back. The BAU arrest him, and he’s in possession of Nicholas Faye’s red hat.
Morgan questions James Charles. Charles reveals that his prints are on the food trays in Finnegan’s house, because he is one of the people who delivers meals to the elderly. But he can’t explain why he’s in possession of Nicholas Faye’s hat.
The BAU worry that James Charles has been working up to his preferred victim- his own son Jeffrey Charles. However, Reid discovers an epipen in Ole Man Finnegan’s house, and finds that the only dairy product in the fridge has been tapped up with duct tape. The unsub is Jeffrey Charles, the literal child. I guess his stressor is that his father is the guidance counselor and spends more time with other kids than with him. We see him get off the bus with Elle Fanning, and tell her that he’s going to walk her home. And Jeffrey has a baseball bat. Jeffrey attacks Elle Fanning, but she kicks him and runs off. Jeffrey chases her through the woods and is so fucking creepy. “Let’s just go home. I was only playing. Why do you have to be such a baby?”
We see James Charles mouth “I love you” to Jeffrey as he’s driven away in the police car.
Cut back to BAU headquarters- Elle hands in her badge. She is leaving the BAU. She says to Hotch: “This is not an admission of guilt. You know, when I first started this job, the sound of my phone ringing, a call from the bureau, I used to get so excited. The blood would race through my veins. And now, that same sound, it paralyzes me. I’m not the same person anymore. That night at Lee’s, if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Rating Criteria (out of 20)
Criminal/Serial Killer: 15/20
Character development/ character arcs: 20/20
Forensics/Context: 10/20
Script writing: 15/20
Background characters: 20/20
Overall: 80/100