S2E7 - “North Mammon”
Open on a street in North Mammon, PA. We see a football field and the sounds of emphatic cheering. There is a big football game going on and the town is going NUTS. We then see three girls in a car as they drive. We find out that they are skipping out on the pep rally, and instead going to one of their houses because one of their fathers is out of town for the weekend. They have pizza. One of the girls is coughing, but says she is fine. It is important to note that the “suddenly I see” song from the opening of Devil Wears Prada is playing.
They arrive at the house, and the girl driving & whose house it is (presumably) throws Polly her keys as she brings the trash bins up. The other girls are going inside, and as she approaches the house, suddenly a wire is around her throat. Cut to the inside of the house and Polly is in the shower. As she turns off the water and pulls back the curtain she sees a man with a mask holding up a knife to her friends throat. He says “Do what I say Polly, or Brooke and Kelly die. Now get dressed.”
Cut and we see the three of them in a dark basement. They realize that he somehow knew their names, so they must know him. They agree that they will fight and attack him at once when he comes back. One of the girls shouts “what does he want?” And he says “to choose.” “To choose what?” “Two of you will leave this room alive. One of you will die. You choose.” Title sequence.
Cut to the BAU. JJ has a visitor - Mrs. Homefeld(?). Mrs. H shows JJ a photographer of herself - we find out that JJ used to play soccer, and Mrs. Homefeld is talking about how her daughter Polly is missing - all three, Polly, Brooke and Kelly have been missing for five days and no one seems to care or believe it. All three of them are on a soccer team and Polly has a scholarship to Pen State. Pollly’s mother has to literally beg JJ to get them to take the case. JJ presents it to the team and talks about how she already got in touch with the police chief in North Mammon so that they have already been granted an official request to help them with the case.
JJ introduces the team to each one of the girls. Brooke Chambers, her father Peter is widower. It was at her house that Polly Homefeld and Kelly Seymour were sleeping over at. At 9:35 - 44 seconds apart. both Kelly and Polly called home - they left identical voicemails saying that they were going to go on an impromptu road trip as a last celebration before graduation. Their identical messages ended with “we’ll be back Friday night.” Both calls were made on Brooke’s cellphone, which was then turned off afterward. Morgan is like/: “Okay but they’re on a road trip.” JJ shuts him tf down with a great speech. They realize they have until Friday to find them - two days. Given the specificity of the messages, they know Friday will be an important day.
Cut to North Mammon where they are investigating the Chambers house. They meet Sargent Sykes. He does not believe that the girls are missing - saying that there is nothing out of place in the house, and that Peter Chambers is a lawyer so it isn’t unusual for him to be out of town a lot. He takes pride in the football team doing well - I don’t know anything about sports so ha well….
They meet Chief Yates and he talks about how he’s having a hard time getting literally anyone in North Mammon to actually believe the girls are truly missing. JJ is like okay but Mrs. Homefeld believe it. And he says he wouldn’t put “too much stock” into what Mrs. Homefeld thinks because she “has a history of mental problems” such as “depression” and she “takes medication”. Jesus. JJ is like wow fuck you, and is like she’s a single mom! Despite him being an ass, he says he’d appreciate any help on the case. He also expresses that everyone in this town are his friends and neighbors - everyone knows each other. So he doesn’t want the BAU to go on assuming any of the parents are involved.
Cut to inside the Chambers house, and Morgan confirms that there was no forced entry into the house. Reid explains that there are only two ways to immediately get compliance without the use of force 1) either the threat of force, or 2) previously established trust. From what we saw in the beginning of the episode, we know that it was the threat of force. Morgan says that “Whoever it was took a lot of planning” he goes on to explain that he knew that Mr Chambers would be out of town, and he also knew that the other two girls would have to leave messages for their parents in order to not alarm them. He is either a close family friend or a stalker. Sergeant Sykes says that he does not believe it could have been a stalker - a town with this tight knit of a community that looks out for each other would have noticed a stalker. Gideon says that it has to have been someone in the community - and he would have needed as spot to watch them.
Hotch is speaking with the parents of the girls. Kelly’s dad is in denial that she’s missing and argues that she probably just ran off. He goes on to say that this is plausible because its a football town - her brother plays football. She’s on the girls soccer team. And essentially says that she’s just not as important. Her mom - his wife standing next to him - is like “and that should sit right with her?” and they get into a spat. Its shitty.
We cut back to Gideon and he is across the street trying to find where outside the unsub could have been watching the house from. They find a spot - its like a community basketball court - and Gideon notices a lot of cigarettes on the ground. They snatch them up and send them to Garcia so she can run a DNA test on them. Chief Police is having a hard time believing that it could have been someone from the community. We cut back to the police headquarters - Hotch is surprised that they aren’t going to be cancelling the football game when there are three girls from the town missing, but JJ explains that it is a football town, and “Dont you know? They can play football without girls.” their conversation is interrupted when Chief Yates reports that they just found Brooke’s car.
Cut and we’re back in the basement with the girls. We learn that Brooke is now running a fever, and Polly is sitting with her trying to make her feel better. Kelly is kind of becoming a raging bitch? She’s being all “we’re all hungry! We’re all cold!”. The group dynamic is starting to get bad. “Guys this is what he wants!” - Brooke says - this is a pet peeve. Brooke talks about how he’s trying to break them down with sensory deprivation and it’s going to start working on them soon.
Cut back to the BAU and they are investigating Brooke’s car. Morgan points out that it was left somewhere in town where it would eventually be found - so the unsub intentionally did this. This also confirms that this was not a spontaneous road trip. Cut and the BAU shares the profile with the police station
The Profile - PREDATORY ABDUCTOR
The person they’re looking for spent considerable time and energy planning the abduction
He did not do all this work to just simply kill the girls - if he wanted to kill them, he would’ve just done that at the Chambers’ house.
He had Kelly and Polly reference “Friday”. The BAU thinks the Unsub has something planned for the night of the championship game.
The BAU is certain that the Unsub is someone from the North Mammon community.
Peter Chambers walks in and is all “how do you know it is someone from the community?”, and Gideon replies by saying because the Unsub didn’t have Brooke leave him a message, the Unsub knew that he was going to be out of town, much like how he knew the place he dumped the car would eventually be found. Gideon explains that everything this unsub is doing is giving him time - but we don’t know what he needs this time for. Peter Chambers starts to flip shit. Now we get a little bit more of a profile…
Profile - PREDATORY ABDUCTOR
Patient
Intelligent
Cautious
They like to watch everything - the victims, the families and the police.
He might attempt to inject himself into the investigation
The prepare a “nest” prior to the abduction - a remote cabin, an underground bunker, a secret secure place that only he has access to.
He has a job or relationship that permits him to get close enough to watch them
A family member, a teacher, a next door neighbor - it will sound clichéd, but the person you least suspect.
And for this specific case - they are looking for someone who was not at the pep rally.
Gideon requests that if the pep rally was videotaped that they gain access to the recording so that they can look through and see who was/wasn’t there. Goobs says he just received a phone call from Gacia and the DNA on the cigs matched up with someone named Donald Haas - Donald is the girls’ soccer coach - who Chief Yates does not remember being at the pep rally. We cut to soccer practice where Haas is telling the team they need to stay strong, and Peter Chambers runs outta nowhere with a pipe?? And starts just absolutely wailing on Haas in front of the girls. Per Shermar Moore’s one tackle an episode contract, he runs and leaps, tackling Peter Chambers and separating him from Haas.
Cut back to the basement and Polly is still trying to keep Brooke’s spirits up. She is getting more sick. They trying to talk soccer. Kelly is trying to “come up with solutions Brooke” and does not care that Brooke is sick. Brooke quietly says to Polly “she has a plan” about Kelly, and Polly is like “why hasn’t she told us?” Brooke replies with “because I’m not sick enough yet”. Cut and we see a Garbage man pull a soccer jersey out of a trashcan. Cut back to the police station and Gideon is interviewing/interrogating Hass. Gideon explains that they found his DNA on the cigs in front of the Chambers house, but Haas is like okay but I didn’t leave them there. Gideon be like THEN WHO DID. and Haas be like IDK.
Cut and we see the Garbage man turning in the jersey he found to the police and Morgan. They also get a guest registry of the guests staying at the hotel that the trashcan belonged to. We find out that Peter Chambers stays there once a month but pays cash so that the hotel dude is chill with him using a false name, and will look the other way about it. Cut and we see Hotch questioning Peter Chambers. Chambers seems to emphatically believe that it was Don Haas, saying that he is the only one in this town “capable” of doing such a thing. Turns out Chambers has some dirt on Haas - six years ago Chambers helped Haas out when he was arrested for soliciting an underage prostitute. He helped him out because they had been friends for 30 years and played football together - and because has swore it was a one time thing. Now chambers is appalled at himself for having helped get this expunged from Haas’s record and allowing him to work with kids.
After the questioning, the BAU is talking and Goobs points out that it feels “grossly inconsistent” that this detailed and methodical of an unsub would just leave a pile of his DNA to be found. But before they can unpack this even more, JJ shows up and reveals that Haas was in fact at the pep rally, and he can be seen on the recording. Hotch returns to Haas to explains that he has an alibi, but that they know he wasn’t actually in Philly and was a t the hotel. And this is where we find out that SURPRISE. MEETING UP WITH HIS GAY LOVER. Glen Donoghue.
So now the police Chief Yates is like well. We have nothing. Back to square one. And Gideon is like “WEHAVE THE BEHAVIOR.” WE HAVE THE COUNTERMEASURE HE’S BEEN TAKING”. And the people he is implicating vs not implicating are equally important! Just as important as the people he has abducted! So they decide to bring in the families of everyone - which feels a little overdue. Everyone but Hotch and Gideon leave the conference room, and they have a short conversation saying that he unsub is ahead of them - they both have a bad feeling about it.
Now we’re back in the basement. Kelly is telling Polly that Brooke is dying - so ya know, they might as well make their choice. Is she really dying though? Is she? Polly is like NO SHES NOT. they fight - Polly is like we aren’t sacrificing her, how do we even know he’s going to really let us go? Kelly convinces Polly by scaring her - talking about how she’ll never see her single mother ever again. So their only choice is to tell their captor that they’ve made a choice and the choice is sacrificing Brooke. They call out to him and two hammers fall down the stairs. This is horrifying. And they realize that not only do they have to choose - they also have to be the ones to kill her. Brooke is semi conscious of what is happening.
Hotch briefs the families on what is going on - saying that the unsub is someone that they know. The families begin fighting off the bat - calling Mrs. Homefeld out on her medication etc. Cut and we see Polly and Kelly leaving the basement covered in blankets. Polly has blood on her face but we don’t see Kelly’s face. The parents keep fighting and is intercut with their clearly traumatized daughters getting in the unsubs car and being driven presumably home. The parents are talking about how since Peter Chambers is gay its gods punishment that their daughters are missing. Kelly’s parents are AWFUL.
JJ shuts them up. Saying what is the matter - this is exactly what he wants. Again i have a pet peeve with that - but JJ is right here. She scolds them on fighting with each other. We see the Unsub let Polly out of the car and hand her her cellphone. (Can she see his face?) While in the conference room Hotch begins telling them that they gotta go through their histories and figure out who it is - but they get a phone call from Garcia and she alerts them that Brooke’s phone just turned on and they have a location. They realize she is literally right out side of the police station. Here they see that it is only two girls. Polly is so traumatized, and then BROOKE says “Its not her blood”. Its BROOKE SUPER SICK BROOKE NOT KELLY.
Cut and the girls have been brought inside, drinking water. Polly and Brooke can hardly speak as they question them on what tf happened. Brooke says that it wasn’t Polly’s fault - she didn’t do anything. Now Kelly’s father is actually being helpful - he points out to JJ that they all played on the football team together when they were in high school. JJ grabs an old championship photo and shows it to Polly, asking if the unsub is in the photograph. Cut back to Brooke and she explains what happened - through a flashback. In the fb Kelly is trying to talk Polly into helping her literally kill Brooke. While this is happening, Brooke stands up and hits Kelly in the back of the head, killing her. Its horrifying. She’s crying while she does it.
Gideon is like “you killed her?” And she replies with: “I didn’t have a choice. But it wasn’t Polly’s fault - it was him, he made us choose.” but she says she never saw him. Cut back to Polly and she says “he made us choose” and she points to a man in the front row. Morgan realizes that it was the garbage man from earlier who found the jerseys. Kelly’s dad explains that he is Marcus Younger - he was the star player back when they were at the championship but he blew his knee out during the first quarter? And lost his scholarship to Notre Dame. So that was his trigger?
They zoomie over to arrest him and find him in the storm cellar under the house. Morgan jumps down there and they see him sitting pretty next to Kelly’s body. He says “I never touched her. I never hurt them. I never even came into the room, Jeff. they did this. Brooke and Polly. All I did was show them who they really are, what they are truly capable of. People pretending to be decent. When it came down to it, they uh...they reacted jut the way I knew they would. They turned on each other. Just like when I got hurt. You all couldn’t wait to run over me, to take my position. To take my life...and to forget all about me.”
They put cuffs on him and he says “You don’t know what its like Jeff. You all had lives, a nd I just clean up after you. And now you have to clean up after me”.
Now we’re on the jet. JJ gets the end quote. Hotch and JJ talk a little, she talks about the pressure of small towns and reveals she played to get an athletic scholarship to leave the town. Hotch says he was very impressed with her work and she could even be a profiler, but JJ has no interest in that. She says she likes her role. Hotch is surprised because he thought everyone wanted to be a profiler. JJ shows that she’s the only who truly makes the decision of which cases they choose.
Rating Criteria (out of 20)
Criminal/Serial Killer: 20/20
Character development/ character arcs: 20/20
Forensics/Context: 20/20
Script writing: 20/20
Background characters: 20/20
Overall: 100/100