We see kids at a playground, so we know things aren’t gonna be pretty. We are in Quiet Hills Park, Annapolis MD. there is a slight chance I’ve been there? We see kids on swings, and there is a man walking through the park, but we don’t see his face. We see teenagers playing with a football, and theres a young girl on a bike – her friend is like “abby, wait up!” NOW WAIT A MINUTE. The man walking in the park ominously drops some grass onto the grass? And then a fine white powder that dissipates around.

The scene cuts and we see a lady ferociously coughing as she puts her kid to sleep. She’s like: “sorry baby, I must’ve caught something when I was out”, and she touches her kid on the forehead and realizes he is burning up. Also guys, its frail TB hours – she checks her handkerchief? Or tissue? And there is some super sticky-looking blood in there. Now we see another young guy – one we saw at the park – sweaty and coughing. One of the girls who was there stumbles into the ER and she is coughing up blood – ITS ABBY. and a BUNCH of the young people at the park are there.

The BAU walks in and they are like, bro what the fuck. The army is there. JJ introduces them to Dr. Linda Kimura, Chief of Special Pathogens with the CDC, so uh! Relevant! We learn that the night before, 25 people checked into emergency rooms in and around Annapolis. All of them had been at the same park after 2pm. Within 10 hours the first victim died. It is now just past 7am the following day, and 12 people have died. The symptoms were lung failure and black lesions. Morgan suggests Anthrax, but Reid points out that anthrax doesn’t kill that fast – however, Dr Kimura points out that this particular strain does.

Prentis asks what they’re doing about mass attacks, such as malls, trains, etc, but apparently there has been a media black out – they're not telling the public, because of the psychology of mass panic causing more deaths than the attack. Um!! Reid also points out that the person who did this may also go underground and destroy their samples. Prentis has a really good points, which is that if they don’t get attention, this unsub may also attack again. So its a bit of a catch22. Hotch says that if there is another attack, then the public will definitely find out, so their best mode of operation now is to build a profile as fast as they can.

Dr Kimura tells them that the spores on this strain of anthrax have been weaponized, reduced to a respiratory ideal that attacks deep in the lungs. It is odorless and invisible. It is sophisticated so only a scientist would know how to do that. Dr. Kimura also says she is not concerned about the lesions, it is the lungs, because once it is inside you, they don’t know how to combat it. It is very likely they may lose all of the patients. Shit is bleak. So they are gonna be working with military doctors, and the patients will be transferred to Walter Reid. The team takes cipro (which I guess is an anti-anthrax drug?) that everyone has to take before visiting the crime scene/seeing patients; however, they don’t even know if it is effective against this strain. But hey, placebo? Right? They all take the drugs and shit is bleak.

Back at the BAU Reid asks JJ for some files. Reid is about to go to the hospital, but first he wants to read up about their medical history. They keep referencing the anthrax letter incidents of 2001. JJ gets freaked out over a 7 month old who had contracted the illness from someone, and Reid is like, not really paying attention, he starts to leave before answering her question about whether or not the baby survived – he did, but that was also a curable strain, what they currently are dealing with is not.

The general is arriving – apparently there is some bad blood with him because he was very critical of how the 2001 anthrax incident was handled. Hotch talks about how there are some international terrorist cells who have the capabilities to come up with this, but this is a domestic case, so they need to look into anyone who could benefit from this, such as people who have patents on anthrax vaccines. Additionally, they asks Garcia to look into anyone who would have access to these weaponized spores, such as universities, scholars working in bioweapons research, people in labs, etc.

The General arrives, and he says that they do not have anyone working in the labs who has access to the additives in the spores. He and Hotch low key get into a spat pretty much immediately, because Hotch is like, okay so we can rule out your lab samples, but we cannot rule out your people. The General begrudgingly leaves to retrieve the list of people who work in the lab to give to the BAU.

Reid and Linda go to visit Abby. She is not doing well. Reid says he would like to do a memory recall exercise with her, if she’s feeling up to it. Anytime Spencer, anytime. She agrees…he asks her to describe the people, the atmosphere – she says it was warm, windy, there were the guys who were playing football. Then she says, “I see free…me seen fee me. Free nee…sin knee.” so uh, she’s not doing well. Dr Linda Kimura is like, its okay, just rest now, but then Abby continues, “Me mock fee key me free”. They leave, and Reid asks what is causing her aphasia, and Dr Linda Kimura says “the poison is infecting the parietal lobe, impairing her speech. Some of the other patients displayed the same symptoms shortly before they died.” Additionally, none of the drug combinations are working – morphine is really the only thing that is making any difference. So uh, this is bad news right? Did their prophylactic drug do any help at all?

At the park, Prentis and Morgan are greeted by a worker in a hazmat suit. He tells them that they’ve been telling the public there is a methane buildup in the sewage system, and that is keeping people away. He also says that the hot spots have been neutralized, so Morgan and Prentis are safe. Prentis is like, Uh are you sure? And he says yes, but then, why is he wearing a hazmat suit? Morgan and Prentis start walking the area – identifying where the highest rates of infection in the area were. They note that it is odd that this park was the target – usually these kinds of attacks would be more symbolic – the white house, the pentagon. This is a nice park, but its not a symbol. Prentis suggests that its maybe a symbol for the unsub, so maybe there is a personal motive to this place that he has targeted. So how is this park symbolic?

Back at the hospital a 38yo high school teacher has died – 17 out of 25 have died. And apparently the strain is duplicating, every 30 - 45 minutes. It is poisoning the lungs, causing massive hemorrhaging and organ failure. Extreme bacterial amplification. Reid expresses that whoever created this had to at some point go through the trouble of testing it – with how scientists test things – starting with rodents and then to people, there is no way this was his first trial on humans. Linda says that they would’ve heard of a previous anthrax attack, however Reid is like, not if it presented as something else.

At the BAU JJ is freaking out. She says that Will always walks him out in Potomac park, and what kind of mother is she if she doesn’t at least warn him. Homie, those are two whole different counties, its probably fine. Hotch is like, well tough, you cant. Rossi comes in and tells them they need to call Reid, as he has already told Rossi about his theory of this not being the first attack. On the phone Reid says Kimura made some calls, and it turns out that two days ago, in two separate Baltimore ERs, and one in Philly both slipped into comas and died suddenly. COD for all was meningitis, however the doctors didn’t test for anthrax because it did not present as anthrax, however, meningitis can be caused by anthrax. They also did not all present the same symptoms – such as the lesions because they all died before they could have started presenting those symptoms. They all died within 3 hours. Hotch is like okay but our first patient here died within 10 – However, Reid is like, true but, if they had inhaled a higher concentration, they would’ve died sooner, organ failure without exterior physical symptoms.

They give Garcia the names of these individuals who died, and she starts trying to find similarities between them all. They find a connection between two – one of the deceased made a purchase at a bookstore owned by another one of the men who died. The team immediately zoomies on over there. So we see a bunch of guys in hazmats go into the bookstore and investigate. This place is testing hot for anthrax, so this was definitely the testing ground.

Hotch gets a phone call and says that there are problems containing the story, so they may need to make an announcement that night. He asks Rossi what they got from the bookstore – and basically nothing. No grievances at the store, so science background, nothing.

So they deliver a profile full of SAT words:

Because the locations being hit are not symbolically significant, we believe they are personal.
- Understanding the significance of these locations will be key in identifying him
This personal element strongly indicates a home-grown terrorist

Like the Amerithrax case, this is likely someone from the science or defense community
- It may be one of us!
These home-grown terrorists are myopic zealots, ideologues that believe their work is of the greatest importance
He may have preached about the threat of an attack on America
His coworkers would describe him as histrionic, paranoid, secretive.

The military & general are like, um, okay what are we even supposed to do with this? Its a little vague. And the BAU is like, hold ya horses, we aren’t done being pretentious!

Continued…

He may have logged excess hours at work in the past weeks before the attack
We believe he’s taken the full dosage of anthrax vaccines over the recommended 18-month schedule and had yearly boosters
He has his own work space where he makes his product in privacy
He also has access to large, expensive, industrial grade equipment at work
He has written about the threats of anthrax attacks, published papers. Yet he feels no one is listening, and that angers him.
Recently he may have experienced some sort of professional humiliation, like being demoted or fired, and that would have been his trigger
He may have betrayed his loved ones for his cause, he may be recently separated or divorced
Someone who knows every detail of the 2001 Ameritrhax case, and has talked about what that suspect did right or wrong
He’s watching the news very closely to see how the country reacts

Man that was long. Immediately one of the fancy pants guys comes up to Hotch and is like, uh there is something you should see. Cut and they’re in an office/conference room, and its a tape of a January 02 classified hearing with the subcommittee on defense and homeland security. Dr Lawernce Nichols – the general says he left, but the other guy is like, no, he was forced out.

On the tape, this Nichols guys is going off about how they are woefully unprepared for an anthrax attack – but he clearly knows what he’s talking about – saying they are lucky it was only 5 people and talking about porous envelopes. He is saying every household needs gas masks and a 2-month supply of cipro for each resident. Good luck, some of still don’t have our stimulus. He also says regarding the budget that anything under 50 million would be negligent. The senator guy is like, Dr. Nichols this is so unrealistic – saying spending that much money on an attack that may not even happen is unrealistic, and incite fear and panic.

Nichols goes off, and he was removed because he was becoming fanatic. He fits the profile perfectly – he also had a divorce. They are able to locate him at his current job, but upon arrival they discover he isn’t in. Morgan and Reid are at some house? Idk, as they walk in, Reid brushes against a bush that catches on his shirt – I have a bad feelings about this because, why would it be included if it isn’t important, and also we saw the guy at the beginning dramatically drop leaves before unleashing the anthrhax.

Morgan and Reid are at the hime of Dr Nichols. Prentis calls and says the lab was clean. However, a sprinkler goes off in Dr. Nichols’ yard and Morgan can’t hear Prentis. Reid, goes off towards the house, notices spilled bottles of anthrax on the floor and Dr. Nichols’ deceased body, and locks the door. Morgan learns from Prentis that Nichols’ work was clean, and rushes over to find Reid, only to find that Reid is now quarantined in Nichols’ house, having been infected with Anthrax.

Hotch and all the military police etc roll up. Morgan is upset with himself, but Hotch is like, too late bud, don’t second guess yourself, what do we know? Morgan explains that there is the spilled anthrax in there and the air was blasting. Additionally, Nichols is dead from blunt force trauma to his head. Reid also thinks he’s been dead for 2-3 days, so he couldn’t actually have been responsible for the attacks. Morgan is like, Reid took Cipro today, so he’s gotta be okay, right? Hotch is like, it was only precautionary, and the general points out that it was not helping the patients at the hospital, so who knows.

They call Reid and he’s like, fuck no, i’m not going to the hospital, I’m already here i might as well keep working on the case. Reid wants to stay inside there and look to see if Nichols created the cure – also to figure out who killed him. Hotch is like okay fine, but we’re gonna get a suit and mask in there to you right away, to which Reid is like yolo nah, i’m already infected. So really what this means was that it wasn’t in the costume budget, right?

Garcia and JJ are not doing well, emotionally. JJ is debating breaking procedure. Reid tells them about what he found – two different workspaces and different handwriting. So there were two people – Nichols may have had a protege or assistance. Prentis really wants to tell Nichols’s supervisor that this is about anthrax, but Rossi is like, we can’t that isn’t our call to make, we’ll get in trouble. SO now Prentis AND JJ are ready to break protocol.

The supervisor says that Nichols worked alone. He also only worked on the flu while there. JJ breaks protocol and calls Will, but she gets a voicemail. She doesn’t say on the voicemail what its about. Reid calls Garcia, he asks if she can do a favor for him…record a message for his mom. Because he isn’t allowed to call her and tell her. Oh no. oh no. he calls her to tell him he loves her, and he spends every day of his life proud to be his son. Fuck!

The anthrax crew roll in in hazmats – Dr. Kimura. He refuses drugs, insisting he is feeling fine, however, he is starting to cough a little bit. He is confident that there is a cure in there. So he thinks that this partner could be a student working on a thesis – Nichols valued himself a lot as an educator. Reid finds a paper and begins reading it, and it is verbatim the same thing that we saw Dr Nichols saying during the hearing – the student has plagiarized the teacher!

So maybe this is actually someone – a student in emergency service, public policy, city/urban planning. They find someone named Chad Brown, school of public policy, UMD lol, a former employee at the book front, so it has GOTTa be him. On the PHD for 5 years, no job, and got a restraining order from his former girlfriend. Arrested twice at protest rallies.

So the BAU is like, Reid you gotta get out of there now, and the CDC lady comes up to him and is like, okay the cure would be hidden right, so what about Dr Nichols inhaler? Turns out, Brown never got into Fort Dietrich, and he was writing about anthrax. Definitely him.

Reid gets hosed down, and Morgan is like I’m gonna see you to the hospital, but Reid is like, come on, you’r more important at Brown’s home now – which is where the rest of the team is headed. Reid already has a dark lesion on his hand now too – from were it was caught on the bush outside the house.

Prentis and Rossi roll up to Browns house. A neighbor freaks out when she see the hazmat sit, and Prentis lies saying there is toxic mold in the home. Reid is coughing and feverish on the ambulance ride. He also is starting to show some signs of aphasia. Uh oh. In the Brown home they find that he has been experimenting with different ways to transport the anthrax, and it looks like his chosen method is lightbulbs. Additionally, his next target looks like its gonna be the DC subway system, given a map they found.

JJ spoke to Brown’s estranged sister and the park was where his girlfriend rejected his proposal, and the bookshop was where he worked to put himself through college. The general says that the red line is where he will be targeting next given his papers and studies, and a mock attack. Additionally, it is the busiest and would have the most fatalities. However, hotch does not think he will be targeting it because it isn’t as personal, and he thinks Fort Dietrich will be his next target because he was rejected from there so many times.

So the profile says he will be going to Frederick MD, and using the Marc train. All of this being said, we see Brown getting on the Marc train towards Frederick. Hotch says he wants Morgan to stay above and not risk himself; since they’re already a man down and he doesn’t want to risk losing him. Morgan is like- fuck that. Hotch and Morgan run down the stars, right as Brown is getting ready to get on. Morgan gets on the train and gets everyone out. Hotch finds him and is like, put the bag down, and come with us. And then!! The general comes in and is like, nope, he’s coming with us the military has custody now. Hotch is like???? And the general is like, orders from the president – he’s the only one who can show us how it was made. Hotch is like, sir he is a danger to this country, and the general is like, he is an asset to this country. Disgusting!

The general is like, come on, you’re coming with us. And Chad does not want to cooperate until the general says he will be taken to Fort Dietrich. He’s like, I helped create this! You have to name it after me! The general asks if there are any other samples, to which is he is like no, and Hotch covertly is like “move in” with Morgan, and Morgan quickly handcuffs him – because it was all a ruse! To get him to comply!

He needed validation! The profile said so!

So is Reid okay??? The rest of the episode we see Rossi and Prentis talk about how lying on the job sucks. And we see Hotch call Hayley to see if he can talk to Jack. Reid???

Now we see Morgan visiting Reid in the hospital. So apparently his cure was helping – Reid and Abby and three others are all on the mend.

Rating Criteria:

Criminal/Serial Killer: 18/20

Character development/ character arcs: 20/20
Forensics/Context: 17/20
Script writing: 16/20
Background characters: 20/20

Overall: 91/100

S4E24 - “Amplification”

S4E25 - “To Hell…”

S4E23 - “Roadkill”