S6E11 - “25 to Life”
We open in BAU headquarters in Quantico, VA. Rossi is in his office, talking to Hotch on the phone, it sounds like Hotch is taking a day off. The last time the man took a day off was when his literal wife died, and it was only an afternoon. Prentis enters Rossi’s office and informs Rossi that Agent Trainee Ashley Seaver has requested that her remedial training be conducted with the BAU. If we remember from episode 10, Ashley’s father is Charles Beauchamp, a serial killer, and she got emotionally invested in the previous case and put her life in jeopardy. Prentis tells Rossi that Ashley was only cleared for one case. Prentis says “yeah, but it didn’t turn on the way she wanted”. Rossi goes, “I’ll say”. Hotch isn’t here to supervise, but Prentis agrees to supervise Ashley. Prentis leaves and BAU Section Chief Erin Strauss arrives.
We learn that Jack has been having some issues re: his mother aka Hotch’s wife Hayley, being murdered. So Hotch will not be working this case, as he is spending some time with his son. Strauss goes, “I’m glad he’s finally taking some time off.” Girl, me too! Strauss hands Rossi a file on Donald Sanderson. He’s up for parole, and the BAU has been asked to do a risk assessment. Morgan is gonna do it!
Twenty-five years ago, Donald Sanderson’s wife Carrie and daughter Abby were found murdered. Sanderson claimed that junkies broke into his house and murdered them. Sanderson and his son Joshua somehow survived, and Sanderson was convicted of murder. Strauss calls the physical evidence “shocking”. Sanderson has been living in Petersburg, VA federal correction facility. He appears to be a model prisoner. He’s never been in solitary. He’s been in sixteen fights with other prisoners, and he never fights back, so he ends up in the infirmary. He started a mentor program and taught people how to read. The concern is not whether or not Donald did the crime but rather if he has served his sentence and is no longer a threat.
Morgan arrives in Petersburg and meets with Donald. Who is kind of a DILF. His cell is pretty sparse, but there is a drawing hanging on Donald’s wall. It looks like charcoal, the picture is of someone holding their hands through jail cell bars. Donald tells Morgan that no one has ever believed his innocence. Morgan says: “I don’t rely solely on physical evidence.”
Morgan opens Donald’s file and flips through a few pages. We learn that Sanderson was two years into his doctor’s residency when the murders occurred. Sanderson wanted to specialize in pediatrics. Morgan asked about the residency, then promptly closes the file and moves on. He asks why Donald hasn’t requested parole in over eighteen years. Donald says: “The system put me in here, they’re gonna keep me in here. Time has gone by a little faster since I’ve accepted that.” Morgan then asks if Donald is using heroin, as heroin was found in Donald’s cell two years ago. Donald claims it was planted “the new regime had to assert their dominance.” Donald says that the prosecution called him a psychopath and then says, “Agent, do you have any idea what it’s like to be accused of something you didn’t do?”
And guys- remember- Morgan knows EXACTLY WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE ACCUSED OF SOMETHING HE DIDN’T DO! Aka- one of Mac’s favorite episodes ever- Profiler, Profiled! Sanderson then says that the last time he was beaten up by other prisoners, he had a vision that he got out and was able to convince his son Joshua that he didn’t hurt his wife or daughter. He wanted to live his life behind bars like he would have lived it as a free man. Morgan asks Donald what he would do with his freedom if he was freed. Donald first says, “I can’t think about something like that,” and then he says, “I would try to find my son, and I would tell him the truth.”
Morgan later tells the parole board that he believes that not only does Donald deserve to be released, but that he may also be innocent! We see Sanderson packing up his cell, there are lots of drawings of his family. We see that he has a tattoo of his son’s name on his arm. Donnie boy is then released! We see him go to a halfway house. Then later that day, we watch him get off a bus. And we’re like, oh- he’s gonna go see his son, just like he told Morgan!
The next day, Seaver brings Prentis a double shot of expresso as a thank-you for talking Rossi into letting her do her remedial training with the BAU. Reid is reading a newspaper, and there’s front page news that Sanderson has been released. Just then, Erin Strauss shows up, demanding to see Morgan. Metro PD sent a file to Erin Strauss’s cellphone, and they want Morgan to take a look. Morgan is like, “who’s this,” and Strauss goes, “The man Don Sanderson just murdered”.
Cut to- the crime scene. The BAU arrives just as Sanderson is being arrested and taken away by police. We meet detective Bill Codwin, who is pissed at Morgan for getting Sanderson released. Rossi is like “it’s not Morgan’s fault,” and Bill goes “you see this all the time Rossi- a guys out for a couple of days, he’s gotta go back inside.” We also learn that Sanderson broke through the victim’s basement and stabbed him but then called 911 and attempted to perform CPR to keep the victim alive. The BAU is so stumped. They’re like- “why would Don kill this man?” Like, IDK FAM. Maybe because he was involved in the killing of Don Sanderson’s daughter and wife?? Morgan then is like fuck you Metro PD, the BAU is taking over this case. Which I guess. Is valid. Rossi is like, “Bill, you can come play with us if you want,” and Bill is like “okay.”
We learn that the victim’s name is Tom Wittman. Reid, Prentis, and Seaver speculate about how the events went down that led to Tom’s murder. Don Sanderson broke into Tom’s apartment, grabbed a gun that belong to Tom Wittman but was not loaded, and threatened Tom with it. Don and Tom had a tussle, and ultimately Don stabbed Tom to death with a kitchen knife, a weapon of opportunity. The BAU is still stuck on the fact that Don attempted CPR on his victim- what was the point of breaking in if it wasn’t to kill Tom? Prentis says, “does any of this strike you as hard to believe?” Sanderson was only out of prison for 51 hours. Prentis says, “what’s the hurry to kill this guy?” And, again- I’m like… has nobody considered. The possibility. That perhaps. Was Tom Wittman involved in the murder of the Sanderson ladies???
In the car- Rossi questions Don Sanderson. “You gotta help us out here, it doesn’t look good for you.” Don Sanderson says: “It wasn’t like that. He came at me.” Morgan is driving, and he literally stops the car in the middle of the road and starts yelling at Don. “Did you find your son?” and Don is like “lol no” and Morgan goes “DID YOU EVEN LOOK?” And then Rossi has to be the voice of reason and be like “Drive.”
Morgan, Rossi, and Don arrive back at BAU Headquarters. Is Paget wearing a wig? Because the hair is very sus right now. In the round table room, the BAU regroups (sans Morgan) to discuss the connection between Sanderson and Tom Wittman. They’re like- “what could the connection be?” And I’m like- it’s definitely not because of revenge.
Morgan then storms into the room and takes us back to March 10th, 1985. 2:23am. This is the story of what happened to the Sanderson family, as Don tells it. Don Sanderson was asleep on his couch because of an argument he allegedly had with his wife Carrie. He woke up to Carrie’s screams. He ran into the bedroom to find one man stabbing Carrie to death. Another man struck Don from behind and knocked him unconscious. The police later found that there were broken security bars in the basement as if someone had broken in through there. Don’s wounds were superficial, so it was easy for the prosecution to claim that his wounds were self-inflicted. Sanderson, as we know, had just finished his second year of residency at Georgetown, so he would know how to inflict wounds that were not life-threatening. Sanderson’s fingerprints were all over the weapon. He came to to find his wife Carrie and daughter Abby almost dead, and Sanderson called for help. When officers arrived, Sanderson then stated that along with the two male perpetrators, there was also a woman there who helped them commit the murders. Tom Wittman was a teenager back in 1985, so he could have been one of the perpetrators.
Morgan goes in to interrogate Don Sanderson. He is still very pissed. He walks into the room and slams a file down on the interview table. Don Sanderson is like, “I didn’t do it” and Morgan is like, “YES YOU DID! And now that’s on me. I put a psychotic killer back on the streets”. Then Donald is like “he would have killed me”. And Morgan is like “why did you go to his house” and Sanderson is just kinda like “idk”. Guys, we’re 18:08, and I am so full of anxiety at the progress of this case.
Back in the conference room, Seaver brings in boxes of evidence from the Tom Wittman’s house. But before they can open the box, Garcia shows up with more details regarding the night that Sanderson supposedly knocked off his wife. According to Garcia, the Sandersons married right out of college, and there were no records of anything untoward. Garcia is like, “They had a dog.” The BAU then talks about the true target of the Sanderson crimes. Reid calls Sanderson’s dead daughter “an afterthought.” He believes the true object of the unsubs’ rage was Donald’s wife. Prentis says that the unsub was sending a message. Seaver asks what the message is. Prentis goes: “He is in control, he has all the power, and he hates her.”
Back with Morgan and Donald. Donald Sanderson continues to assert that the death of Tom Wittman was self-defense. Donald believes that Tom Wittman was one of the intruders who broke into his house that night. Morgan points out that if Tom was so crucial to the deaths of Carrie and Abby, why was Tom’s name never brought up during the trial? Sanderson tells Morgan that he didn’t make the connection until years later because Tom had been so young at the time. We learn that Tom worked at the corner market and delivered groceries to the Sanderson family. Apparently, Tom and his friend would come over together and always make up excuses to get close to Carrie, Sanderson’s wife. Sanderson tells Morgan that Carrie eventually told the teens to leave her alone, and they stopped coming by.
Sanderson explains that years later, he called the supermarket and got Tom’s full name. He then looked up Tom on the internet and got his address. Sanderson then says that after he started asking questions about Tom, heroin was planted in his cell, and his internet privileges were revoked. I mean, the conspiracy theories abound here.
So what does Morgan decide to do? He decides to take Donald back to the house where it all happened to do a cognitive interview. Morgan and Rossi bring him over, and we see that the house is now for rent. As Donald walks them through what happened that night. Through the interview, we learn that Tom was not the one who assaulted Carrie Sanderson or killed Abby Sanderson- it’s a pack mentality, and the leader of the pack did that. We also learn that the unknown woman who was there wanted to take Sanderson’s son Joshua, but the other unsub, the leader of the pack, would not allow him to do so.
Back at Quantico, VA – Prentis, and Seaver are looking into Tom’s past to try to figure out who his friends and associates were. Because it’s been twenty-five years, and none of the three suspects even considered turning on one another, so there has to be some deeper bond there. Garcia looks into Tom’s juvie records, mostly shoplifting and that sort of thing, and she finds a woman named Mary Rutka, who was arrested at the same department store around the same time that Tom was arrested.
So Morgan and Rossi show Mary Rutka’s picture to Donald. It’s been twenty-five slutty, slutty years. But Donald Sanderson is immediately like, “yeah, it’s her.” I’m like ??? Are we 100% sure?
Prentis and Morgan arrive at Mary’s apartment, ready to take her into custody, but they find her apartment door open. She’s been attacked in her home, and she’s bleeding out on the floor. Just as the BAU arrives, the unsub who attacked her climbs out the window and takes off down a fire escape. Morgan pursues him, and there’s a very exciting chase scene culminating in Morgan losing the unsub in an alley. Unfortunately, Mary succumbs to her wounds shortly afterward.
Inside Mary’s apartment, Detective Bill Codwin has finally shown up. He calls the series of events that have just unfolded “a house of cards.” Thanks for the words of wisdom, Bill. Bill then is like, “what do you think he’s gonna do now?” Morgan believes that Mary was blackmailing the unsub to pay bills. Which is, a move. Mary had a son who was 19 years old. He doesn’t have a bedroom in her apartment, but she’s kept all his crap. And then, the BAU finds a VHS tape hidden on top of one of her cabinets.
Back at Quantico, Garcia hooks up ye olde VHS tape. And it’s a VHS of the Sanderson family that Don himself made. I guess the unsub just grabbed this tape and taped over it? Because now we’re watching Tom, Mary, and an unknown unsub creeping up the stairs. The leader of the pack says, “Don’t forget the view. He looks down on everybody.” The lead unsub is wearing a hood, and it’s hard to make out his face. Sanderson begs Morgan to watch the footage of his family because he wasn’t allowed to have photos of his family in prison.
The BAU has to “profile a dormant killer.”
A man who grew up in the district of DC and came from nothing
His ambition will define him
Whoever did this enjoys taking power away, and he’s been way too smart to keep on killing
He’s manipulative but trustworthy – 2 other people witnessed the murders and never turned on him
The city is the unsub’s comfort zone – he didn’t leave for a reason
The damage he’s done and continues to do is right here in DC
He needs victims who suffer directly from what he’s doing – Prentis tells Garcia to look into asset-based lenders and money-making ventures where people would be left in his wake
Businessmen can be psychopaths- they have the same characteristics but use those traits differently. They both have the same traits, such as a grandiose sense of self-importance, deceptiveness, and lack of remorse
Garcia uses this profile to narrow suspects down to 33 potentials, but that’s too many possibilities. The BAU focuses on the fact that the unsub broke into the basement and knew that the security bars were broken, showing an intimate knowledge of the house. The BAU looks at property records and determine that the unsub is James Stanworth. He is currently running for congress. His slogan is “Let’s do this,” and gasp HE SAID, “LET’S DO THIS ON THE TAPE!”
Morgan and Strauss get into it about Stanworth. She’s like- you can’t accuse a man without physical evidence! And Morgan is like- Mary scratched the person who attacked her. And Strauss is like – you cannot arrest a man on the possibility of a scratch! Rossi backs up Morgan, but Strauss tells Morgan, “the BAU functions without you- don’t push it.” Morgan is like fuck it, I’m going to arrest Stanworth. Stanworth is having a fundraiser at his house, and Morgan, Prentis, and Rossi are like, let’s go get the guy!
Cut to- Stanworth’s fundraiser at his house. Stanworth is giving a sermon. There’s a crowd of fundraisees, and they all clap after Stanworth’s speech. Then the BAU pushes through, and oh Detective Bill is there too. The crowd and Morgan slow claps and goes, “you sure have a way with words, that’s mighty impressive.” Stanworth is like, “thanks.” Morgan says: “do your friends here know that you’re a closet psychopath?” Meanwhile, the crowd is gasping. Mrs. Stanworth is like, “Jim, what’s going on?” and James is like, “SHUT UP!” Stanworth calls the BAU’s slander “ridiculous fabrications.” Honestly, this episode is worth the watch just for this scene. This is so over the top and good. Morgan grabs Stanworth’s arm and reveals that he has scratch marks there- from Mary! All the while, any time Stanworth gets heated about something, Morgan goes, “there he is” “there he is.” Eventually, Prentis drops the bomb- “we found the tape,” and then Detective Bill arrests him.
Okay, so Don Sanderson is a free man- but he did just kill someone after breaking into their house. So like- is he going back to jail for the murder of Tom Wittman? Anyways, cut to a park. Sanderson is reunited with his son Joshua, who we learn is studying medicine. Okay- but is he going to jail???
Rating Criteria:
Criminal/Serial Killer: 20/20
Character development/ character arcs: 17/20
Forensics/Context: 13/20
Script writing: 18/20
Background characters: 20/20
Overall: 88/100