S6E2 - “JJ”
The episode opens with a news anchor telling the world about a 19-year-old honor student named Kate Joyce who was out vacationing at the beach with her friends, and has gone missing three days ago. Rossi is the one watching the news, and Morgan joins him; they talk about how there are suspects in custody with this missing case, however, they can’t charge anyone with anything because they haven’t found a body. They talk about how “they” are still in Hotch’s office, which can’t be good. But we don’t know who “they” are yet.
Back on the main floor, we learn that it is JJ and Straus in the office, which again, can’t be good. Emily has a new hairstyle, and so does Reid. I don’t know how I feel about either of these ‘dos yet. Allegedly it has been almost 20 minutes since the meeting in there has started, and in 10 minutes they are supposed to be in the air on their way for a case, however, they don’t think that what they are talking about has anything to do with the case. Additionally, the blinds are closed, and apparently this almost never happens.
The scene cuts, and we finally see the meeting behind the blinds. Apparently JJ has been offered a new job – for a second time – which she has turned down. This would be a promotion that was offered by the executive branch, and according to Strous one that would involve less travel – she could spend more time with Henry – however, she is adamant that she loves her current job and does not want to transfer out. JJ apologizes to Hotch for not having told him about the promotion offer, and we learn that it would have been a job where she was the liason for the DOD.
Turns out this new case, the missing girl, is in Maryland. If they take the jet, I’m going to scream. JJ leaves the office and notices that the whole team was watching. In regards to the case, we learn that the suspects have been in custody for 60 hours, and they only have 12 hours to get a confession or find the body. Turns out the locals think these guys did it, and it looks like a typical dominant/submissive case, however, it is likely there is more to it than that. We also learn that this is a 30 minute flight.
Reviewing the case, we learn about how Kate was last seen leaving a bar with two guys, Sidney Pearson and James Barrett who are both 20. Why were they all at a bar then? Fake IDs? She was reported missing when she didn’t meet up with friends the next day. The boys claim that they dropped Kate off at the hotel and that was it, however, there are also no cameras to confirm this. They both also claim to have had sex Kate and that it was consensual, but with no body it is not possible to confirm this. So they are going to have to prove that these fellas are guilty for more than just being seen with Kate, which means they’ll have to break them psychologically.
Morgan and Prentis lead the interrogation, while Reid and Rossi check out the bar. JJ is to go to the Atlantic Beach PD, because Kate’s family has not left, even though it has been three days. JJ meets the mother, and we learn that they almost named their daughter Jennifer.
The team watches the footage of Kate getting in the car with the boys. We learn that Sidney is apparently a “handful” whereas the other one is “dumber than a box of rocks”, but they have been life-long friends, so there has to be something keeping them together. Hotch asked upon arrival for the suspects to be walked out near the family, and while this happens we see Kate’s father yell and rush at the boys – the blonde one tells him to stay away from him, and the team analyzes the behavior. The blonde one, according to Hotch is “getting off on this”
We see Prentis open the door to one of the interrogation rooms – this one is holding blondie and she asks him if he is hungry, telling him he can have anything he wants. She emphasizes and repeats that it can be anything. He eventually requests roast beef and fries – specifically curly fries. And then he tries his luck and asks for a beer, to which she is like “nice try”, and then leaves. The whole interaction is super casual. THIS IS WHEN I FREAK OUT BECAUSE I REALIZE THIS ACTOR IS MIKE NEWTON FROM THE TWILIGHT SERIES.
The head of the MD Police is not impressed with the BAU’s tactics. He thinks they are wasting time having Prentis vaguely flirt (aka establish trust), and only with one of the boys. Hotch tries to explain what their angle with this approach is, and how these boys have been slammed with the exact same questions for two days, they’d be getting nowhere by repeating them, but the PD does not seem extremely satisfied.
Reid and Rossi talk about how Kate comes from a very stable background; good home, good grades, good family and friends, so everything points to her being a sweetheart (according to Rossi). So given that information, why did she choose to go off with these guys? Reid and Rossi believe she must have met them prior to Friday night, because she is not the sort that would go out with strangers. JJ, with Kate’s family, learns that her younger brother died of leukemia. While this conversation is happening, a cellphone rings – is this Kate’s cellphone? The parents start screaming at each other and playing the blame game. The father even scolds JJ.
Garcia calls in and she has tons of digital records on the boys. Shoplifting, vandalism, fireworks, and assault charges were dropped last summer. Now Morgan goes in to interrogate Mike Newton. Morgan introduces himself to Mike Newton and asks about why his arm is in a brace. We learn that it’s from lacrosse, omfg of course. We also learn that he got rejected from Chapel Hill. we also learn that he had his girlfriend cheat on the SATs. Morgan is like “why haven’t you lawyered up” and Mike Newton, is like “because I haven’t done anything wrong”.
Cut and we see Prentis speaking to the other kid. She asks him if he knows anything about cameras, since the one monitoring them keeps beeping, and he says it’s probably because the battery is low. She opens the door, and he clocks that his friend is getting roast beef. She asks him if he wants anything, but he says he isn’t hungry. She brings up the act that Sid – Mike Newton – has a Lexus, and asks Barrett if Sid ever let him drive it, to which he says no. She also brings up how Sid is kind of a control freak, etc. She calls him a LRB (little rich boy)– and hes like, well his dad has a dealership. She asks him if he always defends him, and he’s like “defend him?”.
Now we cut to Mike - Syd – he’s eating, and Morgan points out that according to Kate’s credit card statements she rented jet skis from Jimmy on Friday morning. Syd is like, he gets 100 customers a day, but Morgan keeps pushing him. Morgan brings up the girl that pressed charges against Syd last summer, but Syd is like, listen, just give me a polygraph test. AND, this happens at the same time Barret asks for one.
Rossi and Reid talk to JJ and tell her about how they think Kate must’ve been comfy with these guys. Prentis thinks Syd maybe threatened to dump Jimmy and spend time with her. Hotch also thinks that they definitely did it because an innocent person wouldn’t sit quietly for three days; they would get angry.
Now it is Rossi’s turn to talk to Syd. Syd asks Rossi if he is a cad cop, and he’s like, I’m not a cop. Syd gets crude talking about Kate, saying that she was horny and practically begging him to have sex with her. Morgan bursts in and says that Syd passed the polygraph, and he is angry. However, Rossi doesn’t seem too pressed about it. He also says that his DNA is definitely all over her, but he didn’t actually kill her. He also offers to show them pictures that are on his cell phone.
Now Reid asks Jimmy why he was late to work Saturday morning. Especially since he usually is always 10 minutes early. Jimmy says he was hungover and his alarm clock is broken. He starts to freak out about the beeping, but then Prentis comes in and says how he passed the polygraph test. Now Mike - Syd - shows Rossi and Morgan a photo of him and Kate smiling together.
They now have less than three hours. It is clear that Kate was not into Jimmy based off of the photographs on Syd’s phone. Hotch gets a call from Strauss and JJ is officially being transferred because it is an executive deicision. Morgan believes that Syd did horrible things to Kate, but he doesn’t think he killed her.
Prentis and Reid clock that Jimmy may be smarter than he leads on. JJ while looking at the photos on Syd’s phone notices that in one photo of just Jimmy and Syd Kate’s cell phone is in the back seat. However, Kate’s mother has her phone because it was found in her room. So kate did make it back somehow. So they believe that they did drop her off at the room, but then Jimmy circled back and that’s when he retaliated for her rejecting him. And the reason she let him in/met up with him was because he had her phone. Jimmy also knows the details of the traffic patterns, etc, so it checks out. It is also likely that he dumped her body in the water and she was eaten by sharks. So yes, they did not kill her, they don’t know where her body is – those aren’t lies.
Morgan confirms with Syd that the photo of them in the car was after they dropped Kate off, and asks about her phone, which he looks surprised at. Prentis, Reid and JJ go to Jimmy and ask about the GPS in his boat, the gas mileage, and how long it would take to drive out and back – which explains why he was late for work. Syd freaks out at being accused of dumping her body, and Jimmy very stoically just says that their time is up.
Helicopters find Kate hanging on a buoy, and she somehow miraculously was alive. Kate is at the hospital, and she’s gonna be fine. At the hospital, the dad tells JJ he was gonna kill himself, oo baby this is A LOT. You can’t just SAY THAT TO PEOPLE.
Back at the headquarters, Hotch tells JJ that she leaves at the end of the week, and they aren’t replacing her. He says that he’s hoping to get her back somehow. Garcia tells JJ if she had known she would’ve uh, broken the law – put something in her file. A lot of emotional goodbyes.
Rating Criteria:
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