S6E4 - “Compromising Positions”
We open in Akron Ohio. and we got some sexy music playing. We see a car parked by a lake, and it is definitely like a lover’s lake situation. Oh wait. The couple in the car are UPSET. They are handcuffed to each other and there is someone sitting in the front seat; he is clearly making them do this. He says “it’s my turn” pulls out and gun and shoots the guy in the back seat.
Back at the BAU Morgan shares that Ellie has been placed in foster care. Hotch comes in and shares they now have a case in Ohio; two couples have been killed in two weeks. Hotch shares that a couple, Scott and Cathy Hartwright were found dead in a car, in an isolated spot. Reid brings up Son of Sam because he killed people in cars, however, the other couple were killed in their home. Both of the husbands were killed via gunshot, and they women were stabbed. Additionally, this killer is crossing racial and socioeconomic lines. Two radically different MOs. and we have no idea how he controlled both of the couples. Additionally, they found evidence of handcuffs! Most shockingly, they found a used condom in both cases, and Viagra in the system of both husbands – even though neither of them had a prescription.
Garcia meets up with Hotch and tells him that she wants to go with them to Ohio and help sub in given that JJ is gone, and they do not have a replacement. She convinces him to let her sub in for JJ and kind of step into her job since hers is the one that overlapped the most.
On the jet, Rossi is very fixated on how this unsub seems to be targeting married couples and forcing them to have sex before he kills them. Reid brings up that stabbing as sexual thing for impotence. Additionally, it is possible he is assaulting the wives while the husbands are dying.
But given how precise this all is, one would assume he would be as precise with his victimology – but he isn’t – the victimology is all over the map. So why did he choose these couples specifically? Maybe he met them before? Garcia enters and she looks super toned down, and the way the comments she gets from some of the team feel gross.
In Ohio, the team meets Detective Crowley; Garcia did a good job in communicating about the team to him and setting up everything they need. She also already communicated with the parents of the victims, and so basically she is going above and beyond. Prentis and Morgan examine the crime scene of the Hart murder. Morgan also points out that Viagra takes about 30 minutes to kick in, so how was he able to pull that off. They also notice that when turning the car on, he tuned the radio station to a sexy one – to put them in the mood. But it wasn’t a preset, and the heat in the car was turned up. He went out of his way to make them comfortable. They realize they really need to check out the first crime scene cause this car shit is just confusing.
Rossi and Reid meet with Mr. Kepler, the father of Robert. We learn that he was a lawyer, and she was a pediatrician. He was the top of his class at Harvard. They also meet with the mother of the first victim. He wanted to be a manager at the post office. He was also the class president in school. They were both alpha males. And usually alphas only attack other alphas???
Garcia is having trouble with a reporter; Hotch comes in to help. Prentis and Morgan show Hotch how they have realized that the unsub is staging both of the crime scenes; the music, candles, etc. it’s not a sadistic fantasy, rather, a romantic one. Because he is an alpha male, he is seeking other alpha males since they get the good wives. He is also impotent – especially since he gives the Viagra to the husbands and doesn’t take it himself. Perhaps something has happened to him – prostate cancer, surgery, etc. So he is using the couples as surrogates. But why is he using condoms? It seems redundant.
Next we see the unsub attacking another couple, but the husband is fighting him off – really well actually. However, the unsub eventually succeeds in shooting him, so it doesn’t last long. He makes the wife tell him that she wants him. She tries seducing him, but he eventually kills her.
The BAU arrives at the crime scene for the most recent murder, and they notice that since he shot both of them, something happened that threw him off his routine. They examine the body of the deceased husband and notice that he put up a hell of a fight, and probably had mixed martial arts training. They notice that he shot her at point blank range. They hypothesize why she would have gotten that close to him. And then come to the conclusion/idea that maybe they are all swingers? And these are their old partners? And then the impotence kicked in.
We find out that all of the husbands regularly worked out, but Paul was the only one who trained at an MMA gym. That gives them the ability to search the catalogs of names of people who go, work, etc at the gym. Garcia is getting overwhelmed/overworked with doing both her job and JJ’s so she asks Hotch if Kevin can come in and help, to which he says yes. Morgan and Prentis show up at a woman’s house who ran a Fabulous Fun and Over 40.
Now, the team delivers the profile:
An emasculated alpha male with an obsessive-compulsive level of control in his behavior.
Because of the repetition of details in his crime scenes we know that his ritual is important to him.
These patterns are how he maintains dominance in a world he feels powerless in, both sexually and socially
He is a Troilus – he gets off staging a scene and participating in it. Such as recording on camera, or attending parties
The one attack showed him how physically weak he is, and Debra’s enticement showed him how futile his fantasies were.
He is “decompensating” – which means, which is the collapse of his fantasies and coping mechanisms.
When talking to the Swingers party people, they ask Morgan and Prentis who his partner is – because apparently this unsub would not be allowed in without a partner! The lady talks about how swing clubs are matriarchies and her job as the Hostess are to make sure the women feel safe and secure. There have to be at least the same number of women as men. The FBI is like oh shit we hadn’t thought of that.
So usually they would both come in, and then invite another man to join. Morgan is like uh why, he’s an alpha, and the Swingers and Prentis explain how consensual cheating especially if married is hot, and how it would be the other guy doing the work until he could come in and prove he’s the only one who can satisfy his wife. But THEN, his impotence fucked it all up, and he lost control and his masculinity got hurt, and maybe his wife left him and that’s where they all started.
Now we get a scene taking place at a swinger’s party. He shows up – his name is James – and he says that his wife Maryann is showing up later – like a lair. And bitch he has a huge bruise on his face! Everyone is dancing and having a good time and he is just standing there LOOMING. Like a WEIRDO. He sees a three-way int he midst of happening and just pulls out some guns and starts shooting everyone.
The FBI talks to the lady who was the hostess of the party, and she says that she knew the gunman – James and his wife Maryann used to be fixtures there a year ago. She doesn’t know their last name though, and Prentis is like: “So you have sex but don’t know their last name? Apparently, he only shot men, but they don’t know why. However, he apparently picked the lock to get into a room the THAT hostess was in. that requires expertise, so maybe he is a locksmith?
Garcia is stressed and takes it out on Hotch. She then realizes that doing both her job and JJ’s job is too much, and Hotch agrees, and asks her to prioritize her job.
Since the unsub only targeted men at the party, he is probably blaming another man for breaking up his marriage. Morgan gives Garcia a pep talk and throws out her contacts. MY DUDE THAT IS SO EXPENSIVE. Garcia calls a locksmith – she does it her style. She finds out his Name – James Thomas. He had a surgery last year that left him impotent and he didn’t show up for work. They got his address. They show up – and his wife is home! And she is PREGNANT.
They show Maryann photos of the crime scenes. Rossi feels really aggressive toward her. They believe that he is upset because he can’t be the father of her baby. Reid seems to think he can get her to cooperate because there are “two alpha males in there attacking her marriage” and he isn’t a threat in that way. Lol.
Reid talks to her about swinging and monogamy. He asks if he got moody during her pregnancy – especially after she started showing. She keeps defending her husband and saying that he isn’t capable of killing and that he is the father of her child. She immediately starts crying when shown a photo of one man. She tries calling him, but he denies his call.
They start asking her about their sexual habits. And were they got would go out; like different roleplays and stuff like that. Prentis goes into the bar to hit one him to try to get him distracted enough that they can apprehend him without collateral. He says he doesn’t remember her. He starts to threaten Prentis, but she beats him to the shot and fires the gun in her purse before he can get her. He dies and says, “tell MaryAnn.” Prentis says: “I will”. Bro, tell Maryann what? You were out assaulting people while she was at home being pregnant???
Rating Criteria:
Criminal/Serial Killer: 10/20
Character development/ character arcs: 20/20
Forensics/Context: 18/20
Script writing: 10/20
Background characters: 18/20
Overall: 78/100