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From brutal twists to heartbreaking character moments, “Criminal Minds” delivered some truly unforgettable cases over the years. Join us as we revisit the most gripping episodes of the BAU’s run, including fan-favorite stories like “100,” “Mosley Lane,” “Riding the Lightning,” “Omnivore,” “Lucky,” and more. Which chilling case still haunts you the most? Let us know in the comments below!
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00:00He made me watch. I know. I know they're animals. You were sick. You didn't know what you were doing.
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most memorable episodes
00:09from Criminal Minds. Since some of the best episodes have big reveals and major twists,
00:14a spoiler warning is now in effect. He was alive yesterday.
00:20Number 20. Just Getting Started. After a 15-season run, Criminal Minds ended,
00:25and we said goodbye to our favorite profilers. However, the show returned just two years later
00:30with the grittier Criminal Minds evolution.
00:33What do you have in Silver Spring?
00:34Uh, I have a dead guy at a rest stop with a severed spinal cord. I'm gonna head back tomorrow,
00:41see if there's any precursor crimes. Maybe we can stop an unsub before he becomes full unsub.
00:48In the premiere episode, we catch up with the BAU and see their new dynamic with fewer team members.
00:53While they investigate a brutal case, we also get glimpses of the show's central unsub as Tara
00:58uncovers his underground shipping container.
01:01We need to identify these picks. I gotta be honest with you. My county lab can't handle it.
01:06If the BAU gains jurisdiction, I can have a ticket to Quantico.
01:08Just Getting Started is a compelling opener that sets the stage for Criminal Minds like we've
01:13never seen before. One with a serialized format, more violence, and explicit language.
01:18Since then, Evolution has had many great episodes, including Season 18's Highly Emotional Time
01:24to Say Goodbye, which also features a Spencer Reed cameo.
01:28Still can't believe you made it.
01:30I'm always here with you guys.
01:32Number 19. Zoe's Reprise
01:34At a reading of Rossi's latest book in Cleveland, Ohio, he's approached by criminology student
01:39Zoe Hawks. She shares her theory that there's an active serial killer in the city. And even
01:44though he dismisses her, Rossi offers some advice. Keep studying, and don't stop until
01:49you find all the answers you're looking for. I won't.
01:52When she goes to a crime scene, we find out that she was right about Cleveland having a
01:56serial killer. And unfortunately, she is his next victim. The team and a guilt-ridden Rossi
02:02figure out that the unsub is copying several infamous murders as he tries to develop his own
02:06MO. He's apprehended, and that's largely thanks to Zoe. Many of the most interesting cases on the
02:12show are personal. And this Rossi-centric episode is among the best.
02:16Try not to personalize it. I was the last one she talked to before she was murdered.
02:22How is this not personal, Erin?
02:24Number 18. Zugs Wang
02:26In season 8, Spencer Reed has a secret love interest, Dr. Maeve Donovan. The two were only
02:32able to talk over the phone because she had been stalked for almost a year.
02:35Guess I'll talk to you next Sunday. Bye.
02:39Bye. Love you.
02:40When she disappears, the team works with Reed to find her. It turns out to be Diane Turner,
02:45a former research assistant with a grudge. After Reed and Maeve see each other in person
02:50for the first time, Diane kills Maeve along with herself right in front of him.
02:54Who is he?
02:56He's the one thing you can never take from us.
03:01No.
03:02Because if there's one thing criminal minds will do, it's find new ways to terrorize the
03:07good doctor. We love a Reed-focused episode, but this heartbreaking moment is always hard
03:11to revisit. Looking for more criminal minds? Check out Ms. Mojo's 24-7 live stream. Scan
03:17the QR code on screen to join us live for more non-stop TV content.
03:21Absolutely it's worth it.
03:22I can't imagine doing anything else.
03:24Number 17. Penelope
03:26At the end of Season 3's Lucky, Penelope Garcia is coming home from a date with a mysterious
03:31man. Before she gets inside her apartment, he shoots her, leaving us with a huge cliffhanger.
03:37Penelope is about the terrifying aftermath, including the team's investigation. Thankfully,
03:42Garcia pulls through, and along with her temporary replacement and future love interest Kevin
03:47Lynch, she helps the team take down the unsub.
03:50I think someone's watching him.
03:58Do you believe everything happens for a reason?
04:01This emotionally charged episode is memorable because we almost lost a beloved character,
04:05but also because it shows that the BAU is truly a family. It's also the first time we hear Morgan
04:11tell Garcia that he loves her.
04:13I love you. You know that, right?
04:17I love you, too.
04:18Number 16. The Fisher King
04:20Parts 1 and 2
04:21When an unsub calling himself the Fisher King targets the BAU, the team must follow his trail
04:26of clues to save his captive, Rebecca Bryant. We get to learn a little more about each of them,
04:31especially Reed, whose mother stays at the same hospital as the unsub.
04:35You know I'm terrified of flying.
04:37I know, Mom. I'm sorry.
04:38Well, then why did you have those fascists arrest me?
04:41Mom, they're not fascists, and you were not arrested. I'm trying to protect you.
04:46And with her help, they discover his real name is Randall Garner, Rebecca's biological father.
04:52Meanwhile, SSA L. Greenaway fights for her life after being shot by Garner.
04:56The whole episode is a race against time, and features one of Reed's most heroic moments.
05:01He's the Fisher King. This is his castle. Rebecca's got to be here.
05:03Reed, there may not be time for a search. Let's go.
05:05Location's on the map that he gave to my wife.
05:07Reed, all she told us about was that photo. Let's go.
05:12She's in the basement downstairs.
05:14This is also the first of many two-parters the show went on to have nearly every season.
05:19Number 15. Masterpiece.
05:21This season four episode begins with a humorous lecture held by Rossi and Reed.
05:25How many existentialists does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
05:28Don't.
05:31Two. One to change the lightbulb, and one to observe how it symbolizes an incandescent beacon of subjectivity in another
05:38world of cosmic nothingness.
05:39But the tone shifts drastically when they meet Professor Rothschild, who casually admits to committing seven murders and warns them
05:47that he has five live victims hidden away.
05:49Like many unsubs, he's playing a vengeful game with the BAU, specifically Rossi.
05:55In a bit less than nine hours, five other people are going to be dead.
06:01Unless you can find a way to save them.
06:04Reed deduces that the professor, real name Henry Grace, has based his victim selection and abduction locations on the Fibonacci
06:11sequence and the golden ratio.
06:13Da Vinci used it in a lot of his paintings.
06:14As a matter of fact, The Last Supper is a perfect example.
06:17Reed, Reed. How do we find them?
06:18Right.
06:18The whole concept is represented by this pendant, including the logarithmic spiral created by using a Fibonacci sequence.
06:25The revelation leads the team to his captives in time to save them.
06:29Grace may believe he's a genius, but he's no match for the BAU.
06:33Episodes with a ticking clock are always riveting, and Masterpiece certainly delivers.
06:37And just before they hit the plunger, I'm going to lean in real close and tell you to say hello
06:44to your scumbag brother.
06:47Number 14. The Replicator.
06:49In Season 8, Dr. Alex Blake joins the BAU.
06:52Around the same time, an unsub starts recreating past crimes.
06:56Only a person with access to case files would know the intricate details of these events.
07:01Biochemist, computer hacker, and federal agent?
07:04Who the hell is this guy?
07:05This Replicator ends up being Agent John Curtis, a man who worked with Blake and Section Chief Aaron Strauss on
07:12the Amerithrax case.
07:14After the wrong person was apprehended, Curtis and Blake were blamed.
07:18She ultimately made it through okay, but he never quite got over the demotion.
07:22Aaron Strauss and the Bureau discarded us. We were the forgotten ones.
07:27They forgot you. I did alright.
07:31But they'll remember me now.
07:33He first kills Strauss in New York, since she's the one who ruined his life, before going after Blake.
07:39Mark Hamill is expertly cast as the agent with a genius-level IQ out for revenge, which makes for a
07:46thrilling ride.
07:47You never appreciated me, none of you.
07:50I gave you my life, and you rejected me.
07:56In one of the most unsettling cases in the BAU's history, the team heads to Atlantic City to catch an
08:02unsub abducting young women and turning them into living dolls.
08:05Samantha Malcolm was abused by her father, Dr. Arthur Malcolm, who then performed electroshock therapy, or ECT, to prevent her
08:13from exposing his unspeakable acts.
08:15When he gives her favorite dolls to a new young girl, she starts recreating them with human beings, who ultimately
08:21die.
08:21I just got Samantha Malcolm's medical records, and oh my god, she was doomed.
08:26Like, Emily Bronte doomed. Like, Shakespeare doomed. Like, red-shirted ensign in Star Trek doomed.
08:32Reed threatening Dr. Malcolm is so satisfying, and seeing him show the utmost compassion for Samantha warms the heart.
08:38Between the bizarre crimes and Samantha being one of the rare sympathetic unsubs the BAU has encountered, it's no surprise
08:44this episode is a fan favorite.
08:46Because my lab, it's a jury of your peers. My tests will be Jenny Larson, Abigail Moore, and Linda Krause.
08:53The DA will put them on the stand, and I'm going to personally bring these dolls in, and we're going
08:57to watch how they react.
08:58Number 12. Revelations.
09:00While on a case in Atlanta, Georgia, Reed is abducted by Tobias Henkel, a man they thought was a potential
09:05witness.
09:06Tobias has dissociative identity disorder, and one of his alters is his late father.
09:11I tried to warn everyone.
09:13Just relax, Mr. Henkel, alright?
09:14Shoot him!
09:15I don't want to.
09:18I should.
09:19It's this personality that punishes Reed for his sins, while Tobias injects him with Dilaudid to ease the pain.
09:26Seeing Reed being physically and psychologically tortured is beyond horrific, and it's all live-streaming to his team.
09:32This is a key episode in Reed's character development, as the traumatic experience forever changes his life and leads to
09:39a substance use disorder.
09:40James Van Der Beek delivers an outstanding performance as both an unsub and a victim, making him one of the
09:46most memorable guest stars of the series.
09:48You killed him.
09:51Tobias.
09:52There he is!
09:55Do you think I'll get to see my mom again?
09:59I'm sorry.
10:00Number 11.
10:01Entropy.
10:02While working to take down the elusive hitman network, the team sets up a trap to catch one of its
10:07most prolific killers, Kat Adams, aka Miss 45.
10:11Reed pretends to be a potential client, but she has her own plan in motion and sees right through the
10:16ruse.
10:17I think through every potential outcome, and then I plan accordingly.
10:21You see, I didn't walk into your trap.
10:26You walked into mine.
10:27Between their intense face-off and the team working to disarm a bomb and save innocent restaurant patrons, Entropy is
10:33easily one of the most thrilling episodes of the show.
10:36Aubrey Plaza reprised her role later in the series, as Kat went on to be a formidable foe for Reed,
10:41making his life hell even from behind bars.
10:44Her final appearance was in Season 15's Date Night, another stellar high-stakes episode.
10:49Bye, Spensy.
10:51I really enjoyed our date.
10:53Number 10.
10:54Mr. Scratch.
10:55Three seemingly unrelated killers all recount the same hallucination.
11:00A dark figure with talons for hands called Mr. Scratch.
11:10They claim he attacked them and committed the crimes, even though it's them who have literal blood on their hands.
11:17But the real unsub, Peter Lewis, used a hallucinogen to manipulate them into killing their loved ones.
11:22It means his drugs would have more of an effect on them.
11:25Why them more than a normal person?
11:26Because when something's remembered for the first time on a therapist's couch, it's often a fantasy the patient is talking
11:31themselves into believing.
11:32The incredible creepiness of this episode is owed to its director, Matthew Gray Goobler, who plays Spencer Reed on the
11:40show.
11:40We don't fully see the Nosferatu-like Mr. Scratch, which makes it all the more unsettling.
11:46Murder and mind control are scary on their own, but throw in a growling shadow monster and it becomes pure
11:53horror.
12:03Number 9.
12:04Lauren
12:04Speaking of Matthew Gray Goobler, he was also behind the lens for this one, though it's upsetting for different reasons.
12:11We learn more about Emily Prentiss' past at Interpol, where she grew close to criminal Ian Doyle, a.k.a.
12:18Valhalla, while working undercover as Lauren Reynolds.
12:21Lauren Reynolds.
12:23This is the guy I told you about.
12:25You told me everything but a name.
12:27Ian Doyle.
12:28Pleasure.
12:29He later uncovered her real identity, and has been hell-bent on revenge since escaping prison.
12:35Protecting her BAU family from Doyle's wrath, Prentiss faces him alone.
12:42The more you fight, the more this'll hurt.
12:47He stabs her in the stomach, leaving her bleeding on the ground for her team to find.
12:53At the hospital, JJ tells everyone that she died during surgery.
13:04She and Hotch know that Prentiss is alive but in hiding.
13:07Still, seeing the team mourn her, even carrying her casket at the funeral, is heartbreaking.
13:13Number 8.
13:14Profiler Profiled
13:16A trip to his hometown of Chicago turns ugly when Derek is falsely accused of multiple murders.
13:22This is some kind of sick joke, right?
13:23Don't make us get physical.
13:24It'll only make it worse for your family.
13:30You're under arrest, Derek.
13:31His team comes to vouch for him, but things are more complicated than they realized.
13:36The profile points towards him, even though they know it can't be true.
13:40To clear his name, Derek has to confront Carl Buford,
13:44the man who repeatedly mistreated him when he was a child grieving his father's passing.
13:48He never told anyone about it.
13:51Until this episode, that is.
13:52God, I should have told somebody about you when I was a kid.
13:55When you were helping me.
13:58Well, you know what happens in cases like this.
14:01Once that dam breaks, the flood comes.
14:03Shamar Moore's emotional performance is powerful
14:06and easily makes this one of the character's best moments in the series.
14:11Number 7.
14:12To Hell and Back
14:13If you've heard of Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton,
14:17then this episode will probably seem a bit familiar.
14:21Since becoming paralyzed from the neck down,
14:23Mason Turner has desperately sought out a cure.
14:26He sends his brother Lucas to kidnap vagrants
14:28and bring them home for horrific experiments.
14:31You're Mason Turner?
14:32That's not your business.
14:40He's a runsick.
14:44When the team searches the sibling's rural Ontario farm,
14:48they find evidence pointing to a staggering number of murders.
14:51Hot.
14:51There's a box next to the pigs.
14:53It's like a garbage bin or something.
14:55It's full of nothing but bloody shoes.
14:57The fact that their bodies are disposed of using pigs
15:00makes it even more sickening.
15:02This two-parter is easily one of the most disturbing cases the BAU has ever seen.
15:06I'm just saying, you better hurry up and find that girl
15:11or he's going to tear her to pieces.
15:19Number 6.
15:19Sex, Birth, Death
15:21It's rare that we sympathize with an unsub,
15:25but Nathan Harris is an exception.
15:27After seeing one of Reed's lectures,
15:29the high schooler seeks him out.
15:30So you said a lot of them kill prostitutes?
15:32That's the number one serial killer target, actually.
15:35Well, is that for sex or because they think they're dirty
15:38and they need to be punished?
15:39It's then revealed that he desperately wants to understand
15:43and stop his homicidal urges.
15:45I think about feeling their blood in my hands
15:49and feeling it flow through my fingers.
15:51It's clear how tortured he is by his own mind,
15:54afraid of acting out his dark fantasies.
15:57In the end, he attempts to take his own life.
15:59He believes that by doing so,
16:01he's saving others from himself.
16:03You don't want to do this.
16:06I have to.
16:08It goes without saying,
16:09but Anton Yelchin's devastating portrayal of Nathan
16:12is a huge part of what makes this episode so memorable.
16:15Once they lock me up,
16:16they're never going to let me out of there.
16:19You don't know that.
16:21Whatever, I just came to say goodbye.
16:24Number 5.
16:25Lucky
16:25In Bridgewater, Florida,
16:27half of young Abby Kelton's body is found
16:29branded with an inverted pentagram.
16:31Then, another girl named Tracy Lambert also goes missing.
16:35They finally find the formerly institutionalized unsub
16:38sitting at a satanic altar.
16:40FBI, don't move.
16:41Chance right to see him.
16:43Do it now!
16:44He has bodies in his walk-in freezer,
16:47a live victim,
16:48and a book of human recipes.
16:51Kobe girl steak, huh?
16:54That's where you massage the meat, right?
16:57Floyd, these are some pretty unusual recipes you got here.
16:59What's worse is that he runs a restaurant,
17:03Phelan's Fine Barbecue.
17:04He even served food to the search party volunteers,
17:07with the main ingredient being Lambert.
17:10Jamie Kennedy has so few lines,
17:12but his creepy presence is palpable.
17:15Skinny ones take drugs.
17:17So what, you don't like drug users?
17:19They taste funny.
17:20This storyline never fails to give us the creeps.
17:24Number 4.
17:25Omnivore
17:25After a retired Boston detective reveals a secret on his deathbed,
17:30Hotch returns to his first case as lead profiler with the BAU,
17:34the Reaper.
17:35He essentially is a predator who will kill anyone.
17:37Why is he so democratic?
17:39Because his kills aren't just about his victims.
17:41He needs recognition.
17:42He needs us to know.
17:43When the Zodiac-inspired unsub returns,
17:45the team visits George Foyette,
17:47the only person to survive a Reaper attack.
17:50He's a sickly man living in fear,
17:52using multiple aliases just to stay off the grid.
17:55I just sat there, bleeding.
17:58I watched him kill Mandy.
18:01He stabbed her 67 times.
18:04But in a major twist,
18:05the team realizes Foyette is the criminal.
18:08Years ago,
18:09he repeatedly stabbed himself to appear as a victim.
18:12Anyone willing to do that will do anything.
18:15After he's arrested and put in jail,
18:17he enacts an escape plan years in the making.
18:20This is only the beginning for the ruthless killer.
18:23And the episode certainly piqued our interests.
18:26They're gonna find him, right?
18:30No, they're not.
18:33He said he'd be more famous than we knew.
18:36And he was right.
18:38Number three,
18:39Riding the Lightning.
18:40This season one episode sees the team interviewing
18:42Jacob Dawes and Sarah Jean Mason,
18:44a serial killing couple on death row.
18:46This is one walk I can make myself.
18:52Sarah Jean!
18:55I told you we'd be together forever!
18:58While Sarah Jean never actually participated in the murders,
19:01she accepts her death sentence
19:02because she feels guilty for not stopping Jacob sooner.
19:06Years ago,
19:06she confessed to killing their son, Riley.
19:09Jacob believes he's deceased,
19:11but as Gideon discovers,
19:12he's alive and well.
19:14Gideon desperately tries to save her,
19:15but Sarah Jean wants to protect Riley
19:17from the legacy of his birth parents
19:19and refuses to give any information
19:21that would halt her execution.
19:23I am standing here because of choices I made.
19:29Don't let my son be Jacob's last victim.
19:31And in the end,
19:33he relents and respects her wishes.
19:35Sarah Jean's death never fails to make us cry,
19:38which is why this is one of the most devastating episodes.
19:41Would it be too much to ask
19:42if yours is the last face I see?
19:44The first Criminal Minds episode Goobler directed,
19:49this one takes us into a house of horrors.
19:52It begins with the abduction of a little girl,
20:02but goes back to another boy taken eight years prior.
20:05The case leads the BAU
20:07to two of the scariest unsubs they've ever dealt with.
20:10Anita and Roger Roycewood are villains straight out of A Brother's Grimm Story.
20:15Looks like somebody's been sleeping in Goldilocks' bed.
20:20What have we got?
20:23Let's take a little look-see.
20:25They've been kidnapping children, keeping them locked up in the basement.
20:29And if they misbehave, they're taken to the couple's crematorium.
20:33Watching the devastated parents gather to learn their kid's fate is chilling.
20:38One particular interaction still haunts us today.
20:40She's always been the one that I'm worried about.
20:43You can't blame yourself.
20:44Frank does.
20:46And he's right, I should have held on.
20:48It is an emotionally exhausting episode that some don't care to watch more than once.
20:53But that is precisely what makes it so striking.
20:57Before we unveil our top pick, here are some honorable mentions.
21:01The Lesson
21:01Matthew Gray Goobler's direction makes this tale of human puppets truly horrific.
21:12Minimal loss.
21:14Spencer Reed and Emily Prentiss get caught in a Waco-like siege at a cult's compound.
21:21You cannot convert my brothers.
21:25Our darkest hour and the longest night.
21:27Tim Curry leads this terrifying two-parter.
21:30Do you believe in heaven?
21:34This is your last chance.
21:40Do you think I might see you there?
21:42Amplification.
21:43An intense episode with a tragically high body count.
21:46Get back.
21:48Get back.
21:48Get out of here.
21:49Get out of here.
21:49Go, go, go.
21:50Please get back.
21:51What's wrong?
21:52Read, open the door.
21:56I'm sorry.
21:58Profiling 101.
21:59A lesson in monster hunting with flashbacks.
22:02This job isn't just what I do.
22:05It's who I am.
22:06Is it worth it?
22:08For every life we save?
22:11Damn right it is.
22:13Number 1.
22:14100.
22:14No matter how many times we watch this one, we still find ourselves crying.
22:20Though he appears in flashbacks and visions later on in the series, this is Reaper George
22:25Foyette's grand finale.
22:26Agent Hodge.
22:28If you touch her.
22:29Be gentle.
22:30Like I was with you.
22:32Since the events of Omnivore, he's made Hodge his nemesis.
22:35But instead of physically hurting him, the Reaper goes for his heart and mind.
22:40He threatens the lives of his ex-wife Haley and their son Jack, provoking him in the process.
22:46The entire team listens as Hodge and Haley say their final words to each other.
22:50What's more, they all hear the gunshots that end her life.
23:04When Hodge finally arrives at the house, he beats the killer to death.
23:08Luckily, his boy survives.
23:11But this episode breaks Hodge and our hearts.
23:14There was nothing I could do for her.
23:20She was already.
23:23What do you think is the best episode?
23:25Did it make the list?
23:27Let us know in the comments.