In the season’s eleventh episode, “Perennials”, the BAU investigates an Unsub who leaves bugs behind at all of his crime-scenes. Read on to find out what the Criminal Minds writers have in-store for us this week.
Ending the Cycle
Tonight’s Unsub-of-the-week murders two seemingly un-connected people via a chisel to the head and the team takes on the case. The Unsub uses a method in his murders that is eerily similar to one used by deceased serial killer Russell Smith and the team eventually realizes that the Unsub actually believes he is Smith. This Unsub also leaves a little something behind at each crime scene — fly larvae.
The Unsub, Kestler, believes in reincarnation and thinks he was born again as Russell Smith. He also believes that all of Smith’s victims were also reincarnated and are now coming after him. Kestler is convinced he must kill these reincarnated people before they kill him and he uses the larvae as new-born hosts for the reincarnated spirits. In the end, Kestler is killed but thinks he missed his chance for another human life and will be re-incarnated through his bugs. (You know what they say about Karma.)
Morgan is Shot…With Bullets!
Before Kestler is killed, he manages to get a few shots off and one hits Morgan (Shemar Moore). Luckily, Morgan was wearing his bullet-proof vest, so he ends up with just a few bruises. This does not stop Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness) from worrying about him, but her fears are soothed when Morgan shows her his bandaged-but-still-flawless mid-section. Garcia is entranced by Morgan’s abs and she offers to play nurse and help him change his bandages whenever the need arises.
JJ (A.J. Cook) walks in on their little moment and you get the feeling that she is going to have fun teasing Garcia about caressing Morgan’s abs! (I like to think that partially-shirtless Shemar Moore is the writers’ way of making up for all of those bug scenes.)
Almost Doesn’t Count
In a follow-up to the last episode, Blake (Jeanne Tripplehorn) questions Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler) about his date and Reid says it was canceled. Reid goes on to explain that everything is fine with his new girlfriend and comes up with an excuse to table the conversation for the time being. Alas, their chat is not revisited during this episode.
A New Investigation
Tonight’s episode ends with Hotch (Thomas Gibson) addressing the team about a new case. He explains that a man was found in New Mexico with his leg amputated and replaced with someone else’s, just like in the case they solved earlier this season. The team already knows about The Silencer copycat but now it looks like the copycat is not a one-time deal and someone is mimicking crimes the BAU has solved. The team will now investigate these copycat murders along with their usual cases.
Now that the season-long Unsub is finally on the BAU’s radar, will we start to see more of said Unsub? Which previously-solved crimes will the Unsub mimic now? And when we finally learn the Unsub’s identity, will he or she be someone Criminal Minds fans have seen before?
Do you have any thoughts on tonight’s case, Morgan’s new nurse or the identity of the Unsub? If so, let us know in the comments section.
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(Image courtesy of CBS)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
