Criminal Minds- Scared to Death

For many fans Gideon has been one of the focal points of the show, but with his departure the team are left wondering what to do. Not just with his physical loss from the team, but with the items he left behind. He left everything behind, except the photographs he kept of the people he saved and lost. His resignation is official. It's made clear he won't even be acting as a guest lecturer. No one knows, for certain, just why he left, despite the letter he left behind.

And with that they are thrown directly into the next case. Four bodies. Each victim tortured. Burned. Asphyxiated. Strangled. Both male and female victims, no sign of sexual assault. The pattern something the team has yet to piece together. From the brief glimpse we're given of the unsub it's made clear he's conducting some sort of sadistic series of experiments. But why?

Notes made in that opening scene show the unsub recording signs of anxiety, fear, breathing rate almost in a clinical manner. Combined with the title of the show it's easy to assume that the unsub is watching to see just what the most efficient manner of scaring someone to death might be.

Can someone truly be scared to death?

Yes. It's believed to be easier if the person has a heart condition. There are records of men and women who have been literally scared to death.

One thing quickly becomes clear, the last victim was claustrophobic. Between the broken elevator and the way her shower stall was used for storage it makes it all too clear, to the viewer, that the unsub knew of her fear of enclosed spaces. By locking her into a small box, where she couldn't breathe fully, he was triggering her fear reflex. A part of his interest in fear?

Or is he trying to make them face their fears? A flash back scene instantly suggests that and when it's revealed that he's offering treatment to those who want to face their fears the story takes a sickening turn. His newest victim walks into the water, ready to face his fear of water, never realizing just what he is about to face - and it's not just his fear of water. The unsub is calculating, intelligent, calm, focused feeds off the fear they face. As the unsub stands there, watching his newest victim drown, he asks "Is it worse than you thought?"

An unsub who doesn't see his victims as people, but pieces of the puzzle, an experiment and perhaps a way to find the answer to his own fears. With the new death the team is able to pick out the link. They're being killed through their fears.

Reed is the only team member left trying to figure things out about why Gideon left. It becomes all too clear that Reed feels Gideon has abandoned him, and doesn't understand why the letter was addressed to him. The letter holds answers for Gideon, if he has the courage to face them.

As they dig deeper into the case they realize that the unsub is offering free treatment, a way of helping people past their phobia's and then adding the offer of $100 on top of that as a way of luring them in further. And the flyers he posted had been up for some time, so just how many victims were truly out there? How long has he been doing this? Eight graves, twelve bodies, no pattern on burial - and it leads to a focused website that claims to be the leading institute in dealing with phobia's. And as they put the pieces together they pull up a name and find out that his practice was shut down a year ago. But he still has the building. The timing of the practice shutting down coincides with the start of the deaths, a trigger factor perhaps? No, the death of his mother, a woman who emotionally and physically abused him, was the trigger. And with the office gone, closed down and physically missing, they are left trying to track him.

But will they be in time to save his newest victim, a woman he's slowly burying alive in the basement, taking notes throughout the process.

To the unsub the victims sacrificed themselves for science and just as it was suggested when they began to profile the unsub, he takes his own life instead of letting them take him in. They know the last victim is somewhere close. The dirt under his nails gives the clue, but as they scramble to dig her out will they be able to save her, or is she already dead?

The low sob as she gasps for breath brings relief to the team.

Fears are some of the strongest things in our lives. They often define us. They limit us, confine us and yet can open the door to new experiences if we have the courage to face them. Though the episode was about an unsub who used fears against his victims, there's another message in it. That the team can face their fears. All of them. Be it how they will pull together now Gideon is gone, or how Hodge will cope now his wife has left with their child.

The episode in any series after an emotional departure or near miss with a loved character, is never easy. The show can drop the ball, or push on and continue to delight the viewers. In this case Criminal Minds pulled it off. The episode didn't dwell on Gideon's departure, but used it instead. Nicely done.