- A copycat serial killer is recreating murder techniques used by famous killers from the past.
- While on a book tour in Cleveland, Rossi learns from Zoe Hawkes, a keen criminology student, that there has been a spike in homicides in the city, she thinks that it is the work of one serial killer. Rossi thinks nothing of it since, on the surface, the homicides have nothing in common - that is until Zoe herself is killed while searching for clues. The BAU quickly realizes the connection: the M.O. of each case is a replica of more famous serial killer, with the perpetrator being a student of serial killers. Beyond the BAU needing to find the unsub before he kills again, Rossi has to reconcile his own feelings that he was somewhat responsible for Zoe's murder.—Huggo
- During a book tour, Rossi is contacted by a criminology student, Zoe, who asks that the BAU investigate a local sudden murder spike. When Rossi dismisses her, she goes to the house of the last murder victim and is found strangled the next day. When the BAU take a look at the murders Zoe reported, they realize that all of them are in fact the work of a young copycat killer imitating, among others, Son of Sam and Jack the Ripper, and believe he's copying other famous killers because he is trying to establish an M.O. of his own.—J. Rieper
- We open with Rossi reading his book "Deviance: The Secret Desires of Sadistic Serial Killers" -- the 10th anniversary edition -- to an adoring book-store audience in Cleveland, Ohio. Afterwards, he is approached by a criminology student, who suspects that a serial killer is on the loose in her town. Rossi more or less dismisses the girl, but hands her his business card before leaving.
Later, the student decides to conduct a little BAU-type investigation of her own. She goes to a recent crime scene (at night) and meets a young man claiming to be a neighbor. "Something weird is going on here," she says. Indeed. Cut to Rossi, who gets a call on his cell. A murder. "We found your card on the victim," Detective Dan Brady explains. The criminology student, Zoe Hawkes, is dead.
Cue opening credits.
Back from a too-long break, Rossi examines the crime scene (now a double crime scene). Someone strangled the poor girl with her own scarf. Rossi calls Garcia: "See if the team can find a connection with these crimes." Was the criminology student correct after all? Back at BAU headquarters, the team examines the case files on recent victims. Derek notices that one of the murders resembles a Son of Sam killing. Emily points out that another could be an imitation of Jack the Ripper. Hotch says yet another reminds him of the BTK. Eureka! "He's a serial killer studying serial killers," Rosis says.
One commercial break later, the team arrives in Cleveland. "We think he's young and impressionable," Derek explains to Brady. "Maybe even a student." Rossi, meanwhile, is feeling quite guilty over the death of Zoe. "It's because of what I said that she was encouraged to go there last night," he tells Hotch. This time it's personal. Rossi and Jennifer then go to visit Paula McConnell, Cleveland's no. 1 crime reporter. The plan: speak to the killer directly through the writer's column. "Let me take a stab at it," McConnell says. No pun intended, naturally. Jennifer gets a call: Another body has been found near a bike path, similar to serial killer from Buffalo.
The next day, the headline to McConnell's column reads: "Police link homicides in East Cleveland." Will this draw the killer out? Maybe, but the team can't afford to sit around and wait. Case in point: Another body has been found. Hotch and Spencer arrive at the scene to find a dead homeless woman. "I don't think he is mimicking anymore," Spencer theorizes. "I think he's developing his own style." Hotch notices a strange spot on the victim's forehead. It was been swiped with alcohol as if to remove evidence. Hmm.
Rossi heads to the morgue to look for similar evidence on Zoe's body. Saliva is found on her forehead -- as if the killer kissed it. Sometime later, Garcia calls with the lab results: DNA matches that of Eric Ryan Olson, a Cleveland native with a history of sexual assault. While in jail, Olson took correspondence courses in criminology. Bingo! Seconds later, the team charges into Olson's apartment, but no one is home. Spencer checks the unsub's computer and finds a schedule. Olson had planned to be at Al's Ale House down the street.
Hotch and Rossi hightail it to the bar, where the bartender says Olson just left. He might have been following one of the waitresses, who always walks home through a nearby park. We cut to the park to find Olson crouched over the young woman. Is he about to kill her? Derek suddenly bursts through the bushes and tackles the man. "Stop it!" the woman screams. "He's my boyfriend!" Wha-wha-what!?
A few words from our sponsors later, Emily interrogates the woman, Linda, who refuses to believe that her boyfriend is a serial killer. "We think he's responsible for the murder of seven people over the past seven weeks," Emily explains. Olson, in the meantime, asks to speak to agent Rossi. Turns out the unsub is an avid reader and "big fan." The creepy young man hints at more bodies. Bluffs Rossi: "We're three steps ahead of you ... how do you know you haven't told me already where the other bodies are buried?"
Spencer calls from the killer's apartment. He has found photographs -- landscapes -- on Olson's computer. "Three of them I recognize from his crime scenes," Spencer says. The other photos he doesn't recognize. Could they be the spots where the other bodies are buried? Maybe girlfriend Linda can help. She says Olson could only get excited when having sex in public places. It quickly becomes apparent that the couple had sex at each of the crime scenes. "He can only have sex with Linda when he's revisiting his crimes," Hotch says. So where else did the couple have sex? Linda writes the spots down on a piece of paper.
Between Linda's list and the photographs, the team now has a good idea where the other bodies are located. Rossi reads the locations to Olson, who puts his face in his hands. "Revisiting the scenes wasn't enough, you had to capture it on film, put it on your computer, display it on your walls," Rossi says. Olson admits to everything. He then invites Rossi to prison to study him. "I can't stop," the killer admits. Case closed.
Later, Rossi wonders if his books do any good at all. Jennifer says she bought one in college and applied to the academy that next fall. He smiles. Maybe Rossi's side gig is good for something other than residuals, after all.
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