In last week’s episode, the agents arrested a man who programmed children to kill and we met Morgan’s girlfriend. In tonight’s episode, “Strange Fruit”, the BAU investigates a family after human remains are found on their property. Read on to find out what the minds behind Criminal Minds have planned for us this week.
‘Criminal Minds’ Recap: Meet Morgan’s Girlfriend
The Family that Slays Together?
The agents are asked to investigate when the remains of two bodies are found in a family’s backyard. The family members are the main suspects and one of them — the son, Lyle — tries to run when he sees the cops. Hotch manages to chase Lyle down and gets him to surrender.
The family has lived in the house for 35 years and never had any tenants so they remain the main suspects. The M.E. figures out that both bodies belong to female victims in their 30s, close to Lyle’s age. Their genitals were mutilated and when Hotch confronts Lyle with that information, Lyle seems confused and upset.
Revenge Killings?
Once they identify one of the female victims, the agents find a connection between Lyle and the dead woman. They also find pictures of Lyle with the victim and know the two were involved. The agents question Lyle again and he confesses to killing the women, but the confession rings false. When a third body is found and they learn that the victim — male, this time — was killed 35 years ago, the agents realize that Lyle is covering for his father.
All in all, the agents find four bodies in the yard and trace them all back to Charles, the father. Charles killed two klansmen 35 years ago after they attacked and castrated him for a rape he did not commit. When his son started dating the daughter of one of the men who attacked him, Charles killed her. Charles also killed the other woman because she was related to one of the klansmen. He mutilated his victims postmortem because of his own mutilation and tells Rossi that he killed out of hate, not revenge.
Due to his castration, Rossi knows that Charles is not Lyle’s biological father and gets Charles to give up a full confession — including more murders — by promising not to reveal the truth about Lyle’s parentage.
What is Rossi Ashamed Of?
During the case, Rossi is tasked with questioning Charles. At one point, Rossi tells Charles about an experience from his childhood in which he threw a black boy in a locker and urinated on him after his teammates threatened him with a similar fate. This confession does not get Charles to open up, but it does upset Rossi, who clearly regrets his actions. He feels so much shame over his behavior that he tells Morgan he was only working Charles — thereby suggesting that he never did such a thing — and is later haunted by memories of what he did to the boy.
How is Cruz Fitting In?
This episode also sees the return of new Section Chief Mateo Cruz. As the episode begins, JJ asks Cruz why they cannot just tell people about their assignment, especially since people are jumping to the wrong conclusion and assuming they are having an affair. JJ says that the team is already questioning their connection and mentions that Rossi has been onto them since day one. When Garcia approaches them, Cruz makes a quick exit. Did Garcia overhear their conversation?
Since the bodies were found about 5 miles from BAU HQ, Cruz has front row seats to the team’s investigation. He helps with some of the questioning and we get a sense that he has a good working relationship with the team. But do the agents really suspect something is going on between Cruz and JJ? Or do they assume their connection is work-related?
What did you think of tonight’s episode? This episode was a bit of a departure for the show, with most of the screen-time being devoted to the interrogation of the family. Did you like this change of pace or do you prefer episodes with more action? Were you surprised by Rossi’s confession? And when do you think the agents will figure out the real connection between JJ and Cruz? Hit the comments section and let us know your thoughts.
Criminal Minds airs Wednesdays at 9pm on CBS.
(Image courtesy of CBS)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
