- As The Prince of Darkness continues his murderous rampage across California, the BAU go after him to save Detective Spicer's daughter from him.
- Morgan and Det. Matt Spicer are unable to reach Spicer's daughter, Ellie Spicer, before she is kidnapped by the unsub, who has been raping and killing during blackouts for twenty-six years. In the kidnapping process, Morgan and Spicer's sister, Kristin, are beaten, and Spicer himself killed. Spicer's parents were the unsub's first victims twenty-six years ago. Ellie, who quickly understands her role in the unsub's twisted fantasy, ends up being more resilient than the unsub first believed. Meanwhile, the BAU, with information from Kristin, believe they understand why the unsub kidnapped Ellie and has probably kept her alive. The BAU also believe they have a means to at least contact the unsub. In doing so, an uncomfortable J.J. is requested to do some work outside of her responsibility. Reid, in the meantime, finds an earlier murder which he believes is also connected to the unsub, this information which could lead to figuring out his identity. J.J. uses this information in her monologue to the unsub. And capturing the unsub becomes a personal vendetta for Morgan.—Huggo
- Morgan becomes determined to save Ellie from Billy Flynn aka the Prince of Darkness who has killed Matt during a stand-off at his old house, but Morgan is hell-bent to avenge Matt's death. In order to save Ellie; Hotch convinces JJ to contact Flynn through the city's emergency alert system and convince him to release Ellie.—dawsonpersi
- The last time we saw the BAU team, it was chasing a serial killer called the "Prince of Darkness." The Prince shot a cop named Spicer before kidnapping the dead man's young daughter, Ellie, in front of an incapacitated Derek. Naturally, Derek is FURIOUS. "We will find you, you sick sonofabitch!" he growls as the Prince slips away into the night.
CUT to a trippy scene of a golden field where an adorable little boy stands with an angelic older woman. We are inside the mind of the Prince! The daydream ends and we see Derek and Kristin, their hands and feet bound, bleeding on the floor -- the Prince long gone. "We have to get her back," Kristin cries. "She's just a baby!" Derek pleads with the woman to remember anything she can about the Prince, who shot her brother and took her niece. Kristin recalls that the Prince arrived in an RV -- an "old, dumpy RV."
CUT to said RV, where the Prince has taken Ellie. He wipes the blood off her cheek with his disgusting spit. "We're going to make a great team," the killer growls. Rossi, Emily, Hotch and Kurzbard arrive on the scene. Naturally, Derek refuses to go to a hospital. There's just too much to do. Jennifer and Spencer soon arrive, too. Derek calls Garcia with a partial license plate number for the RV before turning to Hotch, who urges Derek not to blame himself. "This guy is a pure psychopath," Derek seethes. "I want this guy."
CUT to the RV, where Ellie declares: "We're not a team!" She then asks why the Prince must kill. "The question isn't why do I kill people," he says. "The question is why I don't kill everybody. I decide who dies, but mostly I decide who lives. I'm like God ... and now you are, too." The Prince then hears the description of his RV over the radio -- and spots a man changing his tire nearby. A potential witness. The Prince pulls his gun and SHOOTS the man dead. A horrified Ellie watches from inside the RV.
Back at police HQ, Garcia calls with a bad news: no matches in California on the partial license plate. She apologizes for letting down Derek. "Sorry isn't helping anybody!" Derek yells before hanging up. Rossi raises an eyebrow -- Derek is in too deep (again). Emily explains that Kristin said the Prince listened to news radio incessantly -- and would stop whatever he was doing if his nickname was mentioned. "Makes sense for a narcissist," Rossi observes. Jennifer suggests using the "emergency alert system" to broadcast over all the radio stations at once -- thus talking directly to the killer.
CUT back to the golden wheat field. We're back inside the Prince's mind -- and see him dancing joyously with the dark-haired woman. Could it be his mother? It's likely. Later, the Prince and Ellie approach another suburban home. The Prince explains to his reluctant charge that a bicycle out front means children -- and children mean parents who are easy to control. The Prince knocks and promptly SHOOTS the father. He then asks Ellie to find the little boy while he heads upstairs to "comfort" the new widow (gross).
Once upstairs, the Prince notices a framed photographed of the family. There is a second boy in the house! Ellie boldly confesses that she told the other boy to run to the neighbors and call the police. "I'll bet the whole block knows by now," Ellie says. Sure enough, the Prince steps outside to discover a horde of neighbors approaching the house like townsfolk hunting Frankenstein's monster. The Prince retreats inside. He then drags Ellie to the garage, hops in the car and CRASHES through the closed garage door! The car peels out and escapes down the dimly lit neighborhood street.
Later, the team arrives at the scene and searches the abandoned RV. Spencer discovers that the Prince has made Ellie cut her hair (there are locks left behind). "This might actually be good," Spencer says. "Why disguise someone you're going to kill?" They then notice newspaper articles that mention Ellie. Rossi remembers that the Prince called Ellie "special" before taking her. "Ellie was his target all along -- not Spicer," Derek says. The team then theorizes that the Prince, who let Spicer live as a little boy, feels "responsible" for Ellie being born. "A bastardized version of a grandparent," Rossi says.
Back at HQ, Jennifer FINALLY gets through to a bureaucrat powerful enough to hand over control of the emergency radio system. She calls Hotch with the good news. "I need you to start talking to him immediately," Hotch says. Says a wary Jennifer: "I'm not a hostage negotiator." Retorts Hotch: "I'm sorry, but you are today." Garcia, in the meantime, thinks that she might have discovered the Prince's first kill. A prostitute and drug addict was murdered (along with a "john") by her 13-year-old's son. The boy, who was released when he turned 18, looks like a younger, skinnier version of the Prince. Bingo! Derek then apologizes to Garcia for his short fuse. She graciously accepts.
CUT to a VERY nervous Jennifer, who is just about to go on the emergency air waves. "If he hears that you care about him, that's how you're going to get him to care about Ellie," Hotch says. "He has to understand that he's putting her through the same pain that he went through as a child ... but it has to be his decision." Jennifer begins by addressing the Prince by his real name: Billy Flynn. CUT to the car, where the Prince is listening to the radio. His eyes go wide. "Who's Billy Flynn?" Ellie asks. The Prince doesn't answer -- he just listens. "I want to talk to you about letting Ellie Spicer go," Jennifer says. "Look, you can tell I'm not a hostage negotiator, but I am a mother." She then tells the Prince that she knows the Prince had a horrible, horrible childhood -- and that mothers should be wonderful and comforting and loving instead of callous and abusive.
"What happened to you isn't fair ... but you can't take away your pain by hurting someone else," Jennifer continues. "What you're doing to her isn't fair, either." When Jennifer finishes, the team gets two phone calls. The first: Kristin had died from her injuries inflicted by the Prince. The second: Ellie has been let go! Jennifer did it. "He's in another house up the street," Kurzbard tells the BAU. The team rolls out in bullet-proof vests and surrounds the residence. The Prince calls -- and asks that Derek come in ... alone. Perfect. The angry agent walks into the house to find the Prince holding a terrified couple hostage. Derek declares that he isn't afraid of the Prince.
The killer then begins to tell the story of murdering his mother ... and even manages to work up some tears. "Did I help her escape?" he asks. "Did I set her free?" The Prince then wonders whether he'll see his mommy in heaven. "Do you think I'll see her there -- get a second chance?" he asks. "I'd really like that." The Prince then begins to raise his gun -- but doesn't get it above his waist before Derek opens FIRE. He shoots the Prince/Billy dead with a flurry of tightly aimed shots to the chest.
Outside, he takes off his vest and hugs Ellie. It's all over.
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