Elsewhere, Sicarius is at home with his family, being a reliable father and husband. His wife asks him to check the autopay and clear the water bill. The reality that he is hiding from his wife other than being a leader for an online serial killer network, is that they are broke. His annoying neighbour, Earl keeps getting on his bad side but Sicarius has rules. He can’t kill people close to him or those who know him because the probability of being caught or investigated is high. There is also the added pressure of his eldest daughter getting into her dream private school and his boss firing him due to budget cuts. He calls one of his followers, the guy is anxious after seeing the news. Sicarius asks him to wait his turn and assures him that he has everything under control. Sicarius asks him to send him money and he will make sure to move him up the list. The frustration from dealing with his annoying neighbour and the toll of keeping their financial status from his wife gets too much for him. After receiving funds from his follower, he lies to his wife that he is going on a work trip. Meanwhile, in Quantico, Rebecca asks Tara to move in with her and at first, she is hesitant but says yes. Garcia identifies a hidden message app on all the phones of unsubs they have gotten so far. Through the messaging app, she found a public site the serial killer network has been using to communicate. Rossi is eager to find out how Sicarius is getting his followers and what he has over them. They believe that he profiles his followers and has intimate details about their life for the suicide pact to work. Tara and Luke focus on the kill kits to figure out where Sicarius is getting them. JJ and Garcia take the site and try to narrow down the accounts that have had interactions with Sicarius’ account. After the brief, Emily briefs Director Bailey who thinks their case should be under domestic terrorism. Emily argues that they are dealing with a network of serial killers and not a terrorist cell. Bailey says that he doubts that the BAU resources should be used in this case but he promises to talk to the bosses. Garcia and JJ realize that Sicarius is picking candidates to fit specific kill kits that he had already buried. He is selecting the killer to fit the kits. However, they need to find the other three kill kits they are missing. JJ analyses the kits they already have and establishes what might be in the missing three. On the other hand, Garcia’s deep dive into the public site used by the serial killer leads her to discover a possible unsub. Based on his choice of words when communicating with Sicarius, Rossi can tell he is a former military. Garcia tries to get into the DOJ portal but is firewalled. Tara reaches out to Rebecca to check the DOJ portal and use their unsub profile to find his identity. She finds Tyler Green, who fits the profile. The team briefs Director Bailey to get approval for a stint to arrest Tyler. He chooses to bring in the Domestic terrorism unit which annoys Rossi. Emily asks to make it a joint operation and Bailey agrees. Tyler is on his way to drop a bomb at a public park and Sicarius has promised to be nearby to watch. Director Bailey stations snipers to take out Tyler in case of a contingency but the BAU team wants Tyler alive and taken by surprise. He is their only lead to Sicarius. Emily and Luke ignore Bailey’s plan and get into the kill zone. Bailey orders Rossi and Emily to get JJ and Luke out but they refuse. JJ and Luke take down Tyler successfully but Bailey gives the credit to the Domestic Terrorism Unit during his press conference. He also fires Rossi from his position and brings up Tara’s relationship with Rebecca. Emily decides to take over Rossi’s position as a move to protect the team. As they investigate Tyler, they discover the device he was carrying was fake. His kill kit was neutralised and he had planted cameras around the park. They realize that Tyler was trying to lure Sicarius out in public. Tyler infiltrated the serial killer network because he believes Sicarius killed his sister fifteen years ago. Unfortunately, Tyler is refusing to talk and blames the FBI for ruining his vigilante plant. They also discover that Tyler was Garcia’s anonymous informant. The episode ends with Sicarius capturing a man who resembles his annoying neighbour and feeding him alive to Moose.
The Episode Review
The twist at the end was amazing, as always Criminal Minds delivers and leaves the audience wanting more. Tyler being a vigilante that got that close to Sicarius is going to be helpful once he decides to talk. I am curious how he found Garcia and why he trusted her.