History Recap / CriminalMindsS3E10TrueNight

--> '''Reid:''' ''"Superman is, after all, an alien life form. He is simply the acceptable face of invading realities." Author Clive Barker.''

--> '''Garcia:''' ''"The noir hero is a knight in blood-caked armor. He's dirty, and he does his best to deny the fact that he's a hero the whole time."''[[note]]Frank Miller[[/note]]

A series of vigilante killings targeted at gang members and other criminals and performed with a katana turn out to be mimicking the violent comic book ''True Night''. The killer is in fact the alternate identity of the comics creator, Jonny [=McHale=], created from the trauma caused by the brutal rape and murder of his girlfriend.

!! Tropes for this episode include

* DeliberatelyMonochrome: True Night's [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness murder scenes]] are shot in a {{ComicBook/Sin City}}-esque black-and-white style, with occasional [[SplashOfColor splashes of color]] for blood splatter and rain.
* GoryDiscretionShot: Jonny's murders are largely kept out of shot or restricted to comic-book depictions, but to tell from the agents' reactions, they're some of the most brutal kills they've seen in a while.
* IronicEcho: "You're not going to want to miss this". The gang ringleader said this to Jonny before raping and murdering his girlfriend. Jonny spits it back at him before disembowelling and decapitating the guy.

* ShoutOut: Shots of Jonny's delusion-driven revenge attacks are in the style of Creator/FrankMiller's Comicbook/SinCity.
** Jonny going on a murderous rampage against the criminals who raped and murdered his girlfriend and left him for dead seems to evoke Franchise/TheCrow.

-->'''Rossi''': They cut you open, they practically eviscerated you! The doctors said it was a miracle you lived!
-->'''Jonny''': Miracle?! You think living was a miracle?!
* SympatheticMurderer: Jonny is one of the biggest examples of the series. He was once a successful comic book artist in a happy, loving relationship. On the night that his girlfriend, Vicky, learned she was pregnant with their child, Jonny immediately proposed to her...only for them to be accosted by a gang of thugs who gang-raped and murdered Vicky while Jonny was ForcedToWatch, then beat him almost to death and left him for dead in an alley. This caused Jonny to have a psychotic break so bad that he brutally murdered all of the gang members (and only them, not targeting any innocents) by slicing them to pieces with a katana, all without realizing he was doing so until the episode's climax. Even the team feels bad for him, and gets him committed to a mental institution to try to help him rather than prison.

Traumatized by being forced to witness the rape and murder of his fiance, a mentally ill comicbook artist has taken on the identity of the anti-hero protagonist of his own comics, and goes after the perps with katanas every night.

Traumatized by being forced to witness the rape and murder of his fiance, a mentally ill comicbook artist has taken on the identity of the anti-hero protagonist of his own comics, and goes after the perps with katanas every night.

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* KickTheSonOfABitch: True Night was targeting the gang that murdered his girlfriend and gang-raped her while she was pregnant. He makes sure to remind them of what they did.

* PayEvilUntoEvil: By the time that Jonny is caught, he has brutally murdered most of the gang that killed his girlfriend and tortured the ringleader.

* DeconstructedTrope: As noted, True Night's comics show him as a glorified vigilante in how he brandishes his swords and spouts one-liners. The BAU notes that he still committed murder, with several looking sickened at the state of the corpses they find.

When the latest in a series of gang-related killings take place in Los Angeles, California, the BAU gradually suspects the crime scenes mirror drawings from a graphic novel written by a man suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder.

* SurvivorsGuilt: Jonny [=McHale=] regrets that he survived the night where his girlfriend died.

* RealityEnsues: As noted, True Night's comics show him as a glorified vigilante in how he brandishes his swords and spouts one-liners. The BAU notes that he still committed murder, with several looking sickened at the state of the corpses they find.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Bobby Kim, Jonny's agent and friend. He's checking up on him regularly since the brutal incident and is worried that Jonny's mental health has deteriorated. Bobby notifies the BAU about the art he found and about his friend's erratic behavior.

* PayEvilUntoEvil: By the time that Jonny is caught, he has brutally murdered most of the gang that killed his girlfriend and

* SympathyForTheDevil: The BAU is regretful when they drive a pinned-down Jonny to tears, while asking him about the body of the gang leader. They admit that what happened to him is horrible and he needs help, not an arrest.
* VoicemailConfusion: Subverted. Jonny knows he's talking to Vickie's voicemail, but because of his delusion he thinks she is ghosting him rather than that she is dead.

* BittersweetEnding: It's revealed that Jonny [=McHale=] avenged his girlfriend unknowingly while acting out as a vigilante. He also needs to be committed to a psychiatric hospital due to his violence and delusions. They do allow him to keep his phone, and he keeps calling her voicemail to hear the last thing she said.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: True Night was targeting the gang that murdered his girlfriend and gang-raped her while she was pregnant. He makes sure to remind them of what they did.

* SympathyForTheDevil: The BAU is regretful when they drive a pinned-down Jonny to tears, while asking him about the body of the gang leader. They admit that what happened to him is horrible and he needs help, not an arrest.

* SympathyForTheDevil: THe BAU is regretful when they drive a pinned-down Jonny to tears, while asking him about the body of the gang leader. They admit that what happened to him is horrible and he needs help, not an arrest.

When the latest in a series of gang-related killings take place in Los Angeles, California, the BAU gradually suspects the crime scenes mirror drawings from a graphic novel written by a man suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder.