Sick Day
Jennifer recounts to her husband how she let her personal feelings affect how she handled a pyromaniac UnSub who kidnaps brother-sister pairs and burns them alive.
Tropes associated with this episode:
- Bittersweet Ending: Bordering on Downer Ending, at that: They manage to save the UnSub’s sister and one of the kidnapped siblings (the boy), but are unable to save the other sibling (the girl) despite JJ’s attempt to physically fight Alvez as he gets her out, and she perishes in the fire.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: The UnSub kills people by burning them alive.
- Kill It with Fire: The serial killer's preferred method of killing his victims.
- House Fire: The killer's past history reveals that when he was a child, he twice attempted to set his house on fire while his sister trapped inside both times, but was unsuccessful either time in killing her.
- I Let Gwen Stacy Die: JJ is heartbroken and deeply guilt-ridden about having been unable to save the kidnapped young girl from the UnSub. She fears that she may have been able to save both siblings if she'd started untying the girl first instead of the boy, but admits that she thinks she started off with freeing the brother because he reminded her of her son. Will tries to reassure her that it's not always possible to save everyone, and she's still a hero because she did manage to rescue the other two victims, who also would have died without her help.
- You Remind Me of X: After all is said and done, JJ confesses to Will that she went to save the brother first because he reminded her of their oldest son, but didn’t realize it until it was over.
