Bad Moon on the Rise
A series of animal-like attacks in Central Park lead the team in pursuit of an UnSub suffering from an enormous personal tragedy.This episode contains examples of:
- Animal Motifs: Wolves. In addition to attacking like one, Reid theorises the UnSub is also showing the more protective nature of wolves towards their offspring, as well as targeting anyone he sees as a threat.
- Grief-Induced Split: The UnSub's psychotic breakdown stemmed from his wife blaming him for their son's death and divorcing him.
- Man Bites Man: Due to his werewolf delusion, the UnSub kills his victims by biting their throats out, using a special fashioned mouthpiece to accomplish the biting.
- My God, What Have I Done?: The UnSub's ex-wife has this reaction when she's told her blaming her husband for their son's death drove him over the edge.
- Replacement Goldfish: The UnSub is quite protective towards a homeless boy living in the park who's about the same age as his dead son. Reid speculates it's a mixture of his guilt and his lycanthropic delusion related to the nature of wolves as devoted parents that's fuelling this part of his psychosis.
- Silver Bullet: Invoked by one of the NYPD officers working the case when the BAU mention the UnSub is suffering from clinical lycanthropy.Captain Martin Savalas: So the guy thinks he's a werewolf. Do we need to put silver bullets in our guns?
- Tragic Villain: The UnSub is a man who was paralysed with fear during a mugging and unable to intervene when his son fought back and was inadvertently killed by the robber. His wife blaming him for their son's death and then filing for divorce, along with the fact their son's killer was never caught, pushed him over the edge.
- Wolf Man: The UnSub is suffering from clinical lycanthropy due to his psychotic break.
- Would Hit a Girl: Initially avoided, but when the UnSub's ex-wife refuses his request to give their relationship another go and insists on filing for divorce, he attacks and kills a young woman out celebrating her engagement.
- You Should Have Died Instead: What caused the UnSub's psychotic break was his ex-wife telling him this in relation to their son dying in a mugging gone wrong.
