False Flag
Two members of a group of conspiracy theorists die in a conspicuous way, and another member of the group kills himself. The BAU investigates the group and finds that the local bookstore owner knows how to play them, but that he's not the murderer.
Provides examples of:
- Arc Words: According to Bob, the arcwords of Truthers is "Isn't it interesting?"
- Alliterative Name: Melissa Miller.
- Author Tract: If you ever wondered what the writers of this show think about "truthers", wonder no more.
- Berserk Button: Melissa smashes Tara's when she brings up the conspiracy theory that the Sandy Hook shootings were staged. Tara was one of the agents who investigated, and saw first hand the trauma of the survivors, so to her, such an accusation is one of the biggest insults anyone can say.
- Brick Joke: FBI having helicopters.
- Call-Back: Apparently Rossi's latest book is about Tommy Yates. A truther thinks Yates was innocent.
- Captain Obvious:
- Prentiss tells Melissa that helicopters can be useful when people get lost in the desert, but she doesn't think small-town police has any use for tanks.
- Tomatoes don't grow well in oil, a fact Bob Orci claims to have missed.
- Central Theme: Skepticism. That random things happen.
- Character Focus: Dr. Tara Lewis gets the most focus this episode. It is revealed that she counceled the bereaved parents of the Sandy Hook massacre.
- Conspiracy Theorist: The victims and the suspects.
- Contrived Coincidence: Melissa thinks everything is this, but to summarize: a man causes a freak accident that drowns him in his own aquarium just as one of his friends dies of a gunshot wound, who happens to stuff a page in the wound from a book sold by Bob the book dealer, who just happens to be fertilizing his tomatoes with stuff you'd build a bomb with, and the police just so happens to have the helicopters Melissa claims the FBI denies having.
- Once More, with Clarity: Downplayed. JJ and Luke walk through a scene where Tara and Emily discuss what could possibly be wrong with the metal detector, talking about who-knows-what, accidentally solving the conundrum in the process. A little later, JJ relates her discussion with Luke about the Catcher in the Rye connection, which features them walking through the metal detector while they talk.
- Precision F-Strike: When Melissa insists that Sandy Hook was staged, Tara calmly walks over to an empty office, quietly closes the door, and SHOUTS.
Tara: SON OF A—
- Red Herring: The page of a novel by J. D. Salinger.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Melissa accuses the FBI of having black helicopters that they use for surveillance. The FBI doesn't deny that it has helicopters.
- Shout-Out: The Catcher in the Rye plays a central role. Charles Darwin's theory of evolution is suggested as a suspect.
- Theory Tunnel Vision: Brought up in regards to truthers and Conspiracy Theorists; anyone who presents evidence that contradicts the conspiracy's existence is disregarded and denounced as being 'in on it'.
- Title Drop: "I know a false flag when I see one, you bitch!"
- You Are What You Hate: Tara momentarily becomes a conspiracy theorist before she catches herself. Then she realizes that Melissa accused the government of doing what she did: dividing up the evidence between themselves.
- You Just Told Me: The damning comment was offensive, but would likely have been ignored if Melissa hadn't deleted the audio for her podcast.
