300
Cult leader Benjamin David Merva (
Michael Hogan) and his followers have taken Reid and Garcia hostage. Reid creates a distraction so Garcia can escape, and she makes it back to Quantico with only a memorized description of the route in her head. Reid is taken to another State to be sacrificed so the cult can get their 300th hyoid bone. He buys as much time as he can, and it is just enough.
Tropes
- Actor Allusion: The verse Reid was referring to is in the Book of Matthew.
- Arc Number: 300. Ben's cult believes when they sacrifice the 300th victim and take their hyoid bone, the Messiah will return. JJ theorizes that it has to do with the number of bones you're born with, but Tara figures out that it's about the 300 angels guarding the Garden of Eden.
- As the Good Book Says...:
- Reid gives Garcia a secret message in the form of a Bible verse.
- He also stalls the sacrifice by quoting Ecclestiates.
- Call-Back:
- Mary Meadows was a member of the cult the BAU investigated in "Minimal Loss". Scenes from that episode are directly reused for Prentiss's and Rossi's flashbacks to the cult.
- Part of the reason Reid was chosen is that he was in prison.
- Car Fu: As Garcia makes her escape from the cultists, Meadows tries to stop her and points a gun at the car. Garcia just runs into Meadows with the car and keeps going.
- Casting Gag: The subtlest one. The verse Reid references is from the Gospel of Matthew.
- Double-Meaning Title: The episode is the show's 300th, and 300 is the arc number of the episode.
- Flashback:
- Rossi and Prentiss have these to the cult from "Minimal Loss".
- Going to his death, Reid thinks about when JJ asked him to be her firstborn's godfather.
- Foreshadowing: JJ is very upset about both Spencer's and Penelope's kidnapping (considering she's very close to both and they are the godparents of her first son, it makes total sense), but she seems the most upset about Reid. Then the season finale reveals that her adoration of Reid is more than platonic....
- Heroic Sacrifice: Theo joining Reid in putting up a struggle against the cultists to let Garcia get away gets him shot and killed.
- Irony: When Mary Meadows first visited Prentiss's office in "Believer", she lingered there a moment to see if Emily would recognize her from Cyrus's cult, where she and Reid were held hostage ten years ago. Prentiss didn't recognize her at the time, but remembering this detail is the very thing that allows her to recall where she's seen Meadows before.
- I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: Meadows and the cultists get what they need from each of their hostages (information from Reid, Garcia's hacking skills) by threatening to kill the other if they don't comply.
- Know When to Fold Them: Most of the cultists surrender without a fight after the BAU and SWAT raid their hideout, though they have to kill several of the cult's enforcers before the rank and file get the message.
- Meaningful Name:
- The cult believes a kid named Theo is the next Messiah. "Theo" means "god".
- Simmons, Alvez, and Lewis discuss this concept regarding the name of the cult leader, Benjamin Jacob Merva.
- More Expendable Than You: Reid and Garcia over who should be the cult's next murder victim.
Garcia:
*whispering to Reid* They'll trade. We'll make a barter.
(Louder, trying to get the thugs' attention) Take me!
Reid:
(firmly) No. Garcia:
*whispering again* But the team needs you!
Reid: No they don't, they need you.
Garcia:
(Beat) They need us.
We need us. What can we do?
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Reid pretends to tearfully ask Garcia to tell his mother he loves her to get the hostage takers to leave them alone for a bit.
- Oblivious to Love: A mild example from a long time ago. JJ recalls to Emily how Reid invited her to a football game back in Season 1, and how she, thinking it was merely a gesture of friendship between coworkers, decided to invite Garcia to join them too with the thought that the youngest team members (the three of them) should "stick together". It was only later that JJ learned Reid had intended for the invitation to be a date with her.
- One-Steve Limit: Averting this is a major plot point. When Simmons and Alvez review the security camera footage, they see Reid sign "Ben's Believers" at the camera, and wonder why he told them something they seemingly already know. They're also confused as to why a man originally born David James Merva would change his name to Benjamin David Merva, something so close to the original. They eventually figure out that the "Ben" Reid was talking about was Benjamin Cyrus, the leader of the cult from "Minimal Loss", which Merva and Meadows are revealed to have both been part of. After Cyrus died and Merva effectively became his successor, he changed his first name to "Benjamin" as well.
- Posthumous Character: The last time we saw Benjamin Cyrus, who appears in flashbacks, he was in a building getting blown up.
- Remember the New Guy?: When Prentiss and Rossi recall Ben Cyrus's cult from "Minimal Loss", they remember Merva and Meadows both being there too, and conclude that Meadows must have been another of Cyrus's wives. Neither of them were actually in the original episode; tellingly, while some parts of the flashback include direct footage from that episode, any shots with either of them in it were clearly re-filmed.
- Revenge: One of the major motivations of Merva, Meadows, and their followers is to get revenge against the BAU for the downfall of Cyrus (to whom both of them were devoted, and in Meadows' case, married) and their cult ten years ago. Them specifically targeting Reid and choosing him at their 300th murder victim is also largely due to this, since Reid managed to gain Cyrus's trust, which was vital for bringing the cult down from the inside.
- Sequel Episode: To "Minimal Loss" from Season 4. The villains are former die-hard members of Benjamin Cyrus's cult from that episode who survived the explosion of the compound.
- Shipper on Deck: Shortly before the pilot, Hotch and Morgan gave Reid advice about going on a date with JJ.
- Spanner in the Works: One of the cultists spots Rossi while the BAU and SWAT are still moving into position to raid the cult's hideout, forcing Rossi to kill the cultist, with the gunshot alerting the rest of the Believers to law enforcement's presence and causing them to try and sacrifice Reid then and there. Fortunately, the BAU are able to kill or overpower the cultists before Reid comes to harm.
- Take Me Instead: When Garcia learns that Reid is slated to become the cult's next victim, she briefly tries to do this, but Spencer immediately protests.
- Villainous Breakdown: Meadows has a subdued one after Merva is killed and she is arrested by Simmons.
- We Need a Distraction: Reid starts a struggle against the cultists, with Theo quickly following his lead, in order to give Garcia a chance to escape. Meadows notices pretty quickly, but not soon enough to stop her.
