Identity
Directed by Gwyneth Horder Payton
Written by Oanh Ly
An UnSub steals a Honda and blows himself up with a hand grenade. The BAU investigate local militias to learn about him, as his latest kidnapping victim is still missing. He leaves behind videos showing he's a religiously chauvinistic man. All his victims look like his estranged wife, and when they find his latest victim freshly killed they realize that he has a partner.Written by Oanh Ly
Rossi: "An earthly kingdom cannot exist without inequality of persons. Some must be free, some serfs, some rulers, some subjects." Martin Luther.
Tropes present in this episode:
- Artistic License – Geography: The episode is set in Great Falls, Montana, a large city of 55,000, in an area surrounded by fields, with mountainous areas covered in forests. The episode chooses to film everything in the mountainous deserts of Southern California, with no vegetation in sight, making it look as if they didn't even care to make things look like Montana.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Henry Frost, Francis Goehring's accomplice/follower. According to Hotch, Henry was raised by his alcoholic father, who routinely abused him. When Henry was fifteen, his father kicked him out of the house and left him. Henry subsequently spent much of his life in jail or institutions, before finally being recruited by Goering.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Whilst reviewing one of Goehring's sadistic recordings, Prentiss and Reid, reflect upon how Goering treated his, as yet unidentified partner more like a servant than a comrade. After listing the various jobs that Goering undoubtedly made this man do, such as burying the victim's bodies and planting roses over them, Prentiss suddenly realises that he could have only gotten the flowers via a face-to-face purchase. The group promptly rush down to the local nurseries, where one of Henry Frost's co-workers is able to identify him.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Whilst not portrayed in a positive light themselves, the militia makes it very clear that Francis Goering was universally despised. Harris Townsend, the leader of the militia, described Goering as "a piece of dung" and Goering's ex-wife mentions that when the group saw how badly he treated her they kicked him out.
- Human Shield: Henry Frost uses his victim as a shield when the BAU find him on the mountain. Hotch tries to distract Frost and get him to move enough for a sniper to shoot him.
- I Just Want to Be You: Henry Frost starts taking on Francis Goehring's attitude and appearance after his death. He smooths his hair back, grows a moustache, he dresses like Goehring, and he gives himself a scratch under his left eye to match Goehring's scar. He tries to imitate Goehring's strategies of abducting, torturing and killing women, but he gets killed before he can do anything to his victim.
- Jack the Ripoff: After serial killer Francis Goehring commits suicide, his accomplice Henry Frost has a breakdown and tries copying him, even going as far as taking his name and altering his appearance to look like him.
- Meaningful Name: Francis Goering shares a surname with the nazi Herman Göring.
- Oh, Crap!: Rossi, when he sees that Goering's partner has taken all of the weapons from Goering's now empty gun racks.
- Redundant Department of Redundancy: Garcia points out that "aggressive militia" is this.
- Right Behind Me: A variation. The episode starts with Morgan, Prentiss, and Reid going into Rossi's office (which used to be Gideon's and is still mostly empty) when he seemingly hasn't arrived yet to try to learn more about him; though Reid points out that they usually have rules against profiling teammates, Morgan justifies it by noting that Rossi doesn't really seem to be interested in acting like part of a team. A minute later, Rossi walks in and (to their embarrassment) makes it clear that he heard everything they said by confirming or elaborating on every single thing the trio profiled about him, and ends it with:Rossi: Now if you're all finished, I think JJ and Hotch are ready for us. Isn't that how a team works?
- Ripped from the Headlines: Ruby Ridge (and Rossi's role in it) gets two mentions, and the plot somewhat mirrors that event.
- Sadist: Francis Goehring, who kidnapped and tortured women until they died for his amusement.
- Shaming the Mob: Morgan does this to the militia group when he and JJ visit them to ask for information on Goehring's partner, by making it clear he is there to get justice for the murdered women.
- Taking You with Me: When cornered by the cops, Francis Goehring uses a grenade to not only kill himself but to try and take as many police officers with him as possible. He succeeds in killing a fifteen-year veteran. He also instilled this principle into his partner Henry Frost, who threatened to shoot not only Hotch but his hostage as well. Fortunately, the BAU takes him out before he can carry out his threat.
- Teeth Clenched Team Work: Harris Townsend, the head of the local militia, is called upon by the chief of police to help stop Henry Frost when the police and BAU corner him. Although neither Townsend nor the BAU likes working together, they put it aside in order to save Frost's innocent hostage.
- That Man Is Dead: Henry Frost, after taking on Goering's identity, does not like being referred to by his original name. Hotch uses this to his advantage when the police corner Henry, by reminding him of who he really is (see Dark and Troubled Past).
