The Thirteenth Step
Directed by Doug Aarniokoski
Written by Janine Sherman Barrois
A sociopath and psychopath met, fell in love, and go on killing sprees for fun. The BAU is less concerned with identifying them than with catching them before they shoot up another gas station.Written by Janine Sherman Barrois
Prentiss: Freidrich Nietzsche wrote, "What really raises one's indignation against suffering is not suffering intrinsically, but the senselessness of suffering."
This episode provides examples of:
- The Alcoholic: Both Sydney and Ray are this, but the latter is trying to stop.
- Bait-and-Switch: At first, an creepy older guy tells a young couple that normally fits the portrayal of the first victims to not get married because it's overrated, before letting out an eerie laugh. He and the rest of the store are shot immediately after by the couple, who are the real UnSubs of the week.
- Boom, Headshot!: Sydney executes Ray's father this way.
- Happens to Ray as well later on when he commits Suicide by Cop.
- Freudian Excuse: Both UnSubs were molested by their respective fathers.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Ray has this, with the gas station shooting caused by someone suggesting marriage is a bad idea, and when told at AA that his alcohol addiction won't disappear unless he lets go of being molested by his father, he massacres all the people at the meeting.
- This ultimately leads to Sydney's death by strangulation when Ray learns that she's responsible for his former love's death. As soon as she's dead, he undergoes a "My God, What Have I Done?" moment.
- Heel–Faith Turn: Gary Manning found God when he moved on and married another woman, not molesting his new daughter even once.
- Hostage Situation: Ray and Sydney hold the latter's half-sister hostage.
- Interplay of Sex and Violence: The criminal couple tends to have sex right after a killing spree. Sydney also tends to make movements during them that resemble orgasms.
- More Deadly Than the Male: Sydney enjoys killing much more than Ray does, and is the one described as the dominant psychopath/sociopath.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Amy, Ray's ex-girlfriend that he still held feelings for, was killed by Sydney via drug overdose.
- Never Suicide: Sydney made Amy overdose on alcohol and heroin to make it look like a suicide. This news surprises Ray because she never did heroin.
- Nightmare Fetishist: Sydney gets very turned on when Ray starts choking her against a tree after she eggs him on to take his frustrations out on her.
- Happens again for a few brief moments as Ray strangles her. At least, until he doesn't stop when she taps out.
- Oh, Crap!: The UnSubs, when they exit the station and find themselves confronted by Prentiss and Morgan.
- Outlaw Couple: The UnSubs of the week are essentially expies of Mickey and Mallory Knox, as well as sharing a lot of similarities with Bonnie and Clyde.
- Pet the Dog: Sydney tries to treat her half-sister gently (in the belief their father molested her too). She's very insistent they don't hurt her, in contrast to Ray who sees her as a bargaining chip against the B.A.U.
- Please Wake Up: Ray to Sydney when he realizes he's killed her.
- Shout-Out: Their first victim was a convenience store clerk of East Indian descent with his name being given as "N. Apu".
- The Sociopath: Ray is one, and is noted to have a slight moral compass compared to Sydney, who's the psychopath of the duo.
- Strategy, Schmategy: With the exception of targeting their respective fathers, most of the crimes performed by the criminal couple were not premeditated or planned. They just acted on impulse or reacted to the actions of others. The FBI profilers could not predict their plans, because they did not have any plans. The profilers were only able to locate them once they realized that Sydney was going to attack her estranged father, whose location they were able to find.
- Til Murder Do Us Part: Ray kills Sydney after learning she killed Amy.
- Tropaholics Anonymous: Ray and Sydney met in one, and Ray still joins these groups to try to kick the habit.
- Villainous Breakdown: Ray briefly undergoes one after killing Sydney.
- Prentiss: William Glasser wrote, "What happened in the past that was painful has a great deal to do with what we are today."
