The Silencer
Directed by Glenn Kershaw
Written by Erica Messer
A mother once forced her deaf son to get a flawed cochlear implant so she could get money. As an adult, this man became a serial killer whose signature was sewing his victims' mouths shut, symbolizing how he wished everyone was. Having been imprisoned for some other crime, he escapes during a transfer.Written by Erica Messer
Hotchner: "As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do." Andrew Carnegie.
Tropes
- Abusive Parents: Part of the Silencer's Freudian Excuse is that his mother hated him being deaf and got him the cochlear implants (which, being ultra-sensitive, makes sound very painful to him, which is another part of his excuse) and from what we can see in a flashback to his childhood, she apparently assumed that it would automatically make him talk and screamed the poor kid’s head off when it didn't.
- And I Must Scream: The eponymous UnSub sews his victims' mouths shut.
- Bookworm: The Silencer, born deaf, spent his childhood reading Classic literature.
- Exposition: Garcia tells us all about Alex's background and qualifications while complaining about her.
- First-Name Basis: Strauss and the new team member, Alex Blake. There are hints that they have a long history with one another.
- Keeping the Handicap: John Myers was born deaf and given experimental cochlear implants as a teenager at his abusive mother's insistence (she was paid for participating in the trial). The implants themselves are faulty, causing him constant pain, which is probably his primary motivation for wanting them gone. Throughout the episode, he attempts to perform surgery on himself to remove them. While he never explains his reasoning beyond that, the episode clearly demonstrates that he's able to hear, but he never speaks. Since he's not mute, that's a conscious decision on his part, which implies that there's also a mental factor at play in why he wants to be deaf again.
- Right Behind You: Garcia starts asking about Prentiss's replacement, sounding very skeptical. Obviously, said replacement is standing right behind her.
- Unwitting Test Subject: John Myers's mother took money to subject him to an experimental cochlear implant surgery when he was 14.
- Hotchner: "A man is known by the silence he keeps." Oliver Herford.
