The Black Queen
Directed by Tawnia Mckiernan
Written by Breen Frazier
A serial killer who took the fall for his partner is in prison, while his old partner has joined Garcia's old hacker community.Written by Breen Frazier
Morgan: "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But the self is not something one finds. It is something one creates." Thomas Szasz.
Tropes in this episode
- Big Entrance: Garcia goes to her ex-boyfriend's internet cafe. Before doing so, she cuts off the internet in the shop, turns off the lights, makes a giggling skull appear on everyone's screens and starts playing music as she walks in, dressed to the nines.
- Frame-Up: Garcia's ex is framed for the murders.
- In Medias Res: The episode begins one year before the first season, with Garcia being interrogated by Hotch and Morgan, the former offering her a position in the B.A.U. to avoid being prosecuted for hacking into a major company's database.
- Memetic Mutation: Garcia references the 4chan "tradition" of putting a shoe on your head to get attention.
- Mistaken for Romance: Garcia's ex thinks her and Morgan are a couple, in a big part because of how flirty their interactions always seem. She uses it against him.
- Reverse Psychology: Garcia convinces Shane to survive by gloating about winning.
- Sensitivity Training: The first present day scene in the episode, showing the BAU attending a sexual harassment seminar—using Morgan and Garcia's phone banter as examples.
- Shout-Out: Garcia's entrance music/in-universe leitmotif is "Bootylicious" by Destiny's Child.
- Garcia: "To invent your own life's meaning is not easy, but it's still allowed, and I think you'll be happier for the trouble." Bill Watterson.
