The Forever People
Directed by Tawnia Mc Kiernan
Written by Breen Frazier
Written by Breen Frazier
JJ: "Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times, we call a man cold when he is only sad." John F. Kennedy.
A cult leader in Nevada kills members who want to leave the cult and freezes their bodies before dumping them to make the police think the murder could have happened long ago.
Tropes in this episode
- Cult: The victim was part of one.
- Flash Back Echo: JJ has flashbacks to her torture in 200 while sparring and at various other points of the episode.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: JJ has a nasty scar on her stomach from her torture.
- No-Sell: When cornered in a walk-in freezer, the UnSub tries to force JJ to surrender by claiming there is a leaking gas line in the freezer and that firing her gun will set it off and kill them both. JJ retorts that at the low temperature in the freezer, the muzzle flash won't ignite the gas then shoots the UnSub.
- Not So Above It All: Callahan and Morgan tease Reid after he said he estimated the number of boats on Lake Mead, saying he just made it up. Rossi then looks it up and tells them he's right, prompting Reid to offer Morgan a fistbump, which is declined. Instead, he fistbumps with Hotch.
- Papa Wolf: Carl Mason got himself inducted into a cult, including a ritual suicide by freezing with uncertain resurrection just to get his son out.
- Red Herring: The Cult leader, Colton. While he's certainly a piece of work, the BAU quickly realizes he's honestly in the dark about the murders of former cult members.
- Sadist: Kanan has to work to be this with his M.O. of freezing people to death...it's not a particularly painful way to die, so he has to repeatedly resuscitate them so their deaths will last longer.
- You Are Not Alone: Reid does his best to support JJ through this episode.
