Omnivore
Directed by Nelson Mccormick
Written by Andrew Wilder
In '98, Hotch worked on a case involving an UnSub known as the Boston Reaper, who uses the Eye of Providence as his signature. The police chief in Boston suddenly called off the case, and ten years later on his death bed he informs Hotch that he made a deal with the Reaper to stop pursuing him in exchange for him becoming inactive, a deal which would explicitly only last until one of them died.Written by Andrew Wilder
Hotchner: "Fate is not satisfied with inflicting one calamity." Roman author, Publilius Syrus.
After the old police chief dies, the Reaper wastes no time in becoming active again, brutally murdering a couple stranded on the side of the road the next night, and an old married couple in the car the next. Rossi profiles him as attracted to teenagers, and the only surviving victim has gone so completely off the grid that Garcia can't find a trace of him online. Hotch talks to his cop friend Coulson, who helps him locate George Foyet, the surviving victim who was miraculously stabbed 67 times non-fatally.
The Reaper offers Hotch the same deal: to stop killing as long as Hotch stops looking. Hotch declines, and the Reaper takes it very personally. After he's arrested, he immediately stages his escape by giving himself iron poisoning drinking his own blood so he can take the guards by surprise while they transport him to the hospital wing.
Tropes
- Attention Whore: The Reaper lives for it.
- The Bad Guy Wins: The Reaper breaks out of prison, and is more infamous than ever.
- …But He Sounds Handsome: Foyet can't help but make his Reaper persona look like an invincible, unstoppable supervillain.
- Calling Card: The Reaper has The Eye of Providence and/or the word FATE; and also had a habit of taking something from his victims and leaving the object at the scene of the next murder.
- Continuity Nod: Rossi asks if he should blame himself for Zoe's murder a few episodes back, albeit sarcastically.
- Crazy-Prepared: The Reaper practically redefines this as the episode goes on.
- First during his original spree, he would murder people, call the authorities, and time how long it took them to respond. This way, he could stab himself and then call it in; and not only would they respond quickly enough to save him, but they also wouldn't find it suspicious that the Reaper called this attack in.
- Some time after that, he took out several pints of his blood over time, so he could dump enough to make it look like he died even if there was no body to find.
- The final one is clearly his hat trick. He spent the past decade studying and memorizing the blueprints of every legal building in Massachusetts, ensuring he'd be able to escape once he was caught.
- Deal with the Devil: Name-dropped in Shaunessy's bargain with the Reaper.
- Emotion Eater: The BAU profiles The Reaper as feeding off his victims' fear. Hotch speculates that he doesn't kill Morgan after knocking him out due to being unable to intimidate him while he's unconscious.
- Exact Words: The Reaper tells Nina he's not gonna shoot her, and true to his word, puts away his gun. She relaxes a little. Then he draws him knife and stabs her to death.
- Foreshadowing:
- Early on Hotch says the Reaper has spent the last ten years planning what to do when he started up again. He has no idea how right he is, when after Foyet's escape from prison it turns out he had memorized the layout of every prison and court building in Massachussetts.
- When Hotch and Rossi visit Foyet, Rossi asks if he gets strange phone calls. And Foyet mentions he takes the bus. The two scenes later is the Reaper calling Hotch, and then entering a bus (to kill its passengers), foreshadowing that the Reaper is Foyet.
- It's All My Fault: Hotch blames himself for the bus passengers the Reaper killed immediately after Hotch rejected his offer to quit murdering if the FBI stopped looking for him.
- Leonine Contract: Discussed. Shaunessy believes his was this, Hotch disagrees, most people are in the middle.
- Nerd Glasses: Foyet wears a pair, which is left on one of the victims.
- Oh, Crap!: Garcia is visibly surprised and worried when she learns the newspaper article she found relates to The Reaper.
- Refuge in Audacity: Rossi's... unusual method of getting Hotch out of his Heroic BSoD.
- Revolvers Are Just Better: The Reaper uses a .44 Magnum. Rossi's also seems to be something other than a Glock.
- Sarcasm Mode: Rossi responds to Hotch's self-blame over the bus episode by sarcastically handing him his gun and saying he and the rest of the team can take it from here.
- Saying Too Much: Foyet may not have been caught if he hadn't rhapsodised about how his murdered girlfriend, who he'd only dated for a short period, was the love of his life.
- Serial Killer: The Reaper is a Serial Spree Killer.
- Soft Glass: Averted. After the Reaper tackles Morgan through a window, the impact knocks him out and he's later shown having glass picked out of his shoulder.
- Sudden Downer Ending: The episode seems like it will end on a high note, as the Reaper has finally been arrested...but then he escapes. When Garcia asks if the authorities will catch him, Hotch is certain they won't.
- That One Case: The original Reaper killings were already this for Hotch. After this episode, even more so.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: The Reaper in general, but he tends to be sped a longer time with his younger female victims. One of whom was stabbed sixty-seven times."Do you know how long it takes to stab someone sixty-seven times?"
- Title Drop: The Reaper is referred to as an Omnivore, in that he doesn't have a specific victim type.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Exactly what Foyet does for the entire episode, and even worse, for years before that.
- Hotchner: "Men heap together the mistakes of their lives and create a monster they call destiny." John Hobbes.
