Cradle to Grave
Directed by Rob Spera
Written by Breen Frazier
A couple who lost their son have taken to kidnapping young women and raping them in the hopes they will give them a new son. Daughters are discarded along with the new mothers. The case hits very close to home for JJ and Hotch, who both have very young sons.Written by Breen Frazier
Jareau: Journalist William D. Tammeus wrote, "You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around and why his parents will always wave back."
This episode provides examples of:
- Child by Rape: All of the children that have been birthed under the captivity of the UnSubs are this. Some girls are kept longer if they manage to give birth to a son.
- Domestic Abuse: Robert to Linda.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: The Winmar grandparents lost their daughter, and believed they only had one granddaughter who was adopted by parents. The grandmother realizes they might end up breaking the child's heart if they take her away from her adoptive family and convinces her husband to relent on insisting they have her. In the end, it's revealed that their daughter also gave birth to a son that they are allowed to keep, uncontested, and their granddaughter's adoptive parents also want to establish contact with the grandparents.
- It's All My Fault: Because of Robert's habit of abusing his wife, she blames herself for her son's stillbirth.
- Outliving One's Offspring: The Winmars’ daughter is killed and they take in her son.
- Pet the Dog: Even if the female kids are unwanted, the UnSubs, likely on Linda's suggestion due to maternal instincts, they are left at a church to be adopted by loving families.
- Raised by Grandparents: Monica’s son Michael is taken in by her parents once the UnSubs are arrested.
- Replacement Goldfish: The UnSubs' main goal is to replace their stillborn, right down to giving all the boys the same name.
- The Topic of Cancer: Linda's breast cancer plays a significant role in how the UnSubs operate.
- Tragic Stillbirth: The main contributor to the UnSubs' Start of Darkness.
- Tragic Villain: Of the two UnSubs, only Linda is. She was abused by her husband and was eventually diagnosed with breast cancer. Even so, she desperately wanted a child and went off chemotherapy to deliver one, only for the baby to die on the 8th month. She still had to undergo the pain of childbirth, anyway.
