The Stranger
Directed by Nelson Mccormick
Written by Rick Dunkle & Kimberly Ann Harrison
College students in California are murdered with extreme violence by a psychopath who has it in for babysitters.Written by Rick Dunkle & Kimberly Ann Harrison
Hotchner: Stephen King wrote, "Sometimes human places create inhuman monsters."
Tropes
- Kick the Dog: One of the UnSub’s earliest warning signs of his disturbing true nature was him killing animals for no reason.
- Literal-Minded: Morgan chides Reid for being unable to drive when in college. Reid counters that he could drive, but that he was too young to have a license.
- Precocious Crush: The UnSub developed a dangerous crush on his stepmother, who was originally his babysitter. His victims resembled her in some way, and he takes his aggression of her out on his victims. Her marriage to his father and him being institutionalized for violent behavior only fueled his anger towards her.
- Shout-Out: The initial murder scene mirrors both The Shining and Psycho.
- Wham Shot: When one of the victims is about to take a picture of the baby she’s watching, she sees the photo she took earlier of herself with the UnSub standing right behind her.
- Seaver: "Every journey into the past is complicated by delusions, false memories, false namings of real events." Adrienne Rich.
