Magnificent Light
Directed by John Kretchmer
Written by Sharon Lee Watson
A synesthete who believes he can tell whether a person is lying by what colors the person's words and/or voice produce in his brain kidnaps a self-improvement guru who tells people to find their inner gift.Written by Sharon Lee Watson
Blake: "A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage." Sydney Smith.
Tropes in the episode:
- Captain Obvious: Garcia thinks Morgan is being this when he says his reasons for not going to an event are personal. Apparently, she had figured out that much.
- Gone Horribly Right: While the murderer had always believed that his synesthesia made him a Living Lie Detector, he does not escalates to murder until a self-help guru tells him the standard self-help platitudes of embracing his abilities. The murderer takes that to mean "become a superhero". He kidnaps the guru to be his sidekick as he goes on a murder spree of "evil" people.
- Living Lie Detector: The UnSub believes himself to be one, but the events contradict his belief. Peoples' words get redder the more afraid or angry they are, while he is thoroughly confused that the BAU speak white words despite them contradicting what he believes. His synaesthesia apparently reflects the amount of stress in each person's voice.
- Obliviously Evil: The UnSub is a delusional man who sees certain people as evil and believes he's a superhero who must kill them.
- Police Are Useless: Subverted. The UnSub thinks they are, because they don't take it seriously when he accuses people of being evil because their words are red.
- Title Drop: A witness tells the BAU that the UnSub was babbling about a magnificent light.
- Morgan: "The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for." Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
