Criminal Minds

Previously on Criminal Minds Evolution …

How many podcasts do you listen to?

Mostly news, why?

Turns out that there's one that mentions me, you, and the BAU.

Fu…

Emily! Bella !

I have to salvage the remains of my flaming career.

You betrayed me. I thought we were friends.

Oh, Brian.

There's something I've been wanting to say for the better part of six years.

We are not friends.

- Sheila. - Hey, Brian. Can I come in?

You look fantastic.

Bob says the same thing.

You're talking about me a lot with your IRS colleagues?

Only the ones who make me breakfast.

- - Ah.

Right.

The Fan uses Lance as a proxy to try to communicate with Voit,

and then he punishes him by branding him

with the same word Voit used to describe him.

Maybe I was pathetic, but I don't deserve this.

Anything you can remember, you contact me.

And you can show him how not pathetic you are on the witness stand.

Now, what did you want to show me?

Where'd you get that?

Guess I'm a better poker player than you thought.

I'll fucking kill you.

You're not gonna fucking kill me

'cause you know I wouldn't have walked in here if I didn't have a plan for this.

Now who's pathetic?

Laura Boyd is our priority, and we need to take her back into protective custody

until we've eliminated the threat The Fan poses.

All righty, Mom. Good night.

What are you going to do to me?

If it makes you feel better, it's not just you.

- -

Where are we?

We have custody of Lance. We missed Laura.

I thought we assigned a protective detail to her.

We did. Philadelphia PD didn't get there in time.

Her mother reported speaking to her on the phone at 10:00 p.m.,

then she got into her car and vanished.

Every time, this guy is one step ahead of us.

That's because there is one part of The Fan's behavior

that we underestimated in the profile... his OCD.

He leaves nothing extraneous in his planning or execution.

Everything that we thought was collateral damage serves a purpose to him.

Then we need to put everyone involved in this case back on the table.

So, who are we missing?

Fu…

If you're calling about the fire sale, everything's gone.

Brian, it… it's me.

Sheila? Is everything okay? I don't recognize this number.

No, actually.

W-What is it? What's wrong?

You remember, uh, Bob from work?

Bob who makes you breakfast?

Bob and I got into a fight.

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that.

Listen, if you want to talk, I'm here.

I do, actually.

God, I… …sure know how to pick 'em, don't I?

W-What do you mean?

Bob is…

Turns out that he's, uh… he's suspicious, um…

Even more suspicious than you.

So, I had to get a new phone.

And, um, he probably bugged yours.

I see.

Would you mind using our shared cipher, so I can tell where you are?

The happiest place on earth.

At least, the happiest for us.

Mmm. Mmm.

And, Brian, for both of our safety, you have to dump your phone.

- Say no more. I'm on my way. -

The hell?

Hello, Brian.

What is this? Who are you?

I need you to follow my instructions.

- If you don't, she dies quickly. -

But she dies slowly.

Oh.

Oh, my God, it's you.

Um…

You don't need to do this, okay?

Just let her go. Let the… Let them go.

Uh, I'm the one you're mad at, right? So… …I'm sorry.

Oh, no.

Wait, wait, no! What do you want?

Do you want me to… Do you want me to say that I'm wrong?

I'm-I'm wrong. I-I've been wrong the whole time!

Just wanted to feel important for once.

I'm a… I'm a fuck up. I'm nobody.

I don't matter, but they do! They matter!

I don't.

No, Brian.

You've been essential to this from the very beginning.

All right, thank you.

Emily, Brian Garrity's phone is still at his podcasting booth, but his car isn't.

The Fan has escalated to abducting two people in the span of 24 hours.

He's been in a cooling-off period. What triggered the change?

He was never cooling off. He was executing every step of his plan.

Guys.

- Keep looking. - All right.

All right. Jennifer said put everything back on the table, right?

Reexamine all of our assumptions about The Fan.

That means we need to reexamine this.

- You don't think he's OCD? - I don't.

How is that possible? His letters to Voit tell us he is.

Except people with OCD are actually less likely to be violent

due to a hyperawareness of their actions.

True, but we have seen it.

Vincent Rowlings, Clara Hayes.

They had OCD and were unsubs.

But they weren't this focused.

One mistake, one distraction should cause The Fan to unravel.

Instead, he's executed everything flawlessly.

If he's not OCD, what is he?

Bear with me here.

OCPD. Obsessive compulsive personality disorder.

Break it down for us, please.

OCD is ego-dystonic,

meaning the intrusive thoughts are in conflict with your self-image.

They break down regular actions.

But OCPD is ego-syntonic,

meaning that you justify your perfectionism

and your control with your personality and your morality.

So you can function as a psychopath as long as you're perfect at it.

Exactly. This is what we got wrong.

For most people, OCPD is a hindrance, but for The Fan, it's an advantage.

It makes him cocky.

Do we bring this to Voit?

No.

Dave is right. The Fan is in Voit's head. He's of no use to us now.

You bet your ass I'm right.

I've been wanting to say this for years.

Fuck Elias Voit and fuck Lee Duval!

And we're gonna catch this little fan without him.

Let's get to work.

Inmates, clear the tier. Inmates, clear the tier.

Now who's pathetic?

Elias Voit. Locked away.

Won't let Sicarius out to play.

Who's gonna stop me?

You? I don't think so.

First, I'll kill Harlow in front of Holly.

Then, I'll kill Holly in front of Sydney. Then...

Back away from the glass.

It's getting kind of crowded up in here, don't you think?

Still, he's got a point.

While you're in here, someone smarter,

someone better than you

is hunting your family.

He's not better than me, and he's not gonna get to them.

One of those statements, you actually believe.

Which one is it?

So even without a face, what can we tell about our unsub?

Gait and posture puts him in his 40s to 50s.

But how can a middle-aged man kill a freshman in her dorm unnoticed?

Not even OCPD can do that.

Well, he fits in. He can walk around campus and not call attention to himself.

He told Voit and Deena Ryan's dad he studied criminology.

Maybe that's a college connection.

No, no, trust, I have scoured.

There is not a professor, a PhD candidate, a TA even,

staffed at Victoria's College who matches this profile.

Then he's criminology-adjacent.

An author, maybe true crime, maybe in podcasting, like Garrity.

- Penelope, can you... - Are you making a joke?

Are you trying out material when we're on the clock?

Do you know how many people in this country alone are into true crime?

You might as well ask me, "Hey, Penelope,

make a list of people not into true crime,"

'cause that list is gonna be shorter.

- Leather allergy. - Huh?

He could have a leather allergy.

It's the most common reason why people use stingray leather.

- It's hypoallergenic. - And if he's published or self-published,

his OCPD would want the highest quality binding he could get.

Something perfect he can give to his friends.

Or to coeds on a college campus where he's lecturing. Does that narrow it down?

Very much so. Thank you.

Oh.

Oh.

Come on, come on, pick up.

- We're sorry, you have... -

- -

Hello. Leave a message.

If you're trying to reach Brian Garrity, this is totally not him,