Elsewhere, Garcia is having the time of her life at her online dance party. JJ is trying to balance her family life with work. William thinks that their marriage is suffering from both their tough work hours. JJ promises to make it up to him and they agree they need to talk to figure out how to get a better balance.
JJ notifies the police that they may have a serial killer in their backyard. This is the second time, the police have found a male body with a severed spinal cord. Both victims were targeted because they both were “bulls”, advertising their services on online dating platforms. Bulls are men who have consensual sex with married women.
The victim’s switch of cars at Walmart may have something to do with their last case. JJ believes that there is a connection between the two cases.
In the meantime, Emily gave the go-ahead to move the shipping container to Quantico against Director Bailey’s order. Bailey confronts her about it and she tells him there was no other choice. Bailey tells her that the cost of moving the container will be taken from the BAU budget. Emily is pissed and feels they are being punished for being good at their jobs. She asks Tara to ask her friend, Rebecca at the DOJ to find out what is happening. ..
“I’ve been working on this container case for weeks,” Tara says. “But I haven’t had a break yet. The unsub was careful and used different M.Os, he stabbed, strangled, shot and in one case he poured sicarius poison down a victim’s throat. I think the unsub was experimenting.”
In Whitfield County, GA, an unsub received an encrypted video from another unsub. The man who has been killing ‘’bulls’’ by severing their spinal cord. In the video, he gives his victim a choice to either live the rest of his life as a quadriplegic or die. The victim chooses to die.
The first unsub is the leader of a network that follows strict rules. He tells the man to take a break for a while, but the man instead heads to an underground shipping container in a secluded area.
JJ and Luke argue about whether or not to bring in the woman’s husband. JJ argues that they need more information on him, while Luke insists that they do.
Rossi tells her that as much as he misses Garcia and the rest of the team, they will need to work on this without Garcia’s help. However, Garcia gets an encrypted message from an anonymous online user.
JJ and Luke bring in the couple that was with the second victim. The husband is tight-lipped and only says he doesn’t mind his wife being with other men. His wife is more forthcoming and tells them about a video they received from the unsub. JJ secures the video from the couple and briefs the team. She believes that the unsub is giving a choice to his victims to heighten his sadism. In the video, they spot another kill kit and this leads to Rossi having an epiphany. He tells the team, they need to think about how pandemic affected serial killers. ..
He believes that there is a network of serial killers and the leader is probably Sicarius. Rossi is sure that the network is too organized and is helping the serial killers handle their compulsion to kill and evade the police. Rossi wants to tell Director Bailey about the case but Emily wants to get more evidence first. She believes that Sicarius might re-activate himself after he stopped killing in 2020.
Tara brings in Rebecca to meet Emily and discuss Director Bailey’s possible motives. Rebecca tells Rossi and Emily that Bailey is using the BAU as a political pawn to advance his career. Emily asks her to do more research on Bailey’s ultimate goal, but Tara is hesitant. After Rebecca leaves, Emily teases Tara about her relationship with her. Tara is flustered but admits that Rebecca makes her happy. ..
Sicarius gets a call from the unsub asking him when he will be able to kill again. Sicarius tells him that he will have to wait a while for him to tie some loose ends. He goes shopping and has a casual chat with the attendant. He tells her about his job as a network security expert. ..
In the meantime, the team tries to theorize how the network works and how to get the second unsub. Garcia calls Rossi and asks to meet him, she tells him about the anonymous tip she received and he asks her to help the team. Garcia turns him down and says she is done dealing with the trauma and Rossi says he understands.
The anonymous tipper ropes Garcia in again with another encrypted call. Garcia heads back to Quantico and decrypts the data he sent. Her efforts activate the GPS on the kill kits and they are able to see all the locations and number of the kits buried all over the country. ..
The unsub takes another victim, this time a lady named Michelle. Based on the interrogation of her husband, the team learns the identity of the unsub. JJ and Luke lead the SWAT team to rescue Michelle. Sicarius calls the unsub to warn him the police are on their way and talks him through killing himself. ..
Police arrive to find the unsub dead and Michelle rescued. JJ is concerned that Sicarius is managing to escape because every unsub related to his network kills himself when cornered. Rossi tells them that is okay because thanks to Garcia, they have other leads they can explore. Sadly, Sicarius realizes the police are on to him and turns off the GPS. ..
Sicarius steals the dog of the shop attendant and offers to help his wife make breakfast for their kids.
The episode ends with Rebecca briefing the BAU team on classified information on Bailey. She informs them that Bailey wants to fold and re-organize the BAU under domestic terrorism with new leadership. He has been setting them up as wasteful and wants Rossi to go into forced retirement. The team agrees that they won’t give up and will use his argument against him. They only have to get Sicarius with no margin for error. Rossi says they can use Garcia as their secret weapon. ..
The Episode Review
The BAU team has faced many challenges in the past, but they have prevailed. Bailey is still confused by their tactics, but they will continue to fight. The BAU team is strong and will not be pushed around.
I was so happy to see Garcia back in her old office. It felt like the queen is back on her throne ready to get the bad guys. I know that it was not an easy decision to be back but somehow the family is reunited again. It is, however, sad that she was unable to free herself from the darkness she sees every day on the job.
The BAU is back and the bad boys better watch out. As Hotch would say, “Wheels up!”
