Boxed In
Directed by Thomas Gibson
Written by Virgil Williams
A boy named Joshua Parker is found alive after being missing for a year, showing evidence of having been kept locked in a wooden box. A boy named Hunter is kidnapped the following night. The BAU determine that the UnSub wants to punish kids for vandalism.Written by Virgil Williams
Hotch: "There is nothing funny about Halloween. This sarcastic festival reflects, rather, an infernal demand for revenge by children on the adult world." Jean Baudrillard.
Tropes in this episode
- Domestic Abuse: The UnSub's father was abusive. Eventually, the UnSub's mother killed him in self-defense and buried him with the help of the UnSub, who was a child at the time.
- Halloween Episode: The episode begins at a Halloween fair and Joshua Parker is found dressed up as a skeleton. The rest of the plot happens mostly because a boy goes trick-of-treating despite his parents telling him not to.
- Irony: Rossi points out that the UnSub will be boxed in in a prison cell, much like his childhood trauma of his father locking him in a box for punishment.
- Shout-Out: Hotch's son Jack dresses up as Darth Vader, JJ's son Henry as Spider-Man.
- Teens Are Monsters: Downplayed. Hunter and his friends gleefully egg houses without so much as asking for the traditional candy.
- JJ: "Always kiss your children good night, even if they're already asleep." H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
