The Last Word
Directed by Gloria Muzio
Written by Debra J Fisher, Erica Messer, & Andrew Wilder
Written by Debra J Fisher, Erica Messer, & Andrew Wilder
Gideon: Elbert Hubbard once wrote, "If men could only know each other, they would neither idolize nor hate."
Two serial killers are active in the same area at the same time. One bashes middle class women's heads in with a rock, buries them, and comes back to the graves to sexually abuse the corpses. The other shoots prostitutes with hollow-point bullets and seems to be mostly in it to upstage the first one.
This episode provides examples of:
- Disposable Sex Worker: The Hollow Man targets prostitutes. Averted in that his crimes are still taken seriously. A reporter is even upset when JJ asks him not to print anything about him, citing that these women deserve to be remembered; and only acquiesces when she insists that it will help catch him. Once he is arrested, an article is printed about his victims, but not about him.
- Eviler than Thou: The episode essentially focuses on two different serial killers trying to out do each other. (With the unfortunate populace caught in the middle).
- Fame Through Infamy: The Hollow Man's motivation for killing.
- Faux Affably Evil: The Mill Creek Killer appears charming and friendly to others, both to lure in victims and avoid unwanted attention, but as shown with his last would-be victim, that charm is entirely superficial.
- Foil: The two killers are very different in appearance, mannerism, victims, and modus operandi. Probably what causes their competition.
- Mill Creek takes advantage of his looks to lure his victims away, while Hollow Man is unshaven and ragged looking.
- Mill Creek is single-mindedly focused on fulfilling his ritual, while the Hollow Man kills for fame and is frustrated that no one notices him.
- Mill Creek targets educated upper-class brunettes who sexually excite him; meanwhile, Hollow Man shoots prostitutes at random.
- Mill Creek strangles his victims after luring them away, then hides the bodies in the forest so he can revisit them, leaving a lot of evidence as a result; Hollow Man shoots his victims then drives off, leaving next to no evidence.
- I Love the Dead: The Mill Creek Killer. Curiously, Mill Creek seems to be embarrassed by this, as Gideon threating to reveal it to the world is enough to scare Mill Creek into confessing.
- Laser-Guided Karma: The Hollow Man kills people in order to get attention and fame, the last scene is the team discussing a newspaper article about his victims... which makes no mention of him whatsoever.
- Mad Artist: As shown in the classified ads and his interrogation, Mill Creek sees himself as an artist.
- No Name Given: Neither the Mill Creek Killer nor the Hollow Man's ever get their real names revealed.
- Obviously Evil: If you've been watching this series, you likely picked out one of the UnSubs the moment he showed up on screen due to his blatant use of frequently discussed abductor tactics.
- Playing Possum: A policewoman pretends to be a recent victim killed by the Hollow Man and given as a present to the Mill Creek killer in order to lure him back into a trap.
- Serial Killer: Two of them in fact, called "The Mill Creek Killer" and "The Hollow Man".
- Shout-Out: The UnSubs are fans of The Catcher in the Rye.
- Hotchner: Mahatma Gandhi once said, "Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they seemed invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always."
