Scared To Death
Directed by Felix Enriquez Alcala
Written by Erica Messer & Debra J Fisher
A man who was abused as a boy got into psychiatry to investigate whether one can die of fear. Literally. He learns his clients' deepest fears and subjects them to it, under the guise of exposure therapy to help them deal with their sense of losing control, then gets them stuck in that situation: if they're afraid to be buried alive, he buries them alive; if they're scared of water, he drowns them.Written by Erica Messer & Debra J Fisher
Hotchner: The Taoist philosopher Lao Tzu once wrote "He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still."
Tropes
- Dramatically Missing the Point:
- Stuck in an elevator, Reid tells Morgan there are thousands of elevator-related injuries and half a dozen elevator-related deaths per year. Morgan decides to mess around because those are good odds, not bothering to consider how their current situation changes said odds.
- After the Unsub kills himself, Hotch tells Morgan that the UnSub told him Hotch's greatest fear was not being able to save everyone. Morgan starts to tell him not to take the serial killer's words too seriously, but Hotch explains he meant that he thinks the UnSub was saying the latest victim is nearby.
- Elevator Failure: Reid, Morgan, and Hotch are investigating an apartment. While Reid and Morgan ride an elevator, Hotch (wisely) takes the stairs. It gets stuck, and then proceeds to drop suddenly. They hit the emergency button, Morgan tries to pry the door open, Reid panics, and they both scream (well, Reid squeaks) for Hotch before it finally opens and they stumble out.Hotch: Was that the alarm, are you guys okay?Reid: I'll get back to you on that.
- I Know What You Fear: Obviously, a mundane variant, but still horrifying.
- Irony: The Unsub's daughter is afraid of the dark, which you can't die from.
- Like Parent, Like Spouse: The UnSub's wife reminds him of his mother.
- Parental Substitute: Gideon was this to Reid, whose real father left him when he was a child. He's upset about Gideon disappearing and only leaving him a letter. Prentiss points out that he only wrote Reid a letter, and suggests it means Gideon knew this was the case.
- Self-Serving Memory: Played for Laughs. After the Elevator Failure above, Reid comments about Morgan freaking out. Not only did they both panic, Reid clearly took it worse.
- Wet Blanket Wife: The UnSub's wife yells at him incessantly.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Invoked by the Unsub in his killing method.
- Hotchner: Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the things which you think you cannot do."
