Into the Woods
Directed by Glenn Kershaw
Written by Kimberly Ann Harrison
Hikers discover a child's remains near the Appalachian trail. A different family of hikers lose their two children in the same area. The culprit is living off the grid in an abandoned mine where he keeps the children he kidnaps to rape and abuse until he murders them.Written by Kimberly Ann Harrison
Morgan: Ralph Ellison said, "I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me."
Provides examples of:
- Abandoned Mine: Basically Wyland's "home" on the Appalachian Trail, and where (presumably) he brings his intended victims.
- Armor-Piercing Question: When Robert tries to comfort Ana with a dinosaur toy he finds in their cell, Ana quietly asks who all the toys in the cell belong to.
- Badass Adorable: Ten-year-old Robert manages to incapacitate Shane long enough for his sister to escape. He also fights back well against Brandon before the FBI finds them.
- Big Brother Instinct: Robert puts his sister first and tells her to run next time Shane comes back; when the moment comes, he attacks Shane and fights him long enough for Ana to escape.
- Bittersweet Ending: Discussed between Morgan and Rossi. Morgan believes it's the former, as the killer got away. Rossi counters that both children were recovered alive, and that's always a good thing. And as subtly noted by the final quote, even if Wyland completely slips the law that now has his face and tactics, he is going to die miserably once his pain meds run out."Evil endures a moment's flush and then leaves but a burnt-out shell."
- Creepy Souvenir: Wyland keeps the toys of his former victims as souvenirs, even several years after the deaths of said victims.
- Depraved Homosexual: Wyland, the killer, while having no qualms in killing children of all genders, seems to love raping the male ones first.
- The investigation's subsequent unfolding raises some questions about Wyland's exact criminal history, in part since in most cases, the children are still missing or (even for the recent discoveries) the bodies are so decomposed that the BAU has to rely somewhat on conjecture about specifics (also having to sort out cases involving accidents or runaways). The Appalachian Trail disappearances involved both male and female cases, and Wyland's cave shows he has a large number of dolls and other toys for girls, indicating he may have raped both boys and girls in the past depending on opportunity (a pattern the BAU has pointed out is seen for some serial killers and abusers). And/Or given the episode's main plot, he may have abducted both in his human trafficking scheme for other child molesters and murderers.
- Dirty Coward: Brandon pleads to the FBI that Shane delivered Robert to him when he is arrested.
- Genre Savvy: Robert initially stops his sister from drinking the water the UnSub offers because it could have been poisoned.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: The opening quote references this, hinting at the UnSub's method.
- Idiot Ball: Ana, who insists on going deep into the forest in the middle of the night to pee, because she doesn't want to wake her parents, can't bring herself to do it near the camp, and doesn't want her brother to hear it.
- Karma Houdini: Subverted. While Wyland gets away at the end, the investigation reveals he has already been convicted and imprisoned for similar previous crimes, is under close watch on a registry, and he's been badly wounded without recourse to assistance. He was already suffering from an excruciating degenerative disease to his knee (a prime motivation for his kidnappings and human trafficking of children, to get money and meds), and then he suffers a severe injury in his latest abduction attempt, ironically inflicted by Robert, that festers without treatment and he can't access the meds. The episode's ending and scattered subsequent references show he dies a slow and agonizing death from gangrene and sepsis.
- Please, Don't Leave Me: Ana says this word-for-word after Robert is taken away for the first time.
- Shout-Out: The episode title is one to the musical Into the Woods, but the concept of living completely off the grid in nature is a shout-out to Into the Wild.
- Self-Sacrifice Scheme: Robert tries this to give his sister a chance to escape. He succeeds.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Both Robert and Ana are rescued, but the UnSub gets away (temporarily, with caveats above).
- Wild Wilderness: Describes the episode's setting in general.
- Would Hurt a Child: Shane Wyland, the UnSub, is a notorious child molester and murderer. It’s strongly implied due to Robert's shaken demeanour that he was sexually assaulted when Shane took him into another room away from his sister. Even before kidnapping Robert and Ana, Shane had a body count of 13 boys.
- Hotchner: Elise Cabot said, "Evil endures a moment's flush, and then leaves but a burnt out shell."
