True Genius
Directed by Glenn Kershaw
Written by Sharon Lee Watson
An UnSub sends coded messages by newspaper. Reid has turned thirty and worries that he's getting too old to be a genius.Written by Sharon Lee Watson
Morgan: "Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead." Benjamin Franklin.
Provides examples of:
- Blatant Lies: Reid uses these to check if an alledged witness is lying.
- Central Theme: What makes one a true genius? (And does it have something to do with committing the perfect crime?)
- Evidence Scavenger Hunt: Caleb arranges one for Harvey. The task is to imagine being the Zodiac on the prowl.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex:
- Caleb hides his massive insecurities behind bragging about his genius IQ, both verbally in his toast at Harvey's engagement party and in action by killing people in the pattern of a famous chess match while copying the MO of the Zodiac killer.
- Harvey seems to have had one in his teens, when he pulled off "the perfect murder" with only Caleb as his audience. He seems to have grown out of it somehow.
- Reid's is made fun of by Prentiss in this episode, but only ever played for laughs.
- It's All About Me: When Caleb gives a speech at Harvey's engagement party, he won't stop talking about himself.
- Jack the Ripoff: The UnSub starts the episode off by imitating the Zodiac Killer.
- Public Secret Message: Communications happen in code in the newspapers.
- Real-Person Cameo: Crime-novel author Patricia Cornwell appears at the beginning to introduce the team and sell her book.
- Revenge by Proxy: Caleb kills women who look like Harvey's fiance Marissa, since she chose Harvey over him, or possibly because Harvey chose her over him.
- Reverse Psychology: Reid suspects that Prentiss tries this on him, which she denies, which convinces him.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Harvey and Caleb appear to be based on Leopold and Loeb, two boys who as teenagers kidnapped and murdered a child.
- Smart People Play Chess: Caleb is seen playing chess in the park, and Caleb and Harvey are shown bonding over chess as children, but subverted at the end on the plane when Reid and Prentiss play poker.
- Too Clever by Half: The UnSub of the episode won't stop flaunting that they have IQs above 160… which really narrows it down for the investigators. In fact, by having the murder locations line up with the endgame of a famous chess match, Caleb inadvertently tells Reid where he needs to go to avert the final murder, as well as who the last victim is.
- Reid: "There is no greater sorrow than to recall in misery the time when we were happy." Dante.
