The Restoration
Directed by Felix Enriquez Alcala
Written by Jim Clemente & Janine Sherman Barrois
An UnSub kills men to punish them for molesting children, whether they have done that or not. The BAU find that he is a victim of the same child molester Morgan was subjected to in his childhood.Written by Jim Clemente & Janine Sherman Barrois
Rossi: "I am dead, only vengeance can restore me." Terry Goodkind.
Tropes in this episode
- Arc Words: "Look up to the sky." The words Carl Buford would tell his victims, and now the words Rodney Harris repeats to his own.
- Asshole Victim: Michael Crowley, Rodney's first victim and the only one who was actually a child molester
- The Atoner: Stan Grodinski, the cop who accused Morgan of being being responsible for Carl's crimes, who feels terrible for how he treated Morgan and how he failed to recognize Carl Buford for the monster he is.
- Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: After the other inmates hear that Buford was a child molester from the press, they kill him.
- Callback: This case brings the team back to Chicago, Morgan's hometown. The UnSub is another victim of Buford, the same man who also molested Morgan.
- Cerebus Retcon: Rodney Harris, the drug dealer who harassed Derek and his sister in "Profiler, Profiled", is revealed to be one of Buford's victims. Buford allowed him to deal drugs near the center in exchange for Rodney keeping quiet about what Buford had done to him and other boys. It is also suggested that the reason Rodney attacked Derek when they were kids was because he felt jealous of Derek being Buford's "favorite". Buford appealing to have this incident expunged from Derek's record was likely another way of him covering his tracks.
- Chekhov's Gunman: This is a Sequel Episode to "Profiler, Profiled", and Rodney Harris appeared there as a thug and possible gang leader who verbally harassed Morgan's older sister Desiree, resulting in an argument between Morgan and Rodney. He turns out to be the UnSub of this episode. In the earlier episode Rodney was also considered a suspect for a kid's murder, but the idea was dismissed because he had no motive for the murder.
- Consulting a Convicted Killer: When the BAU realizes that the killer was molested by Carl Buford's, Derek visits him in prison to get a list of Buford's victims so they can determine who the killer is. Buford gives Derek the list in exchange for Derek not telling the other inmates about Buford's molesting teenage boys and a handshake from Derek.
- Even Evil Has Standards: As pointed out by Derek and demonstrated later on, Buford's fellow inmates do not take kindly to child molesters.
- Karmic Death: Buford is revealed in this episode to have had dozens of victims that he molested over the years, and the list he gave Morgan wasn't even complete (as Buford knew who the UnSub was but purposely left him off of the list to impede the investigation). Once his fellow inmates learn that this is the real reason Buford's in prison, he's murdered for it soon after.
- Misplaced Retribution/Mistaken for Pedophile: Rodney killed Michael Crawford for molesting the former's son. However, Crawford was the only one of Rodney's victims who was actually guilty of child molestation; all the others were innocent men whom Rodney projected Carl Buford onto despite them having completely harmless interactions with children.
- Mugging the Monster: Anthony Rango is a downplayed example. He was a mixed martial artist and was able to put up a considerable fight against Rodney, but was still killed.
- Pariah Prisoner: Carl Buford was able to survive in prison for six years (despite being a pedophile, which almost always makes a prisoner this trope) by lying to his fellow inmates about what he was locked up for. When they learn from Morgan's press interview near the end of the episode that Buford is actually a child molester, he promptly becomes this, and isn't long for this world.
- Pædo Hunt: The UnSub attacks men he thinks are child molesters; because of his trauma and alcoholism, he goes after any man who has even the most innocent interaction with a boy. Later, after learning what he actually did to get arrested, Carl Buford's prison buddies do this to him.
- Rousing Speech: Morgan gives one in front of the press, telling them about his abuse and how it doesn't define him and doesn't define any of the victims.
- Scatterbrained Senior: Alluded to. Morgan asks the elderly killer and pedophile Carl Buford to provide him with a list of all his victims. Carl claims that he can not remember them all, as his memories have faded with time. He points out that some of these boys were special to him (his way of describing his favorite victims), but that was decades ago. Whether he is sincere or not is ambiguous.
- Sequel Episode: Serves as one to Season 2's "Profiler, Profiled". The UnSub, Rodney Harris, appeared in that episode as a thug who was harassing Derek Morgan's sister Desiree. Here, he's revealed to have been another child molestation victim of Carl Buford's (though not one of his "favorites" like Morgan was), and Buford himself makes another appearance when Morgan is forced to visit him in prison for information.
- Shadow Archetype: Rodney Harris was first seen in "Profiler, Profiled" as a drug dealer who harassed Derek and a potential murder suspect. This episode reveals that Rodney was molested by Carl Buford like Derek, but while Derek grew up to be a successful FBI agent, Rodney lacked the support Derek got and became a drug dealer. Even after quitting that life, the lack of help Rodney got for what happened to him resulted in him becoming an alcoholic and violent murderer.
- Smug Snake: Buford is this when Morgan questions him in prison. His smugness briefly vanishes when Morgan threatens to tell the other inmates about Buford molesting young boys.
- Sympathetic Murderer: Rodney Harris was molested as a child by Carl Buford, which left him traumatized and lead him to turn to alcohol to self medicate. Later, he would go on to have a son who would also get molested, which reopened Rodney's old wounds, leading him to go on a violent rampage and attacking anyone he suspected of being a child molester.
- Morgan: "For darkness restores what light cannot repair." Joseph Brodsky.
