Criminal Minds Rewind: Season 1: Episodes 1 & 2
- Emily Craig
- Aug 1
- 7 min read
I rewatch shows like it's my job, and now I'm a Contributor on Show Snob, writing about shows that are currently streaming. You may be wondering why I am writing on my personal blog. It's a little confusing, considering I spent May through July 2025 recapping and reviewing my favorite show, Criminal Minds. Those recaps and reviews covered the seasons that are currently airing on Paramount+, and now we're between seasons. The Criminal Minds Twitter Fandom inspired me to rewatch our favorite show (once again) and recap the early seasons and beyond. On my blog, I'll be rewatching the original run (2005-2020) and diving a little deeper into the episodes. I'll strive to set myself apart from well myself because on my blog, my voice is a little different with no specific parameters to follow.
Criminal Minds has been a massive hit for 20 years and only gets better with each season. I love rewatching and noticing new little details, or being able to watch it without overthinking. Ironically, it's my comfort show, something that brings me peace during the chaos. Given the crime genre, you'd think it'd be opposite, but I never said I was normal.
S1E1: "Extreme Agressors"
The BAU Team
I love how Criminal Minds doesn't shy away from immediately jumping into the thick of a storyline. We meet Special Agent Gideon after a six-month medical leave following the Boston incident. He's not at his best, but he's ready to catch bad guys again. Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, the team leader of the BAU team, finds himself in a sticky situation. He's evaluating Gideon's performance on the case to ensure he wasn't put in the field too early. Hotch, unsure of how to proceed, is questioned by his team members, Special Agent Derek Morgan and Dr. Spencer Reid, on whether Gideon is in his right mind to work the case.
When Morgan thinks Gideon is out of earshot, he says, "he's having a nervous breakdown," and Gideon runs back in and corrects him, saying, "they don't call it a nervous breakdown anymore." That dialogue exchange shows how close the team already is, considering they all know everything about each other, and if they don't, they can profile the other person, too. We observe profiling between agents in a simple game of chess, where Dr. Reid struggles to anticipate the next move, whereas Gideon can.
This isn't her first case as a BAU member, but viewers first meet Elle Greenway as she's trying to get information on the residents of a suspect. She's confident and sure of herself with her background in sex offender cases. Gideon wants her to think outside the box if she wants the open position in the BAU. Morgan tells her to trust her instincts, which Elle already demonstrates while working the missing woman case alongside the men. In a male-dominated profession, she stands out.
Finally, we get our first of many Penelope Garcia, FBi's office of supreme genius, and Morgan's fun scenes. Right out of the gate, Garcia knows what she has to offer while making a Star Trek reference. Viewers didn't know it back then, but at one time, Morgan and Garcia were cold to each other in their first meeting. But that flashback comes much later.
The Footpath Killer
Giving Gideon trauma right from the start was so cruel. Yet, he repeatedly demonstrated that a bit of trauma never hurt anyone. In reality, it messed with his head and sense of judgment. He worried his team leader and co-workers, but still caught the Aggressor serial killer and the Footpath Killer.
Even though I've watched Criminal Minds many times, I still can't tell if the Footpath Killer pointing a shotgun at Gideon is in the present time or if he is retelling the story. We know throughout episode 1, he's telling a room full of people about the Footpath Killer's case and his known stutter. At the end of the episode, after they solve their current case, Gideon walks into a gas station and hears the man stutter. He instantly knows he's found his man. The crazy man follows him outside with a shotgun, and the screen goes black.
My conclusion is that he's retelling the Footpath Killer case, and he found the guy by happenstance, and he tells everyone how he escaped. Which tracks, since Elle wants to know why the Footpath Killer stuttered, or was it just a distraction to stay alive? Morgan tells Elle that Gideon wants them to figure it out. It may seem a little twisty at first, but all the context clues are within the episode.
Missing woman and killer at large
Heather Woodland, the woman who innocently bought a car online, was duped by a serial killer. She was so excited to test drive her car, even on a dreary and rainy day. Starting the episode off with a bang was the perfect way for Criminal Minds to gain traction. The woman's story immediately sucked me in, especially when the team kept missing something.
At one point, I yelled an answer back to Gideon, as if I was the one standing next to him and not Hotch. No matter how close they think they are to solving the case, they're always missing something—one step forward, two steps back the entire time.
Morgan and Reid found a livestream of Heather tied up, blindfolded, in a cage on a boat. She's alive! But the race is on to save her from the killer's attempt to escape with her. Elle and Gideon are on the case. Gideon gets shot, yet still they save the woman and arrest the killer. We know that wasn't the first time Gideon was up against a gun in the debut season. Already, they put him through the ringer as if he were a victim in his case. I feel like this case put the team into a tailspin, showing how even though they're experts in their field, they're also humans.
S1E2: "Compulsion"
The BAU Team is complete (for now)
As Criminal Minds viewers will quickly learn, profiles come and go. We'll fall in love with one and then bam, they're gone for good or on a break. For now, the team is Hotch, Gideon, Morgan, Dr. Reid, Elle, and JJ. But as we know, Elle will leave shortly into season 2, and Emily Prentiss is brought in. Although this was a change I loved, Elle was missed.
My favorite team moment from this episode is JJ's introduction to Elle, and essentially to the audience. I'm still sad she's not in the first episode. JJ introduces herself as Jennifer Jareau or JJ, if you like. She's the BAU's Unit Liaison with a specialty in untangling bureaucratic knots. I love how she says upfront that she's never in her office, which is why it's always cluttered. Seasoned fans know she eventually becomes a profiler and moves to the bullpen with the team, but for a time, she has her own office.
This episode shows the BAU team in the round table room discussing the case and presenting the evidence. They all look so young and fresh, even though they're experts at their jobs. Even Dr. Reid, the youngest, has years of smarts behind him. Yet, we still watch them grow and change throughout the show, especially in the early seasons.
There's a lot of team moments woven into this arson unsub case, which makes the gore bearable. The first of many Penelope and JJ scenes happened in her control room office. I adored it. Their friendship is everything. But it's not as funny as Elle describing the unsub to Reid and him matching her description to a tee, other than being a psychopath (of course!). I giggled. It was one of the funniest moments in this episode. Little moments like these make the show what it is at its core. You can't have crime-solving without excellent teamwork.
Arsonist in Three
The best cases are those where the characters are unaware they've already met the unsub. It's remarkable how long it takes for them to realize a young woman could pull off such massive campus fires. After that, it all clicks for Dr. Reid when he remembers the woman in the science lab who counted things off in threes or said words three times. It's her compulsion. If something wasn't in threes, she made sure it was. I love my patterns, even in intervals of three, but this unsub took it to the extreme.
Unfortunately, this is one of the many cases that makes religious people look crazy. I promise, we aren't all like this. But some take it too far and worship something that can harm others. Seeing the woman's apartment, well, it spoke for itself.
Overall Thoughts & Takeaways
Criminal Minds boasts one of the best openers to a series, making viewers want to stay tuned and figure everything out. I'm glad I stuck around after my momma showed me reruns. From that point on, it became my favorite show. I grew up with NCIS and CSI, but Criminal Minds was something different. It has the team aspect that I loved, focused on one type of killer, but the characters' stories drew me in more. I'm not sure what else sets them apart, but it was just something about them. I wanted to know more, and now I've rewatched the show several times.
Maybe it's wrong to laugh during a crime show, but I can't help it. The writing is clever and makes me want to kick my feet and giggle. In some instances, I answer the characters or yell at the TV. That's how good the episodes are. It's never a mistake to rewatch this show and solve cases with the BAU. I love how even after watching it a lot, sometimes I still don't know the next move, like it's a constant game of Chess and Gideon is my opponent.
I'm enjoying filling the Criminal Minds void with a good rewatch! Thanks to the Twitter Fandom for the idea and encouragement. I love being a part of this community of crime show nerds.
Emily Craig Hooie is an author, poet, and blogger. With a Bachelor of Science in English from the University of North Alabama, she always knew writing was her future. Her background in writing covers many genres, ranging from Southern Gothic to young and new Adult. With five pieces of published poetry under her belt and after the success of her debut book, Will You Love Me Again?, she wanted to fuel her passion for writing with two sequels, thus Where Will We Go?: A Sequel and What’s Next, Lucy? were born. She lives in Athens, Alabama, with the love of her life Dustin and their dogs, Buttercup and Copper.