3rd Life

Season 3, Episode 12, Aired

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8.9
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When one teenager is found murdered and her best friend is abducted in Chula Vista, California, the BAU must profile the killer and find him before he kills the other teen.
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Fan Episode Reviews (24)

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  • Still not sure why the girls were kidnapped

    8.0
    "Great"
    By Mulderitsme, Apr 02, 2012
    Two teenage girls go missing during a movie. One is soon found dead. The team suspects that the killings may be related to one of the fathers who is in the witness protection program. I enjoyed the whole episode but am still not clear on why the girls were kidnapped.

  • It's good but...

    7.0
    "Good"
    By Bellaluna, Jan 30, 2012
    The only thing that puts me off it is the ending. I personally think that the father should have not killed the unsub becuase he'd be no better. And yes while I understand where he's coming from, I think it was unnecessary. In the words of Oskar Schindler, "Power is when we have every justification to kill, and we don't. " I know that most won't even listen to me, but that's my 2 cents.moreless

  • Two friends go missing after seeing a movie. One is soon found disfigured and dead but the other is still misssing.

    6.0
    "Fair"
    By Lady_Lancaster, May 07, 2011
    I was pretty bored by this one. A predictable plot with a predictable ending. I know the writers of any long-running tv show can't get it right all the time but I like to have a surprise or two in each episode and for me at least, this one didn't contain any as I knew what was coming next as every turn.

    Basically, two girls disappear and one, Katie, is quickly found dead, her body disfigured. The other, Lindsay, is nowhere to be seen.

    The BAU seem to have a little difficulty with the profile until they learn that Lindsay and her father, Jack are both in witness protection and have to keep moving all over the country in order to remain safe. The US Marshall assigned to protect them was a highly unpleasant character who drove me nuts and all the way through the episode, the impression was given that the missing girl was far less important than her father, who was the reason they were in witness protection in the first place.

    When we see Lindsay, who is still being held by the unsubs, it's obviously that the poor kid has had to learn to protect herself. A very good performance by Gina Mantegna as Lindsay, but I can't honestly say that I enjoyed much else about it.moreless

  • Waw!! In Reid's words...Cool!

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By jordinajamaica, Feb 19, 2011
    The BAU team travels to California to find the murderer(s) of a teenage girl that was kidnapped only 18 hours before. The body is practically unrecognisable and they have to identify the victim by a voice record. There was another girl abducted with the first one that is still missing. His father is in witness protection and at the beginning they thing it's all mob related but it turns out to be a revenge from an older boy. Great actings and great story. Reid's face at the end is priceless, he tried but he couldn't convince Jack. In a more superficial note...I love Morgan's tattoos, and his arms too...:D
    Great chapter, one of the best of this season!moreless

  • Poor character and storyline development leads to a questionable story. It seems to me like this episode was written with an idea in mind but that idea never came to fruition. Reid was great however.moreless

    4.5
    "Poor"
    By ender32881, Feb 19, 2011
    I felt that this was one of the worst CM episodes yet. The plot and background story were simply not there. It seemed to me as if someone came up with the admittedly striking idea of a man killing someone and then getting away with it because he was in federal protection. The other half of the story was just not there however. Here are some questions:

    First: Why would a kidnapping that happened just a few hours ago get the BAU brought in? They often refer to how they sort and specifically pick cases while rejecting hundreds, so why would they choose this one with no pattern, etc?

    Second: What did the whole mob thing have to do with anything? There were several references to how if it was relating to him they would be Irish, etc but that plot wet nowhere. With the high school kids committing the crime, there was just a complete disconnect.

    Third: What was the motive for the crime? Once the whole mob thing was ruled out, there was NO purpose given. The older high school guy made one comment about "Them" and making it all work out, but it was never established what that was.

    Fourth: While the BAU did solve the case, it was also done and solved ahead of time by the parents so what was the point?

    One thing that was really good in this episode was Reid's character development and his performance. This episode is certainly a classic for Reid and will make a big difference in his character for the rest of the series. Besides that, though, the episode was just a disappointment.moreless
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  • TRIVIA (6)

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    • Paget Brewster and Gina Mantegna worked together previously on the movie Unaccompanied Minors.

    • When Lindsey is being threatened by the man in the restroom, the blood coming from her lip changes from smeared to dripping then to smeared again.

    • When Reid asks Garcia to identify dead boy in the house, the sun shining through the photo reveals he's holding the school picture Garcia finds rather than the crime scene photo from which he would be working.

    • Garcia's typed transcript of the telephone message on Mrs. Owen's cell phone is incorrect. The order of dialogue is different when the message is played for the families.

    • The spelling of Jack Vaughan's name, established in the subtitle "Jack Vaughan's Residence", changes when Reid accesses Vaughan's computer. When the computer screen shows "Automated Clean-Up Process" his last name is spelled Vaughn.

    • Jack Vaughan would have been taken into custody and charged at the scene with murder. If it was decided to not to prosecute him because of his status as a protected witness, that would only come later after it was decided by the Department of Justice.

  • QUOTES (9)

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    • Pat Mannan: This has nothing to do with you.
      Jack Vaughan: Nothing to do with me? This punk kid took my daughter.
      Pat Mannan: All this, Jack. It's karma for what you did to all those people.

    • Jack Vaughan: (to the unsub he's just shot) You got two legs. I got one question: where's my daughter?

    • Pat Mannan: You know, you have no idea who or what you're dealing with here. Hotchner: Then enlighten me or stay out of my way.

    • Reid: Jack, you swore to your wife you'd protect Lindsey. Listen to her, Jack, listen to what she wants - she's begging you to kill somebody right in front of her. What do you think your wife wanted you to protect her from? Jack, your life has been, has been about violence, and, if you do this, Lindsey's will be, too. Do you want that? When does it end, Jack?
      Lindsey: (whispering) Kill him.
      Reid: When does it stop?
      Jack Vaughan: Tomorrow.

    • Katie: (recorded telephone message) Please...please, no please, please, stop it, stop it - stop it!
      Lindsey: Don't fight them, don't!
      Katie: Please, God, stop!
      Lindsey: Don't show them you're scared.
      Katie: Get off of me! Please, help me! Please, God, stop it! Daddy, help me please! Please! Daddy, help me please, Daddy! Help me!

    • Jack Vaughan: Can I help you?
      Reid: (caught at Vaughan's computer) Ah, hey, I was just, ah, checking to see if Lindsey contacted anyone on the internet? Predators, ah, tend to do that.
      Jack Vaughan: Is that right?
      Reid: (speaking very fast) Yeah, statistically, actually, 43% of predators...
      Jack Vaughan: Lindsey doesn't like computers.
      Reid: Oh...cool!

    • Hotchner: It's up to you.
      Jack Vaughan: This message – what did it record?
      Hotchner: It's the last moments of one of your daughter's lives.

    • Hotchner: "No man or woman who tries to pursue an ideal in his or her own way is without enemies." Daisy Bates.

    • Hotchner: "It is a wise father who knows his own child." William Shakespeare

  • NOTES (4)

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  • ALLUSIONS (4)

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    • Morgan: No JT posters. When Morgan and the team are searching Lindsey Vaughan's room, he mentions that she doesn't have any JT posters, referring to Justin Timberlake, pop singer and former member of the boy band 'N Sync.

    • Garcia: Jinkies! Velma from the gang known as Mystery, Inc. in the Scooby-Doo series used this phrase when she found out something, usually weird, incredible or shocking.

    • The Lords of Chaos – Kevin Foster In 1998, Kevin Foster was convicted of leading three Fort Myers teens in a plot to kill their music teacher, Mark Schwebes. The three boys – Pete Magnotti, Chris Black and Derek Shields - were also convicted on plea bargains. Foster received the death penalty. The three other boys, who had called Foster "God" received sentences of life imprisonment.

    • Hotchner: Guys, last house on the left, second floor. I've got something. Hotchner's directions include the name of a 1972 Wes Craven horror film called Last House on the Left about two girls who are kidnapped, tortured, and murdered that mirrors the plot of this episode.

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