Criminal Minds

Conflicted

Season 4, Episode 20, Aired 4/8/09

Episode Summary

The BAU is called to Texas to investigate a serial killer who is targeting vacationing students on spring break on South Padre Island.

9.0

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Cast & Crew

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Matthew Gray Gubler

SSA Dr. Spencer Reid
Shemar Moore

SSA Derek Morgan
Paget Brewster

SSA Emily Prentiss

Fan Episode Reviews (14)

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College guys are getting murdered in hotel rooms during spring break. Reid realizes that one of their suspects has a disorder in which a dominant personality emerges to protect the real person, by killing people who remind him of an abusive stepdad.moreless

9.5

"Superb"

By 9LivesInMe, Jun 25, 2011 Report Abuse

This was just pure genius. Seriously. The storyline was brilliant and the whole murder to who the unsub really is, was just suspense-filled.

The episode starts off fine, with the end being the beginning, then rewind 7 days and it begins with the discovery of the body by Adam. And when the BAU is called in and they discover they have a timeline since spring break is going to be over soon and the murderer might get away with the murders. The actor who played Adam/Amanda, Rathbone, plays his roles very well, you really cannot tell the difference because the he plays each completely different. They are really two different people. The voice, the behaviour, the way he acts..it's just genius. And how it's fit into the story, the whole two separate identities disorder, is brilliant. The team discover it's males who behave like alpha males that are being murdered and think at first it's a man, then think it's two people, a man and a woman working together. When they interview Adam, both Reid and Morgan have no idea he's the unsub. And even later, they still have a hard time believing it until Reid figures out the two personality disorder thing, which suddenly makes sense. I really had no idea and this revelation really creeped me out.

Reid also gets a bit attached to Adam, even visiting Amanda at the end telling Amanda he's looking for Adam. I thought that was nice, and felt sorry for Amanda who only emerges to protect Adam. And it ends.moreless

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5 0
Really is a good show!

8.5

"Great"

By JPPT1974, Jun 25, 2011 Report Abuse

Really we have been missing Reid as he doesn't seem to be the forefront these days. And that he is one of our favorite characters on the show. But lately he has been absent lately. But glad that, he was in this. As when he is at the forefront, he is good. The team try to figure out what is going on, with students that are vacationing on spring break. Are being killed. And why they are being targetted. The Adam/Amanda thing was really twisted. But also really confusing. Even though I have only seen bits and parts of Twilight, Jackson Rathborne, the guest star was convincing. He also kind of reminded Reid of himself. Without the killing though.moreless

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6 0
The murders of young college boys leads Agent Hotchner and the BAU team to entertain the possibility of a male and female serial killing team, such as Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck,but instead they uncover something entirely unexpected ...moreless

9.0

"Superb"

By Lady_Lancaster, Jun 25, 2011 Report Abuse

At the beginning of the episode, we see a young woman, in shadow, being interviwed by Dr. Reid. Reid tells the woman that he would 'like to talk about Adam', whom we learn is 'still missing.' Reid appears greatly troubled by this. The woman informs Reid that, in her opinion, 'Just because you caught me, doesn't mean you'll find him ... you're not that smart.'

We then read that it is 'Seven Days Earlier' and the traditional fun and frivolity of Spring Break on South Padre Island is overshadowed by a series of rapes and murders - of young men. The BAU are called in to help solve the crimes. After questioning Julie, the manager of the hotel where the second body was found, and ascertaining that she had not noticed anything unusual, Rossi,Morgan and Reid then question Adam Jackson, (played by Jackson Rathbone from 'Twilight') the young hotel employee who found the second body. Adam, like Julie, appears to know nothing.

Profiling the un-sub the next day,the team come to the conclusion that they may in fact be dealing with a 'killer couple' - a male and female, with the woman luring the victims and the male raping and murdering them. After learning more about Adam and Julie, and the fact that they both have a somewhat colourful past,the team feel they may have caught their killers, however, when they both pass lie detector tests, this belief is tested. As usual, it is Reid who sorts things out by theorizing that their 'two killers' scenario may be incorrect, that, in fact, Adam may be BOTH killers; a multiple personality with an alter-ego who committed the crimes.

Meanwhile,Julie finds some incriminating evidence which links Adam to the crimes, but when she goes to the hotel roof and presses him about it, she is confronted by 'Amanda', a 'woman' with a strong Texan accent, who is clearly the 'real' killer. Amanda is not at all pleased and pushes Julie off the roof. Barely breathing, she tells the BAU team what has happened when they arrive at the hotel. Reid correctly concludes that Adam/Amanda has gone to find the real source of the trouble - the abuser from his childhood. As the young killer holds a knife to the throat of his abuser, we learn that Adam was made to wear dresses and suffer other unimagineable abuse. 'Amanda' finally releases her hostage but refuses to allow Adam to come back. She has decided to protect him fromany further harm. This puts us right back where we were at the beginning of the episode, where Reid is again speaking not to a woman as we first thought, but to Adam, with 'Amanda'firmly in control and intending to stay that way.

This was a great episode, yet another one not to be missed with excellent performances by all, particularly Jackson Rathbone who did a very convincing job in the dual role.moreless

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5 2
Really good

9.0

"Superb"

By vicky24c, Jun 25, 2011 Report Abuse

In this episode of Criminal Minds, the following happens. We open with a prisoner, being questioned in a therapy session. We see that Reid is there and that he is looking for Adam, and needs the prisoners help as she knows where he is. We then see a Spring Break party happening, and a young man being tied up and killed by a female. The day the body is found, and we learn his name is Daniel. We learn that this is the 2nd killing in a week and all of the victims were killed in the same hotel. Soon the team believe that the killers are a male and a female, who are both working together. Soon another victim is found murdered, but this time at a different hotel. The team soon find evidence that the cleaning person who found the 2nd victim lied to the team and he had an altercation with the 1st victim the day before he was killed. Garcia soon learns that Adam was the victim of abuse when he was a child, done to him by his stepfather. So the team bring him in for questioning. When looking into his background the team learn that his boss, Julie, pays for his rent and has bailed him out of jail twice in the last 4 years. So they believe her to be the other killer. Just as she is leaving with another possible victim, the team turn up and take her in for questioning. Soon both of them are given a polygraph test. They both pass the test and so both of them are realised. Soon Reid believes that Adam, the cleaning person, has multiple personality disorder. They believe that there is 2 killers, but inside of 1 person. His boss goes into Adams room and finds a woman's dress and some rope. She confronts him about it and so "Amanda" appears and throws the boss off of the roof. The team go there and learns that Amanda has appeared and so they head off to dams stepfathers house, believing that he/she is there. When they get there they find Amanda holding a bag over the stepfathers head and has a knife to his throat. Reid starts to talk Amanda down and manages to do so, before anyone gets hurt. At the end of the episode, we see that it is Amanda who is the prisoner, who Reid is visiting, in order to try and get Adam to come back.moreless

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3 0
A different type of episode. A really interesting concept!

9.5

"Superb"

By amazing_race, Jun 25, 2011 Report Abuse

This episode was spooky and creepy in all the right ways. It was certainly a very week different one than we get each week, and I really enjoyed it. It was weird and unusual, and it was backed by an interesting concept.

The unsub was suspected as a team of a man and a woman, then it turned out to only be one... or did it! The multiple personality disorder thing was really cool and I think they executed that really well!

Keep it up, Criminal Minds! I can't wait to see some more really great episodes, and I would highly recommend this one! Great job, please keep it up!moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- Adam Jackson said he grew up "just across the bridge" in Corpus Christi. To be accurate, he would have lived in Brownsville, Los Fresnos, or San Benito. Corpus Christi is located 179 miles north of South Padre Island, and the drive takes approximately three hours and 45 minutes by car. Edit
Notes
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- Rick Dunkle, the writer of the episode, added some personal touches to the script. Dan Keller's school, Benjamin Franklin University, was named for Franklin College, the school in Indiana where Rick attended for three years before moving to Los Angeles; the Willard Beachside Resort was named for the local bar where Rick and his friends frequented while attending Franklin College; room number 319 where Dan Keller was murdered is the birthday of a good friend; and the Hudson Street Hotel was named as a tribute to Rick Dunkle's father. Edit
- The music heard in this episode was "Tres Cool" by Jupiter Rising, "Needle in the Basket" by FakeBreed, "We Love What Kills Us" by Bangkok Five, "Rock to the Rhythm" by Dave Aude and DJ Da, and "Sugar Boy" by ProducersLab. Edit
Quotes
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- Adam Jackson: You've seen bad stuff, right?
  Reid: I have, yeah.
  Adam Jackson: How long before you can close your eyes without it being there?
  Reid: I'm afraid I still don't know.
  Edit
- Morgan: Reid, what's eating you, man?
  Reid: We've taken the victim into custody and let the abuser go free. I don't see that as much of a win.
  Morgan: A lot of lives are going to be saved because Amanda's off the street, you know that.
  Reid: Yeah, I just wish I could have noticed the signs in time to save Adam.
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- JJ: I don't think anyone's going to listen.
  Reid: What do you mean?
  JJ: Come on, drunk college students don't exactly want to hear they shouldn't talk to strangers.
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Allusions
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