Scared to Death

Season 3, Episode 3, Aired
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Episode Summary

The BAU travels to Oregon to assist local authorities in investigating the disappearances of people who are new to the city and have no strong social ties in Portland. All the clues lead to a psychiatrist who may be using his patients' worst fears to murder them.moreless
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Fan Episode Reviews (17)

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  • good episode...

    8.7
    "Great"
    By Fwirrel, Feb 06, 2011 Report Abuse
    The team is called in to investigate murders that are all different. The victums were all new comers to the city, and that's about it. It turned out that a creepy pyscologist person convinced his patients to confront their fears and he practically killed them. He let go of the saftely line when a man was scared of water was in the water, thus causing him to drown. He burried a girl alive, but the team freed her. Overall, the case was interesting and there were some good character moments in the episode. It's weird not to have Gideon, but it's also nice. I like change in a show. Overall, good episode.moreless

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  • Someone is killing someone based on their fears.

    8.4
    "Great"
    By amfarley84, Feb 06, 2011 Report Abuse
    As usual i thought that this was a great episode of Criminal minds. Also once again I thought that the cast was really great with their characters in this episode. I liked the storyline with the psycho killer killing people based on their fears because he is dealing with some trama with his mother dying and what she did to him when he was a child. I really do not notice a difference in the episodes of Criminal Minds now that Mandy Patinkin is no longer in the cast. I liked that Hodge told someone that his wife left him at the end of the episode.moreless

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  • With no Mandy, "Criminal Minds" looks to Paget Brewster's chest to carry the show.

    5.0
    "Mediocre"
    By jamoon2006, Feb 06, 2011 Report Abuse
    I was willing to give "Criminal Minds" a chance after the (in my opinion) nicely handled departure of Jason Gideon. Unfortunately, my fears were confirmed: without the strong center that Mandy Patinkin and his character provided, the profilers are lost and the show is veering more and more into "shock of the week" territory.

    In a continuing effort to top themselves, the writers continue to dream up "unsubs" with less and less grounding in reality, and who are saddled with backstories in an effort to garner our sympathy. Case in point, the psychiatrist with a bad childhood and nagging wife kills people in the style of their greatest fears. It's a plot more appropriate for a comic book villain than a serial killer. Gone are the days of the early first season when the crimes and their culprits were so grounded in reality, the tension was palpable. Now, each unsub needs to be grander/more ridiculous than the last. (Hunters who hunt people!, etc.) Plus...I know a show is in trouble when boobs become a major star. What the heck kind of dress code does the BAU have? Paget Brewster's neckline took a bungie jump this week, and JJ's attire is always that of a 13 year old out for a Friday night. Dress professionally! Scully did on "The X-Files" and it didn't hurt her sex appeal. The women on "CM" look like cheerleaders, and sound like them too.

    The good: Thomas Gibson (the only other good actor on the show) had a very nice moment with Jayne Atkinson at the beginning, and it's clear he's struggling with his home strife. Too bad Jayne Atkinson hasn't made more appearances. Her Erin Strauss is the kind of female character this show needs...a woman who is more than breasts and pouty lips. Also, Michael O'Keefe was creepy enough as the psychiatrist-killer.

    The bad: No more Jason Gideon. We've got a weak cast of prime-time rejects awash in a sea of dreck. Too bad, this show started out strong...but now I have my Wednesday nights back.moreless

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  • A taste of the Action to the one's that don't know the show

    10
    "Perfect"
    By ParyahPT, Feb 06, 2011 Report Abuse
    Loved this episode, one of my favorites and a mark to people that haven't had the chance to check this series out! A true example in How to understand the "How and Why" of a serial killers mind.
    We find a "morbid" Hotch struggling between the safe of a family and the thrill and rightness to catch the society monsters out there...
    I can understand the difficulty of Reid to figure it out why the letter was sent to him, and only him. To such a master mind to understand something so simple and personal to a "lab rat" can be hard...moreless

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  • This was kind of a blah episode for me.

    8.5
    "Great"
    By tsar_luke30, Feb 06, 2011 Report Abuse
    This episode definitely was not up to snuff after the first two episodes of this season.

    Through out the whole episode I kind of felt myself going "what?" Everything seemed to happen in a very short amount of time. For this episode I did not like knowing the identity of the psycho and cruel killer. It took away from the drama of the episode in my opinion. It has worked many times before, but this time I felt like it just flopped.

    I was disappointed that the guy just pretty much committed suicide by jumping off the building. I thought it was kind of a lame ending. At least they found the girl aliive, I happy about that. This episode almost seemed melodramatic and a little too predictable.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • When the team is at the lake with the CSU technicians, Morgan is holding the plastic rope in his bare hands that might have fingerprints on it. He then hands the rope to the CSU tech, who is wearing gloves. Edit

  • Notes

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    • In this episode it is revealed there is an agreement between certain members of the team not to profile each other. Edit
    • In this episode, Mandy Patinkin had been removed from the main credits and group shot at the end of the sequence, thus leaving Thomas Gibson as the first-billed star. Edit
    • The song played at the end of this episode was "River of Darkness" by Kalli. Other music was "Barely Holding On" by Wes Nickson, "Broken" by Lifehouse, "Can't Find My Way" by Phil Collins, "Requiem, KV 626 In D Minor: IIIa. Dies Irae (Sequentia)" by Mozart Festival Orchestra, "Scott Joplin Collage" by Gordon Green, "Tambourine" by Steffan Fantini. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES

    • Morgan: (as he and Reid finally escape from the tiny, malfunctioning elevator) Hallelujah.
      Hotchner: Was that the alarm? You guys OK?
      Reid: I'll get back to you on that.

      Edit

    • Reid: Uh... did anything ever strike you as odd about Jenny?
      Apartment Super: You know what? When she moved in here two months ago, she walked up and down those stairs a hundred times. (chuckles) She wouldn't use the elevator.
      Morgan      : I don't blame her.

      Edit

    • Reid: (of Gideon's letter) Yeah, yeah, you know Gideon stood toe to toe with some of the… the sickest people on this planet. I mean it took a lot of courage, right?
      Prentiss: Yeah.
      Reid: So why'd he do this? (shows Prentiss the letter) It's addressed to me, but I'm not… I'm not the only one that he abandoned.
      Prentiss      : Why is it addressed to you? I think you need to read that letter again.
      Reid: I have an eidetic memory, Emily.
      Prentiss: Yeah, I know, and an IQ of 187. But what do you remember about your father?
      Reid      : What do you mean?
      Prentiss: He gave you 10 years before he left and yet you've erased all those memories. And it's too painful, I get it. But then Gideon leaves. I think you need to read that letter again and ask yourself why, of all the people, he walked away from… did he only explain himself to one person… you.

      Edit

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Season 3 Episodes

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Ep 20
Lo-Fi
Ep 19
Tabula Rasa
Ep 18
The Crossing
Ep 17
In Heat
Ep 16
Elephant's Memory
Ep 15
A Higher Power
Ep 14
Damaged
Ep 13
Limelight
Ep 12
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Ep 11
Birthright
Ep 10
True Night
Ep 9
Penelope
Ep 8
Lucky
Ep 7
Identity
Ep 6
About Face
Ep 5
Seven Seconds
Ep 4
Children of the Dark
Ep 3
Scared to Death
Ep 2
In Birth and Death
Ep 1
Doubt

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