The Fisher King (1)

Season 1, Episode 22, Aired
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Episode Summary

While on their separate vacations, each member of the BAU receives a clue from a psychopathic killer who challenges them to save his next victim.

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Fan Episode Reviews (22)

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  • A fantastic finale to this first season and one that will have you on your edge of your seat all the way through, not to mention wanting Season 2 to start really quickly so that you can find out what happens.moreless

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Lady_Lancaster, Jun 23, 2010 Report Abuse
    It's time for much-needed vacations for all members of the team, with the exception of JJ and Garcia, who have their vacation time separately from other members. Gideon is going to his cabin in the woods to spend two weeks with a lady friend, Reid is going to visit his mother, Diana, who is a paranoid schizophrenic residing in a hospital in Nevada and Elle and Morgan are both heading off to sunny Jamaica where Morgan's friend manages a luxury resort. Hotch will be spending the time with his family and it's clear that he's looking forward to it very much because he actually smiles!

    All goes well in the beginning with everyone enjoying their free time until a headless corpse turns up in the Jamaican resort and the head is delivered to Gideon in his cabin in the woods. Reid, meanwhile, reluctant to visit is also delivered something, a key, but he has no idea what it is for. Hotch, at home with Hayley, receives a phone call from a stranger and JJ is sent a box containing a mounted rare butterfly found only in England. Garcia, however, is having the time of her life playing an online virtual reality game with the man of her dreams.

    Things turn very sour for everyone when Elle is arrested for murder and Hotch must fly to Jamaica to prove her innocence.

    The unsub has the same message for all of them. "SAVE HER" and leads them on a complainted 'quest' to do just that. The question is, who is the blonde girl being held captive by the unsub and why, if she is being held against her will,(which she clearly is)does he want them to save her?

    An even bigger question is, can they do so in time and what in the world has Reid's mother got to do with the whole thing?

    A truly excellent episode, full of all the mystery, plot twists and drama you would expect from a season finale. Don't forget to watch it and, of course, tune in for Season 2 to learn what happens. You will be enthralled.moreless

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  • High stakes

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By Parricida, May 27, 2010 Report Abuse
    Team has finally two weeks off as Gideon just cannot take more and they all go their separate ways just to get back soon as they get separate clues for next case - a young girl adopted two years ago and now he comes forward, knows so much about them and wants them to their play with only one rule - only them. And that rule Gideon breaks and this ends with amazing cliff hanger - Greenaway versus the adopter and guns..

    This episode was amazing - the whole clue game, the way they managed to bring more and more personal feeling to char by showing what they would do in their vacation, opened a new side of Gideon - he is person too. Have to see next episode.moreless

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  • Possibly my favourite ever episode

    10
    "Perfect"
    By bellagirl_008, May 27, 2010 Report Abuse
    The best episode ever i loved this, i loved all of it even the cliff hanger is really good awesome seing the teams on vacation and there personal life priceless,absolutly hilarious can't wait to see more like this and come on modern knights of the round table great concepts it was cool to met Reids mum all though sad at the same time she seems sweet is crazy, Morgan and Elle at the beach were fun untill people died.

    The case was really clever as well, with the way he was doing things to get to the team and how he really thought he was the fisher king. Plus his poor daughter stuck down there for years

    oh and P.S is it just me or is Reid getting smarter.moreless

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  • Words can't describe the greatness of this episode.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By amazing_race, May 27, 2010 Report Abuse
    This episode of Criminal Minds, as mentioned by others, was perhaps the best one ever. I loved seeing this type of a case in which the team had to solve cryptic clues.

    I really enjoyed seeing the team at their various vacations, some of which can't really be called vacations.

    I loved the idea of each team member receiving an individual clue and having to put them all together to solve it all.

    I thought this episode was planned so intricately, that it was flawless and incredible. It really is one of the best ones ever.

    The suspense was killing me though. It finished on such a great cliffhanger!

    Great job, Criminal Minds!moreless

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  • If you're a huge fan of Criminals Minds, you would be kicking yourself if you missed this episode.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By AvaBrennan, Jul 27, 2007 Report Abuse
    This episode was excellent, it was very thrilling. In Australia this was screened as a double episode with part 2. So we weren't kept in suspense. Still one of the best episodes I've seen. Simply exciting!
    I never knew Elle's father was in the police force for some reason I thought Gideon was her father, so I was deeply confused for all of five seconds. Even though it was sad when she got shot, I found it to be an episode highlight. Just wandering who is the woman with Gideon? It was sweet, the story of when Hocther first saw his wife.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • Hotchner says he joined the theater club the day after he received his yearbook in his junior year of high school and he became the fourth pirate in the play. Because yearbooks are rarely handed out until the last week of classes, it is unlikely the theater club would be staging a play, much less accepting new actors for a production. Edit
    • Thomas Gibson and guest star Jane Lynch worked together previously on the episode Play Lady Play of Dharma & Greg. Edit
    • Haley was in the tenth grade when SSA Hotchner met her and her maiden name was Brooks. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • Closed captioning identifies the music played by the music box as "Forellen Quintet." "Forellenquintett" is the German title of Franz Schubert's Trout Quintet. Edit
    • Amanda Bernero, the actor who portrayed Rebecca Bryant in this episode, is Ed Bernero's daughter and she also works as a researcher for the show. Edit

    • "In the Mood" by Glenn Miller plays while Gideon prepares dinner. "You Go to My Head" by Billie Holiday plays while Gideon and Doris dance. "The Trout Quintet, Op. 114: IV - Tema, Andantino" by Schubert plays on the music box. "Death Whispered a Lullaby" by Opeth plays over the agent montage just before Elle gets home.

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  • Quotes

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    • Garcia: (angrily over the phone to Morgan when he asks for information) The information superhighway is closed. Someone had the nerve to run a black hat op into my computers, Morgan. They hacked me, okay? But you can bet your sweet ass I will find them. I've got honeypot farms hidden behind UML kernel data packets and a first generation honeynet I personally programmed. My snort-log lists every visitor, every server request, every keystroke of this entire network. If I have to back-hack his IP all the way to the freakin' stone age I will find this son of a bitch, okay? So, bye! Edit

    • Hotchner: Hey, don't knock family. I'm gonna get nothing but for the next 336 hours.
      Morgan: Hmm, good for you.
      Hotchner      : Haley's got a list of chores a mile long and I can't wait. The biggest decision I gotta make is what I'm gonna do first.
      Elle: I bet you she has a thought or two about that as well.
      Hotchner: Bring it on.

      Edit
    • Gideon: I'll be lost in a cabin in the woods for the next two weeks. Do not call me for anything. Have a great time. You all deserve a break. Seriously, don't...don't call. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Reid explains that, in medieval times, the day was broken up into hourly intervals called the Canonical Hours, or the Breviary. The complete list of Liturgical Hours (with accompanying prayers) is Lauds, the first hour – prayers to be said at sunrise, then Prime at 6:00 AM, Terce at 9:00 AM, Sext at Noon, None at 3:00 PM, Vespers at 6:00 PM and Compline, the last of the waking hours, at 9:00 PM. There are also hours of the night, called Matins. Edit
    • Reid gives his mother a book by Margery Kempe, which was described as one of Kempe's lesser works. However, Margery Kempe only wrote one book, which was lost until 1934. Margery Kempe was born around 1373 and died after 1438 in Norfolk, England. She is famous for The Book Of Margery Kempe, which she wrote about her pilgrimages and persecution. It is widely considered to be the first autobiography in the English language. Edit

    • Hotchner: (looking at the broadsword left in Giles' body) …maybe the light from here casts a shadow and points to something.
      Elle: Come on. Are we in the middle of a Indiana Jones movie?

      This is a reference to the Indiana Jones movie trilogy, with Harrison Ford in the title role. The final movie was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In one scene he is looking for the entrance to catacombs in a library. He finds it by using the reflection of the sun through a stained glass window with the crucified Christ.

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Season 1 Episodes

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Ep 22
The Fisher King (1)
Ep 21
Secrets and Lies
Ep 20
Charm and Harm
Ep 19
Machismo
Ep 18
Somebody's Watching
Ep 17
A Real Rain
Ep 16
The Tribe
Ep 15
Unfinished Business
Ep 14
Riding the Lightning
Ep 13
Poison
Ep 12
What Fresh Hell?
Ep 11
Blood Hungry
Ep 10
The Popular Kids
Ep 9
Natural Born Killer
Ep 8
Derailed
Ep 7
The Fox
Ep 6
L.D.S.K.
Ep 5
Broken Mirror
Ep 4
Plain Sight
Ep 3
Won't Get Fooled Again
Ep 2
Compulsion
Ep 1
Extreme Aggressor

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