Criminal Minds returned for its 17th season as a Paramount+ reboot, with the long-running CBS series undoubtedly impacting viewers after 15 years. Despite the anticipation for the BAU (Behavioral Analysis Unit) team’s return to the big screen, it’s also frightening to see some of the most horrific scenes unfold one more time.
After all, it shouldn’t come as a surprise when episodes of the show about the worst aspects of humanity resemble mini-horror films. Despite the BAU team’s best efforts to save the day, some of the episodes have left viewers restless after watching. After announcing its renewal last year, Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 3 will return, leaving the audience excited, and unsure of what the BAU team has planned for the future. In the meantime, fans can rewatch some of the scariest Criminal Minds episodes to relive the show’s glorious old days.
10
“The Uncanny Valley”
Season 5, Episode 12 (2010)
The episode centers on Samantha Malcolm (Jennifer Hasty), a serial killer of the “collector” variety who kidnaps women and turns them into dolls to display in her home. The team learns that her father had assaulted her when she was a young child and had later given her dolls as an act of restitution; as a result, she has been kidnapping women to replace the toys she has lost.
Samantha is one of a few sympathetic TV serial killers who viewers often feel sorry for because of everything she’s been through at the hands of her father. That, however, does not excuse her actions of kidnapping and abusing her victims emotionally. It’s undeniably one of the creepiest episodes of the show, even if viewers weren’t afraid of dolls before.
9
“The Lesson”
Season 8, Episode 10 (2012)
In this episode, the BAU looked into a serial killer in Arizona who bizarrely disposes of his victims. The unsub named Adam Rain (Brad Dourif), an old man who had just woken up from a coma and suffered serious prefrontal brain damage, which led to a psychological regression to a childish state of mind. He then kidnapped people, dislocated their joints, and made them perform in a play to reenact the incident in which his father was unfortunately killed.
The idea that a young mind could think up and carry out such heinous deeds against other individuals is so horrifying. Additionally, the usage of children’s music and children’s toy in this episode is wonderful for heightening the tension and giving the episode a creepier feel that some viewers may not be able to encounter in a while.
8
“Saturday”
Season 15, Episode 4 (2020)
The episode is set on a titular day, a day off for the BAU team, who decide to spend their days in various ways. However, when Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness) is approached by a competitor in her hacking competition for assistance with a stalker, everything goes south. Even though he had been sending her ominous messages online, including one that threatened to gut her, that wasn’t the worst of it. The team later discovers that he has carved a hole out of her floor and living under her bed.
The episode is extremely distressing because of how it resembles some of the most suspenseful stalker movies and shows. It could sound cute at first, but once someone has to go through it, it’s undoubtedly a nightmare. Also, this episode is one of a select handful with a high likelihood of occurring, causing viewers to check their beds every night.
7
“Omnivore”
Season 4, Episode 18 (2009)
Hotch’s (Thomas Gibson) first BAU case, an elusive serial killer known as the Reaper, resumes his murders after a ten-year hiatus. To speak with George Foyet (C. Thomas Howell), the lone survivor of the Reaper’s strikes ten years ago, the crew had to fly to Boston. The crew learned that the Reaper was Foyet when they were unable to avert numerous unfortunate attacks and noticed discrepancies in Foyet’s account who later became Hotch’s number one enemy.
Due to the cold-blooded murders the reaper committed against his victims and the lengths he would go to fabricate his own murder, the episode is extremely eerie. A frightening part of “Omnivore” is also the unpredictability of people’s true nature; some people aren’t who they seem to be.
6
“Sicarius”
Season 16, Episode 2 (2022)
Though Sicarius, or Elias Voit (Zach Gilford), has stuck around for all of Evolution, it is in “Sicarius” that we first realize the true horror of what this twisted mind has achieved. Elias is responsible for creating an entire underground serial killer network using online chat groups that connect psychopaths globally, allowing them to exchange unhinged fantasies or murder tips. This even extends to placing “murder kits” around the country to share his extracurricular hobby with others.
The Sicarius network is by far the most relevant case for today’s digital age, offering us a spooky possibility of how the lockdown may have impacted crime. Gilford’s matter-of-fact performance makes it even more chilling as if serial killing is simply now a business to him and not necessarily a cathartic release we often see in sexual sadists. – Jasneet Singh
5
“Heathridge Manor”
Season 7, Episode 19 (2012)
In this creepy cult-themed episode, the BAU recognizes that the victim could be a part of a string of gothic, ritualistic murders and suspects the unsub might be a Satanist when a lady in Oregon was discovered dead in an asylum. The unsub of this episode is James Heathridge (Kyle Gallner) who drowned his victims to see if they were witches. Then after dressing them in The Merry Wives of Windsor costumes, he murdered them. James thought by murdering the Devil’s wives with the help of his hesitant sister Lara (Madeleine Martin), would help to take down the Devil.
This episode is one of the most disturbing Criminal Minds episodes because of the ways James kills and his descent into delusion. Another horrifying aspect of this story is how faith can be so strong and deceitful that it may be used as justification for killing others and a means of hiding their deteriorating mental health.
4
“The Boogeyman”
Season 2, Episode 6 (2006)
In this episode, the BAU travels to a small town in Texas to investigate child murders. The crew suspects a local hermit named Joseph Finnegan of being the unsub after narrowing the suspect pool. However, Finnegan had actually passed away from a heart attack while setting up a bear trap, and his body was hidden by Jeffrey Charles (Cameron Monaghan), who broke into Finnegan’s house and used it as a hideout while still making it seem like Finnegan was still alive.
Jeffrey Charles, a twelve-year-old child with a sad childhood, is actually the unsub in this episode who murdered three children in cold blood. When a case involves children, it always gets worse, and when the unsub is a child, it becomes downright horrifying.
3
“Mr. Scratch”
Season 10, Episode 21 (2015)
Peter Lewis (Bodhi Elfman) is one of the few season-spanning serial killers who haunt the BAU for weeks before they can apprehend him. He has one of the series’ most diabolical and memorable MOs, as he injects his victims with a cocktail of drugs that causes them to hallucinate. In this susceptible state, he manipulates them into killing their loved ones or occasionally taking their own lives.
The idea of being controlled merely through a well-placed needle is already creepy. But the fact that he is able to urge people to murder their families and leaves them to deal with the subsequent guilt, loss, and horror is uniquely terrifying. It is complemented hauntingly by the visions that often plague the victim when they are in a hallucinatory state — a shadowy figure with gaping eyes and a mouth that is dubbed “Mr. Scratch.” – Jasneet Singh
2
“No Way Out, Part II: The Evilution of Frank”
Season 2, Episode 23 (2007)
This episode tells the second chapter of the sadistic murderer, stalker, and kidnapper Frank Breitkopf’s (Keith Carradine) tale. After killing Sarah Jacobs (Moira Squier), Gideon’s (Mandy Patinkin) girlfriend, Breitkopf went on to murder other victims who had survived Gideon’s earlier cases. To find and save Tracy Belle (Elle Fanning), who had been kidnapped by juvenile serial murderer Jeffrey Charles, Gideon, and the crew had to work against the time.
This episode is particularly chilling because of the murderous technique Breitkopf used and the way he turned his victims’ ribs into a wind chime for his lover. Moreover, Rebecca Bryant (Amanda Bernero), a previous hostage of her aspiring serial murderer father, and one of Breitkopf’s casualties in this episode, more than anybody else, deserved to live happily after everything she experienced, only to die horribly. This episode is also one of a few Criminal Minds arcs that should become films due to the number of small details it includes.
1
“To Hell… and Back, Part II”
Season 4, Episode 26 (2009)
After finding evidence linking many alleged disappearances that may be connected, the BAU continues its investigation of the serial killer in Canada. They come across a distressing discovery that might reveal the killer’s motivations, and Morgan (Shemar Moore) discovers a bin of shoes of various shapes and sizes outside the house.
Because of the narcissism displayed in Mason Turner (Garret Dillahunt), the brain behind this horrifying “experiment,” and the way his brother Lucas (Paul Rae) handled his brother’s “laboratory waste,” viewers can be kept awake for days after watching this episode. Moreover, the details reveal that pigs are omnivores, which means that there are no bodies left to be found. It is also evocative, making it the scariest episode of Criminal Minds.