12x01 - The Crimson King

Episode transcripts for the TV show "Criminal Minds". Aired: September 2005 to February 2020.*

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The cases of the BAU an elite group of profilers that analyze the nation's most dangerous criminal minds in an effort to anticipate their next moves before they strike again.
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12x01 - The Crimson King

Post by bunniefuu »

Rossi: Previously on "Criminal Minds"...

Whoever is sending these emails, the message is always the same...

"The storm breaks tonight."

"The storm breaks tonight."

He's planning a prison break.

[Shouting]

We got a tunnel.

3 more prison breaks in 3 different states, all organized by Rawdon's partners from his last bombing attempt.

JJ: How many got away?

As of right now, 13 serial K*llers.

So we have to catch them again.

[Grunting, breathing hard]

[Breathing hard]

I can't... I can't...

[Gasping]

[Vehicle approaching]

[Horn blasts]

[Horn honks in distance]

[Honking]

[Brakes screeching]

Water.

Water, please.

What do you think, Chief?

I don't know.

Do we need to call in the FBI?

I don't know.

It's been, what, 3 years?

Officer Dewey.

Yes, Chief.

Shut up.

How is he?

You need to see this.

Dewey.

Yes, Chief.

Call the FBI.

Manos, arriba.

¡Arriba!

I'm from the Bronx, lady.

You want to do this in Spanish, no hay problema, pero un poquito estúpido porque tú no hablas español.

You have it?

En inglés? Yes.

Slowly.

On the hood.

Everything you need to pass as a Mexican citizen.

Driver's license, passports, even an IMSS card in case you need a doctor.

But you ordered two.

You mind?

We good, sugar?

All good, baby.

That's half of what we paid for.

Where's the other half?

I'm going to reach into my back pocket.

But... I'm not pulling out out a g*n.

This way.

[Beeping]

[Beeping faster]

You take that, you come out on the other end just outside of Socorro.

You're coming with us.

That wasn't part of the deal.

It is now.

Guess I'll go first.

No.

Babe, you go down first, wait for us at the bottom.

Then you go I'll bring up the rear.

Earl, it's dark down there.

Your cell phone has a light. Use it.

Get going.

Where'd you escape from prison?

Make a difference?

Not as long as I get paid.

Honey, how we doin'?

Carla Jean!

I'm good. I'm down.

Can we send down our boy?

Yeah, baby.

Send him down.

Uh-uh!

Wait.

Babe, turn your light on, so we can see down at the bottom.

Show me the damn light.

Good?

FBI!

Don't move!

[Shouting]

You know, you didn't need to risk it.

We had sharpshooters on you.

Yeah. sh**t miss.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a second.

I mean, I know everything is digital now, but I still like to do this old school.

How many we got left?

Well, let's see.

13 serial K*llers escaped from prison in May.

With your help, we're down to 5.

So how come you're not on our team full-time?

Yeah, I told Agent Hotchner, I'm a manhunter.

I'm no good to you as a profiler.

You're with the FBI's fugitive task force.

From where I'm standing, you've done us a whole lot of good.

Rossi, I appreciate the offer. I do.

But I can't sit around brainstorming about these guys.

I need the chase.

Fair enough.

Oh, we think he's back in Tempe.

He, uh, let a survivor go this morning.

In an arm spreader.

Daniel Cullen.

When do we start?

We just did.

Chief, how much do you know about Daniel James Cullen?

You mean the Crimson King?

I know he liked to cut words into his victims' bodies.

3 years ago your Phoenix field office arrested him.

That's why we didn't call you in last time.

Has his most recent victim said anything?

He just woke up.

Ryan, these folks are with the FBI.

Would you mind?

Do you know what it means?

Yes, we do.

Rossi: "Anger is my meat."

"I sup on myself.

And so shall starve with feeding."

William Shakespeare.

Then we visited the Louvres and the Eiffel tower, and the best part of all was that on the flight back Mom walked me through every moment of it.

I didn't have to prompt her.

Oh, Spence, that's so great.

The latest research shows that diets high in omega-3 fatty acids help combat dementia, which we gorged on in Paris.

I mean, honestly, if she hadn't been clinically diagnosed with Alzheimer's, I'd just think she was a little absent-minded.

So are you gonna keep her in the same facility?

Yeah, she really likes it there.

What did I miss while I was gone? Tell me about Agent Alvez.

Uh, well, um, let's see, he bounced between different divisions before joining the fugitive task force.

Former army ranger, right?

Covered most of Iraq's worst hellholes.

He's a first in, last out kind of guy.

What does Garcia think about him?

Hey.

Good morning.

Uh, how was your weekend?

I don't really discuss my personal life with my co-workers.

Really?

Yeah. I keep it real low-profile here.

If you must know, I hung out with my boyfriend, who is super hot and awesome and totally in love with me.

That's cool. You guys go out or...

No. We stayed in and he helped me with some fingering techniques.

For my clarinet, which I practice and he helps me, and this conversation is making me uncomfortable, and I'm sorry, I must go.

[Text message]

Agent Hotchner needs me.

I made lasagna.

I do not care.

That's the last batch, guys.

Garcia, did the pictures come through?

Yes, sir, they are coming in loud and disconcertingly clear.

This is it.

You compare pictures of the old victims with pictures of the new victims, and see what's different?

Hotch.

You see it?

Yes.

See what?

Garcia, we need everybody.

Will do.

What do you guys see?

Hey.

Luke Alvez.

Oh, hi. I'm Dr. Spencer Reid.

Ah. No handshaking, right?

Your, uh, reputation precedes you.

So does yours. It says here that you caught our next fugitive, Daniel Cullen, 3 years ago. During his sentencing statement he said, "I don't k*ll because I don't have to."

He sounds like an injustice collector. How'd you finally catch him?

Cullen was always a suspect. We just couldn't get an I.D.

So, uh, my partner went deep cover, and...

We caught him in the act.

After I heard how he broke out in may, I wanted to be the one to put him away again.

There might be a flag on that play.

Go ahead, Hotch, we're all here.

The details of the Cullen case are all the same except for one.

The cuts on the latest victim are shallow and show definite hesitation marks.

It doesn't make sense. From his first victim, Cullen inflicted as much pain as possible.

And prison would have made him mean. They're not nice there.

Brian Phillips doesn't match Cullen's previous injustice collector victimology, and the message at this time is "BAU" when we had nothing to do with his initial arrest 3 years ago.

So, look, maybe he met someone in prison and told them all about us, but more likely...

This isn't Daniel Cullen.

It's a very sophisticated copycat.

Agent Alvez, this isn't the case you signed up for, but your history with it will still be an asset.

If someone's out there copying Cullen, it could still lead us to him, and I want in on that.

I need everyone to look for any other discrepancies between the copycat and Cullen. Tara's gonna interview the latest victim and see what he remembers.

Does it itch?

So bad.

When I was 12, I came home from summer camp and two of my closest friends, they had moved away.

It was the first time I noticed how quickly life can change.

You think you're one thing and then you're something else.

And now I'm this.

This trauma, yes, it's a part of you.

But it is not all of you.

Help us catch the man who did this and you can take back control of your life.

How?

Walk me through it.

Ok?

Two days ago, you clocked out from work.

Where did you go?

Straight home. Uh...

But the door was unlocked.

Before I could even think, they came.

That's not right.

I was out. Just... Gone.

And when I woke up, I was on a table.

But... I couldn't see anything.

Why not?

There was...

Like a white plastic bag.

Aah!

No. No, that's not right.

It's ok.

Your mind makes jumps, and then you try to fill in the gaps.

But... Just let it come.

It was a mask.

Like a gas mask, but it was painted white.

No, that's not right. Um, uh, no, it was black.

That's the second time that you've mentioned white.

So what are you trying to remember?

[Squeaking sound]

[Squeaking]

Brian: The smoke.

The smoke was white.

And then I heard him speak.

Are you ready?

Breathe it in.

There you go.

Now you're ready.

Tell me, what is your name?

Brian. Brian.

No, you're not Brian.

And then I passed out because that's when he started cutting.

Ok.

Tell me about the smoke.

What about it?

What did it smell like?

What did it taste like?

If we can figure out what it was, we can screen for it in your system.

Bubble gum?

Bubble gum?

That sounds crazy, but I swear it...

Yeah, it was like bubble gum.

It doesn't sound crazy at all, Brian.

Off of bubble gum? For real?

We've seen the use of aerosolized dr*gs before.

One called scopolamine puts you in a catatonic state.

The other, sevoflurane, is used during dental surgery.

It puts you in a suggestible, almost hypnotic trance.

And because it's used in dental surgery, it tastes and smells like bubble gum.

And that's why we think the unsub is this guy.

Mr. Scratch.

Peter Lewis.

He was one of the key players in the breakout.

Looks like you get to hunt a fugitive after all, just not the one you thought.

But I'm bumping on two things.

Number one... Peter Lewis should be doing everything he can to stay hidden. And number two...

If he's going to surface again, why would he copy another guy's style?

He obviously has some agenda that's not clear to us yet.

But we need to consider a more pressing problem.

Peter Lewis is a math genius.

Which means he plans for every variable.

Why is that more pressing?

Every serial k*ller thinks that.

Yeah, but most of them operate out of compulsion and he doesn't.

He would stress test all permutations of his plan before reappearing, most likely on other victims.

You think we're missing someone.

He wouldn't release Brian unless he knew we couldn't catch him.

Here I am, the paragon of professionalism.

Garcia, have there been any suspicious murders in the Tempe-Phoenix area after Brian?

Outside of the usual drug and domestic abuse v*olence, no.

Check 911 records, any missing persons reports, psychotic episodes, delusions.

Mm-mmm. I'm gonna check the prank phone call bin to be sure.

What is it?

I've got a call here about a Jennifer Jareau that caller listed the address as 54321 Rossi Avenue.

Wow, this guy is really baiting us, isn't he?

Ok, it came from a burner phone, but they left the GPS on. I'm sending you the address now.

No. Send it to Hotch and Tara.

But let them know that Peter Lewis left the breadcrumbs on purpose.

They could be walking into a trap.
[Indistinct radio communication]

Police.

[Woman's voice] Hotch.

Hotch.

Hotch.

Hotch?

Hotch.

[Flies buzzing]

Hotch.

Hotch.

I'm Hotch.

Hotch.

Hotch.

Her name's Chelsea Carter.

That's a complete dissociative break.

We're still trying to figure out what connects her to Brian.

Other than being a year younger, nothing.

Well, Peter Lewis found a shared mental condition he could exploit. That's his victimology.

Last time he dosed men and women who had made false accusations of satanic ritual abuse, but that was in the mid-1980s, and Brian and Chelsea are both far too young to have lived through that hysteria.

Then they share a different condition.

Well, these are all heavy-duty anti-depressant and anti-psychotic dr*gs.

This one's for PTSD.

Now play out the scenario.

Someone like her inhales Peter Lewis' dr*gs.

What's he trying to induce?

We need to build the profile.

Thank you very much.

That was Chelsea Carter's psychologist.

He confirmed that for the past 15 years she suffered from dissociative identity disorder.

D.I.D.? You're talking split personality.

Technically, it's an updated diagnosis for multiple personality disorder.

Both of our victims shared the same diagnosis, and Brian has it, too. That's a small victimology pool.

One that's localized here. The university of Tempe has a summer camp that helps kids with dissociative disorders.

And Garcia's contacting all the doctors and administrators.

It's got to be where he's finding his victims.

Yeah, but what does D.I.D. get him?

He wants to manipulate their identities, and he wants a violent one.

JJ: That means Peter Lewis is not the copycat.

It's someone with D.I.D. who he dosed.

So he's telling this alternate to cut his victims like the Crimson King, and he would need to keep dosing him to maintain the illusion.

Peter Lewis never liked to k*ll.

He always got others to do his dirty work for him.

Here's the thing. D.I.D. is a difficult disorder to treat, but it's even more difficult for a third party to control.

To succeed with this kind of experimentation, he would have had multiple failures.

We are seeing that. Brian survived the t*rture, and Chelsea's mind snapped from it.

It begs the question, though...

Why didn't Brian go crazy?

Yes, ok, yes. I had D.I.D.

It doesn't matter.

Yes, it matters.

I haven't had a break since I was 12.

It's not who I am anymore.

But that summer camp that you went to, did a Chelsea Carter go there?

Yes.

Yes, she...

What happened?

Is she dead?

She was also att*cked.

This guy's trying to induce a dissociative break.

So I need you to tell me who your alternate identities are.

What? No, absolutely not.

How can you even ask me that?

Because it will help us with our investigation.

They're girls, all right?!

My...

My alternates were two little girls.

They made me feel better when I got stressed out.

And I swear to God, if you laugh at me...

Brian...

I'm not laughing.

You know what integrative therapy is?

Yes. It's also called unification therapy.

It's the best known treatment for D.I.D.

When a patient recognizes his alternates as extensions of one whole.

That's what they taught me at camp.

And those two friends you told me about, the ones that moved away?

Yeah, that was them.

I need you to confirm the names of the other kids that went to camp with you, because they could be his next victims.

It's been so long. I can remember faces, but...

If I got you a list of patients, could you try to pick out the names you recognize?

Maybe.

I mean, I could try.

[Knocking]

Yeah.

You got a second?

Yeah, sure.

May I?

Yeah. Have a seat.

So I'm up to speed on all the fugitives this team is hunting, which means I read up on all of Peter Lewis' victims.

And, uh, I saw that...

I was one of them.

Yeah. I don't want to know what happened.

I just want to know...

Don't you want to k*ll him?

Do you want to k*ll Daniel Cullen?

I took an oath to uphold the laws of this country.

So...

[Exhales]

Yeah.

Yeah, I want to k*ll him.

Why?

You read my personnel file.

I want to hear your version.

Ok. All right.

Anyone that asks, I tell them that we caught him in the act.

Which is the truth.

What I don't tell them is that the act that I caught him in was him cutting open my partner, who he somehow figured out was FBI.

"Try not to flinch."

Phil told me later that's what he said.

I strongly believe that men like Daniel Cullen and Peter Lewis belong in 5-foot by 8-foot cells where they can live out their lives as failures, instead of dying thinking that they accomplished something.

I'm not there yet.

Let's talk about right now.

I wanted you on this case because I know that you're driven to find Cullen.

I know that you're a good tracker.

If there's something in this profile that you're not agreeing with, I'd like to know what it is.

You're not gonna like it.

Then everybody should hear it.

You can't analyze a fugitive's actions on the outside without taking into account what he did on the inside.

So what did Peter Lewis do on the inside?

Nothing. He was a model prisoner.

No, it goes further than that.

He had no contact with other convicts.

He didn't join or get pressured into a g*ng.

When he gets out, he picks up as if no time had passed.

So he had the resources in place before we arrested him.

A safe house to stay in, backup supplies of his dr*gs.

He could have gone anywhere in the country.

I mean, anywhere in the world, probably.

Then he came here. To Tempe, Arizona?

He had the highest concentration of targets with D.I.D. here.

You said he wouldn't reveal himself until his plan was foolproof.

Right? This isn't foolproof.

Brian and Chelsea have been failures.

But what part of his plan has worked?

Us.

You see where I'm going with this?

Most fugitives, they do everything they can to stay on the D.L.

He's courted our attention from the beginning.

Where I keep hitting a wall is why.

Especially if he already has a list of all the kids that went to that camp.

Maybe we need to re-evaluate our presumptions.

When Peter Lewis needed information before, he hacked Quantico.

Well, he can't do that again.

So maybe he's going to get his information from us.

And we're compiling the very list he would want.

We know all his tricks. We're not gonna give him the list.

The police aren't. How is he gonna get it?

Brian.

I asked officer Dewey to go over the list with him once Garcia had something.

Oh, god, Hotch, I'm so sorry.

[Ring] Yes, sir.

Garcia, don't distribute the list.

But... I just hit send.

Todd Emerson?

No.

Dustin Anderson?

Yeah.

When you hear the names you remember, this is what you'll do.

[Echo] This is what you'll do.

I need a moment.

Oh.

Uh... Ok.

[Grunting, gasping]

Try not to flinch.

He took his phone.

Peter Lewis has the list.

Tara, there's no way we could have predicted this.

We're sh**ting this bastard on sight.

Chief, if you do that, we lose our best lead on Peter Lewis.

I don't care.

You will care when he kills more people.

Let us do our job.

Well, now we know who the copycat is.

What's scientifically revolutionary is that Peter Lewis isn't just inducing an already existing alternate, he's actually creating one.

Brian thinks he is the Crimson King.

That's undocumented in D.I.D. literature.

It is possible with the right balance of dr*gs and t*rture.

JJ: Peter Lewis never tortured before.

Hotch: He does mentally, by hypnotizing his victims into self-harm.

It explains Brian's shallow wounds.

Tara, you mean he cut himself?

It was all there in the story that he told me.

I just didn't see it.

D.I.D. is usually the result of trauma.

If Peter Lewis could build an alternate like this through hypnotic suggestion, it means that Brian has some propensity for psychopathy in his past.

Tell me, what's your name?

Brian.

No. You're not Brian.

You are the Crimson King, and you're going to cut into Brian.

Hotch: Lewis, did you locate the parents?

Lewis: Yeah.

All right. See what kind of history you can get from them.

The rest of us need to look at every clue again through the prism of Brian as Trojan horse.

Where's the evidence room?

So, this. Why would Peter Lewis make Brian wear it?

So we wouldn't question that he was a victim.

It worked, huh?

Cullen hand-made his. Peter Lewis knew that.

Knew enough to copy the lock bolt mechanism.

Not enough to sew it himself.

A machine stitched this.

So he had to order it.

Ready and waiting.

Garcia, we need leather experts in the Phoenix and Tempe area.

Yeah, I think the leather experts might have asked too many questions.

Uh, Garcia, if you don't mind checking sex shops and BDSM specialists, the more extreme the better.

Garcia?

I will send Agent Alvez that list now.

Good-bye.

[Knocking]

Did you turn off the GPS?

Very good.

Come in.

Hey.

How can I help?

Brian's parents are gonna be here in a few minutes.

Can you sit in on the interview and just...

Make sure I don't miss anything?

I will.

And you won't.

Now listen to me very closely.

Brian was always a sensitive child.

We did our best.

Can you keep him from hurting himself?

Or anyone else?

Uh, we're going to try, but he's wanted for the m*rder of a police officer.

What do you need from us, Agents?

We need to ask you about Brian's D.I.D.

And where it started.

We adopted Brian, through our church.

It was a closed adoption.

When we received him, he had these... scars.

The pediatrician told us that somebody in the foster care system had smashed bottles across him and then cut him with the jagged glass.

Was he ever violent?

Only toward himself. He would...

Cut open his own scars.

And then he would, uh, go into like a chant.

Like a mantra.

We thought he was self-soothing at first.

And then we realized that he was talking like...

Girls, right?

Who were they?

Well, we think that they were in the foster care with him, that they would help him, you know, feel better after he'd been hurt.

Ok, this is very important.

What would he say when he talked like them?

Uh, yeah. This guy ordered this arm spreader.

Um, two of them, actually.

Two of them?

So where's the other one?

Um... Could I see your badge again?

Yeah. Is there a problem?

Um...

Yeah, ok, the guy who ordered them, the name he left on the invoice was Dr. Spencer Reid.

Did he pay with my credit card also?

Cash. I knew he was sketchy.

Guys like him give S&M a bad rap.

Which is why I did ask for a copy of Dr. Reid's driver's license, which he gave me happily.

We'll need to see that right now.

Oh, uh...

He was all up in your business, boy wonder.

He used your social security number to do a change of address and everything, but, speaking of addresses, we have a local one for him.

Good. Get that information to the rest of the team and the police, please.

We need to assume he has the same level of personal information for the entire BAU.

And Daniel Cullen.

But we ruled out his involvement.

Now I'm not so sure.

Peter Lewis copied a specific detail of Cullen's arm spreader, one that wasn't in a public record.

The only way he could have gotten it is if the real Crimson King has been a part of this all along.

I have to go.

But I'm leaving you with a gift.

Who is he?

His name is Daniel Cullen.

He thinks he's the Crimson King.

What will you do about that?

Reid, Luke, the police are 10 minutes out.

That could be a problem. If the police try to convince Brian he's not the Crimson King, he could get unstable.

Tara: Guys, we might have a solution.

Try to keep Brian calm. We're on our way.

Reid: FBI! Drop the w*apon!

No. No.

Help me.

The Crimson King doesn't k*ll.

He doesn't have to. Remember?

Alvez: That's right.

You k*ll and it's over.

But if you let him go, he has to live the rest of his life as a failure. Isn't that what you really want?

No. That's not good enough.

No one is gonna hurt you like that ever again.

Back off! I mean it!

We can't do that.

Ok? Someone told you to do this.

But this isn't who you are, is it?

We know that.

No one is going to hurt you like that ever again.

Nobody hurt me, I hurt them.

Yes, they did hurt you.

They cut you when you were little.

And then right here on this very table, you saw your own blood and you didn't know what to do, so you became the Crimson King to protect yourself.

No one is gonna hurt you like that ever again.

No one is gonna hurt you like that ever again.

Do you remember Eliza?

Angelica?

What they used to say to you at the foster home to calm you down?

No one is going to hurt you like that ever again.

[Sirens approaching]

[Brakes screeching]

Do you promise?

Yeah. I promise.

Brian, this is for your own protection, ok?

We're taking you into custody, for your safety.

Brian: Tara?

Yeah?

Oh, my God, what did I do?

I'm going to be with you every step of the way.

All right? I'm not leaving your side.

[Song playing]

♪ Just take me to the place ♪
♪ just take me to the place ♪
♪ where you will be ♪
♪ all right... ♪

I'm gonna ride with him downtown.

Ok.

Hey. Good job.

♪ Just take me to the place ♪
♪ just take me to the place ♪
♪ where everything will be ♪
♪ all right ♪
♪ all right ♪

Thank you, both of you.

No, don't thank us.

You're under arrest.

Ok. Uh, for what? What did I do?

Must have dosed him to make him lose his memory so we couldn't get any answers out of him.

No, we've met. 3 years ago.

Hmm? What's my name?

What's my partner's name?

I don't know.

You're faking it.

Luke.

You're faking it. What's your name?

What's your name? Say it.

I don't know.

Tell me. Please.

It might not be permanent, right?

He might get his memories back.

He might.

[Exhales]

I've obsessed about this for so long.

But now, the way it went down, I just feel...

You know.

I try not to think about the ones I'm going to catch.

I prefer the think about the ones I'm going to save.

You don't want to catch Peter Lewis?

Of course I do.

Brian was just a test case.

He'll do this again.

We have the same list. We're contacting everybody on it.

But you're right. He will try to do this again.

If you want to help catch him...

Yeah, I would.

Given his resources and the depth of his planning, we need you full-time. It's a commitment.

You'll have to take a full profiling load, too.

To 500 hours?

560.

Let's do it.

Welcome to the team.

Thanks.

I will take the stairs.

No, no, no, no, you won't.

Because you're gonna have to get used to me.

All right? I'm now SSA Luke Alvez with the Behavioral Analysis Unit.

No way.

Ok, SSA in training.

But you're still gonna have to figure out how to be nice to me.

I am nice.

I am like the Queen of nice.

[Laughs] Maybe like the Queen of ice.

Ok. Ok. Look.

This is my nice face.

Ha... Ha.

I gave you that.

So, Garcia...

Yeah, what about it?

I don't know, is that from the little known blond-haired Swedish Garcias?

Actually it's from the family that took me in after my parents died.

So, thanks for reminding me of that painful memory.

So what are you doing tonight, chica, huh?

Hang out with your Canadian boyfriend that totally exists?

Ok, he does totally exist.

And he's not Canadian. And why does it matter what we're doing?

What are you doing, Mr. Tall, dark, and blandsome?

Just kickin' it with Roxy.

Huh. Who's that?

That's my girl.

Yeah, you should meet her sometime.

You'd love her.

Yeah.

Does she love you?

Yeah, she adores me.

Tell her to call me when she's come to her senses.

Hotch, voice-over: "The evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with their bones." ~ William Shakespeare.

There you are.
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