05x12 - The Uncanny Valley

[bunniefuu]

Radio: Joe, what's your 20?

Almost done with rounds.

Just checking the carousel.

You need some backup?

I'm falling asleep here.

No. But could you leave a cupful of coffee in the pot?

[gears cranking]

Ha ha ha ha ha!

[clinking] [laughter continues]

Anyone back here?

[clinking]

This is private property.

I'm gonna give you 5 seconds to come on out.

[motor starting]

[loud carousel music plays]

Ha ha ha ha ha!

Hee hee hee!

Funny, don.

Heh heh. I'm a man of simple pleasures, And that was one of them.

What are you doing back here?

Switching out a timing belt.

What are you doing back here?

Thought I saw someone messing around.

Nah, it was just me.

It wasn't you.

Turn it off.

What?

Turn it off!

[motor powers down]

What?

Ed?

Go ahead.

You need to send that backup.

[mouthing silently]

I see checkmate in 5. What do you see?

I see it in 3.

We've missed you out here.

Thank you.

Thanks. I, uh, I had to take a little break.

How come?

I used to play with a c o-worker friend of mine.

He's probably the best mind I ever went up against.

One day, he just decided that he didn't want to play anymore.

So you gave up, too?

Just the opposite. I attempted to play Through every permutation of moves on a chessboard.

That's an infinite number of games.

It's not infinite. It's just- it's exponentially large.

You couldn't have played through them all.

There's an average of 40 moves per chess game, And I'll tell you something- the more I played, The more I realized that every single match, Every single chess game, Is really just a simple variation on the exact same theme.

You know? It's aggressive opening, Patient mid-game, inevitable checkmate, And I realized why my friend quit.

He was tired of repeating the exsame patterns And expecting a different outcome.

So you have a lifetime

[cell phone rings] of chess strategy in your head And you're just sitting on it.

I still use it.

I just, uh... I apply it differently.

I have to go.

It was good seeing you.

Rita stuart, 25, Second victim in atlantic city.

Pretty public spot for a dump site.

You know, technically, I think it would qualify more as a disposal site.

You don't leave a body on a merr y-go-round out of convenience.

He took some time with her appearance, didn't he?

Yeah. Her nails were polished, Her hair was cut, clothes were brand-new.

Wants her to look her best when found.

That's a lot of remorse.

Who is victim number one?

Stacia jackson, 29.

She was found at a local playground.

A change in victimology.

What's the connection between these women?

JJ: There is none. Rita was married, stacia was single.

Rita worked at a diner, stacia was a corporate lawyer.

According to their credit cards, They never came within 10 miles of each other.

Both women were taken 2 months ago?

Yeah. They lived such completely different lives, The police didn't tie their abduction together until now.

Was there any evidence of sexual as*ault?

There was no evidence of v*olence of any kind.

So how did they die?

Rita had a stroke, stacia had a brain hemorrhage.

Look at this, the unsub gave them a battery of dr*gs--

Atracurium, doxacurium.

These are neural inhibitors.

They block signals from the brain to the muscles.

He put them in medical comas for 2 months.

Actually, they weren't in a coma.

You'd need phenobarbital To keep them unconscious, and they didn't have that.

So, wait a minute. These victims were paralyzed but they were still conscious?

They could open their eyes, hear, Probably even feel stimulation.

Physical immobility but mental awareness.

This unsub wants total domination over them.

And he turns their bodies into prisons to do it.

Reid: Mildred lisette norman wrote, "anything you cannot relinquish "when it has outlived its usefulness, "possesses you, "and in this materialistic age, A great many of us are possessed by our possessions."

Keeping women in a conscious paralysis reads as sadism.

Definitely dehumanizing, Reducing them to objects.

But there's nothing else about this profile That takes us down that path.

JJ: These women were found in excellent condition.

There was no evidence of bed sores, They were well fed through an I. V.

His access to I. V. S and dr*gs--

He almost certainly has medical training.

Are we sure this is a he?

The care this unsub shows these victims, Although they are dehumanized, The profile says female.

What about the postmortem posing?

That's a lot of dead weight for a woman to carry.

These women are petite.

They're under 100 pounds.

All right, if we reconsider the gender of the profile, what changes?

Nothing. If anything, it fits better.

Men k*ll to fulfill a sexual compulsion. Women don't.

Reid: You see this in angel of mercy K*llers, Like genene jones and amy archer.

They didn't care about race or hair color.

It's men that do.

Damn straight. Men do.

Well, hello, red. Look at you. Guys.

Wow. Wow.

Garcia, what did you find out about the clothing The unsub's dressing the victims in?

At first only that both garments were made from chiffon, But with the wonder twin powers of the atlantic city police And my impeccable eye for fashion, We have also determined that these garments fit ridiculously well.

They're super flattering to each victim's exact measurements, Kind of exactly like the unsub whipped them up herself.

Maybe that's what connects the victims.

How so?

Maybe she isn't just k*lling petite women Because they're easier to abduct and pose But because of a physical type.

She wants a body type.

Sewing clothes for a specific size of woman.

Please tell me she is not k*lling these women Because she needs human models.

I mean, there's gotta be more to it than that.

There probably is.

But at least we have a start on the victimology.

Prentiss and morgan, I want you to interview the victims' families.

Talk to them about lifestyle choices.

Any body image issues these women may have had.

Reid, go to rita stuart's autopsy, See if the dr*gs point to any specific medical training The unsub might have had.

Dave and I will go to the disposal site.

And, garcia. Sir.

I want you to check missing persons reports For the last 2 months. See if any abductions Match what we know. We need to find out If the unsub's already taken another victim.

Agent jareau? Detective marty cotrone.

Hi. These are ssas morgan and prentiss.

Were you able to contact the families?

They're already here.

Did they bring the pictures we asked for?

Yeah. They were pretty confused by that.

And to be honest, so am I.

Agent morgan, I don't understand.

How does what my daughter looked like Have to do with the monster who k*lled her?

We think the unsub is looking for a physical type.

Fit but petite.

This is her. This is my wife.

Did rita work out, stay in shape?

Sure. I guess.

She went to the gym at least 3 times a week.

Stacia took pride in every aspect of her appearance.

In what way?

You know, her clothes.

It was her clothes. She loved to shop.

It looks like she has kind of a bohemian streak going on.

Yeah.

What were her favorite places to shop?

High-end boutiques.

Expensive ones?

Certainly.

And dressed to fit.

She was tiny.

Everything had to be taken in So she'd look...

Her best.

Would you mind writing down Some of her favorite places to go?

So these are mostly consignment and thrift shops?

That's really all we could afford.

Did she ever have these clothes altered?

Uh, tailored to fit her better?

I never really paid attention.

Would she ever have worn something like that?

[crying]

Would she ever wear anything like that?

No.

[carousel music playing]

[indistinct chatter]

Dave!

Can you hear that?

Yeah.

She's posing her victims in a place That represents innocence and childhood.

Most serial K*llers don't have a particularly happy childhood.

My guess is she wants them to have the fun She never got to have.

Let's think about how she's doing this practically.

How's she getting them from her car to the carousel?

She's moving a body in the middle of the night.

She needs to make conditions as favorable as possible.

So she'd need a vehicle that afforded her privacy--

A van or an suv.

That's still a lot of ground to cover once she parks.

Even if these women are light, She risks getting caught carrying a corpse.

If she has a medical background, what if she used a wheelchair, Something that would help her move them quickly?

And if she has a wheelchair, That means her van has a lift, Which would be helpful to unload a body.

Which also means she has a handicap placard.

Which would give her the closest place to park.

I'll have garcia pull all vehicles With handicap registrations.

Thanks, dave.

Once I have the knees bent, I can get leverage under her.

Normally, an assistant helps me.

But I can do it by myself if I need to.

I'm assuming the unsub would have this training, too.

Let me ask you this- is there anything specific about it?

No, any caregiver out there can do this--

Docs, nurses, orderlies.

Where do you think she's getting the dr*gs that she's using?

Do you think she could be manipulating A doctor or a pharmacist, maybe?

He'd be criminally negligent if she was.

But it is possible.

I mean, doctors order things Through residents, nurses forge signatures, Prescriptions fall through cracks.

That's a lot of dr*gs and a lot of cracks.

She keeps these women paralyzed for 2 months.

Your report said both of them Had hair extensions clipped in.

Yes, to hide the fact that clumps of their real hair had fallen out.

But if they were fed through I. V. S, That wasn't from malnutrition, right?

You see this a lot in bedridden patients.

Loss of motor function.

Especially in a young woman like this.

Of course.

Psychic shock.

Yeah, the mental effects take a physical toll.

One last question- in your professional opinion, Do you think the hair extensions were clipped on before or after death?

Before.

And you seem pretty certain of that?

You know the old wives' tale about your hair and nails Growing after death.

What's really happening is that dehydration Is shrinking your skin, pulling it back.

Based on where she put these extensions, They were definitely still alive.

Now, we know this unsub is stuck in a rich fantasy, right?

An incredibly detailed delusion.

We don't know what the delusion is, But we know that it involves remaking these women, And it begins the moment she has them drugged.

So she has them paralyzed and she can do whatever she wants, Why is she k*lling them?

Well, I don't think she means to.

The brain is a machine designed to respond to stimuli.

If you keep the brain awake but the body immobile, It breaks down, loses its hair.

After 2 months, it eventually strokes out.

So death isn't this unsub's goal, It's an unfortunate side effect.

Exactly. What'd you find out?

Both rita stuart and stacia jackson were clothes hounds, But because they were petite women, they had a lot of their stuff altered.

Could be how our unsub is finding her victims.

She gets her hands on their measurements.

But we already exhausted tailors, alteration shops. There's no overlap.

The tailors might send specialty items out to third parties.

Dig deep into extended employment records And see who they might be subcontracting to.

Garcia needs to talk to us.

Go ahead, garcia.

Hello, my pretties. I have finished my missing persons sweep.

I've got nothing on the medical vehicle, But 2 new matches on the clothes make the woman front.

Cindy admundson. She was abducted outside a thrift store, And maxine wynan was last seen at the hillridge mall.

That sounds like our girl.

Any surveillance footage at the mall?

No. It was an outside parking lot. So sorry.

The new abductees- what's their physical type?

They look pretty tiny to me.

I'm gonna send you pictures.

Also, if it pleases the court, I would like to direct your attention to exhibit "a, "

The calendar map.

What about it?

Both of these new victims were abducted one week ago, Exactly one day before the bodies of rita stuart And stacia jackson, respectively, turned up.

She doesn't let a body go until she has a replacement.

[engine starts]

Thank you so much.

[car alarm chirps]

Excuse me.

Do you need some help?

Oh, the ramp's broken.

You want me to call a tow truck?

I just need to get the chair in the van, And then I can go home.

Well, we could load it.

You think?

Sure. We'll put it in the back?

Go on in.

You pull, I'll lift.

Ok.

1, 2...

3.

Here we go.

Do we need to lock the wheels or anything like that?

Oh! Oh!

[moaning]

You're so pretty.

Victim is mary newsome.

Abducted 2 months ago.

She was found on this bench first thing this morning.

Ok, well, it looks like her style.

It's chiffon, and it's sewn to fit.

If she's disposed of this body, it means she's recently taken a new victim.

We'll call hotch, we'll comb through missing persons reports From the last 48 hours.

I'll pulling them.

Thank you. Mm-hmm.

Hmm.

What?

These aren't hair extensions.

Maybe her hair was too brittle.

Maybe. I don't know.

You know what? This is a wig.

Kanekalon, I think.

What's that?

Uh, synthetic hair.

There's nothing special about it.

It's used in wigs all over the world.

But look at this.

Ooh. Are those stitches?

On her scalp.

She sewed this in.

[music playing]

Yeah. Wallace. I got it. Thank you.

Hey, I think we found who was taken last night.

Her name is bethany wallace.

Her husband says she never came home from the dry cleaners Where she stopped off to pick up some clothes.

Anybody at the cleaners see anything?

The employees were busy locking up.

But they did mention That they do farm out work to tailors who work from home.

Good. We can match records based on who worked on bethany's clothes.

We just got the pictures of the 2 recent abductions from garcia.

Line up the photos of the new victims Next to the bodies they replaced.

That might help us with the timeline.

You guys see this?

Yeah. She's matching up the victims physically one to one.

She's a collector.

We're ready to give the profile.

The unsub we're looking for is a woman.

She's a collector.

It's a psychopathology similar to hoarding.

Rossi: So when we say collector, We're not talking about stamps or baseball cards.

It's not what your kids, or even you, Might pursue as a normal hobby.

This is an attachment to objects that's become obsessive, By someone who is antisocial and extremely introverted.

These people attach a part of themselves To their collection.

If you try to separate them from it Or take it away from them, They will react violently, even psychotically.

They've suffered damage to their prefrontal cortex.

That's the part of the brain that regulates Basic freudian fantasy/reality.

They can still function, like drive a car, Go to work, even do their taxes.

In fact, she excels at goal-oriented jobs, Like the precision of sewing.

Or the details of abduction.

But they've lost their ability to categorize the difference Between living and dead, uh, belonging and loss.

That has been irreparably destroyed.

So, what's she collecting, women?

Actually, We think she's collecting dolls.

Technically, replacing them.

We believe that she lost the originals Sometime within the last 3 months, And this is what served as her stressor.

Rossi: She searched for a replacement, And when she couldn't find them, She started abducting the closest possible surrogate.

Women of different ethnicities But of similar physicality.

The drug-induced parasis is part of the fantasy.

She puts her victims in a position where they can't talk back So she can fetishize them like the objects she's lost.

Um... Look.

I respect your analysis, But this woman kidnapped 6 women And k*lled 3 of them.

And you're telling us this is about dolls?

Prentiss: This unsub stitched a wig Onto the scalp of her latest victim.

It's a technique used to attach hair to porcelain dolls.

And keep in mind, collectors and serial K*llers Do share certain traits. Uh...

A lot of serial killerstake tro, Attaching the same significance to them That this collector does to objects.

Rossi: But this unsub's intent isn't v*olence.

She needs this collection to be complete So she could feel in control of her life, Probably to overcome some trauma she experienced.

She really only feels that control When the collection is complete, Which is why she's repeating an abduction pattern with living victims.

If she loses a doll, or in this case, If she loses a woman who represents a doll, She has to replace it.

Hotch: This woman works alone.

We know she has medical training.

Look for nurse's aides or orderlies Who we fired for a lack of social grace She can't fake a bedside manner.

We believe she's currently working As a tailor or a seamstress, And we're following those leads now.

But do let us know If you notice any overlap in your suspect pools.

Thank you.

Of course I remember ms. Jackson.

We were all sad to hear what happened.

Do you ever farm out tailoring jobs, Someone who might have done this?

No. [chuckles]

To be perfectly honest, We wouldn't even sell something so dated.

Let me take a look.

Where did you get this?

Why? Did you see something?

Look at this lockstitch.

It's a handkerchief pattern.

You see this on silk-sewn handkerchiefs.

And it's all done by hand.

So this is her signature?

This is unique to her.

I couldn't do it, not even with a machine.

If there someplace that specializes In handcrafted sewing like this?

No.

I'll tell you this much, though.

She's been at it a long time.

This woman...

Is an artist.

Hotch, this is bethany wallace's husband karl.

We brought him in for questioning.

Do you know where my wife is?

We're searching for her, sir.

No. You have to find her in the next 24 hours.

Bethany is a diabetic.

Look, agent prentiss said That the woman who took her Has medical training.

So... Bethany could have a chance?

What?

She keeps her victims in a dru g-induced state.

They can't communicate.

These... These dr*gs, will they--

We don't know.

But we're doing everything we can.

[unsub humming]

Everyone, This is sally.

Be nice to her.

So, doctor, if a diabetic were given This battery of dr*gs to keep her paralyzed, What would the reaction be?

Diabetics metabolize everything they consume differently--

Food, drinks, dr*gs.

It all gets broken down to blood sugar At varying rates.

Most likely, this patient seized up Minutes after she was medicated.

So she's already dead.

Probably.

Although...

There is another possibility.

Bethany's condition could break down the dr*gs Faster than the other victims.

She could regain control of her body?

Every hour that she doesn't turn up is a reason for hope.

We're still running out of time.

If the dr*gs don't k*ll bethany, She's not gonna last long without insulin.

Man: Look, collectors are good, honest people.

Just because you enjoy dolls doesn't make you a freak or a pedophile.

Morgan: We appreciate that, sir, But the woman that we're looking for Has lost her ability to control her obsession.

She's k*lled 3 women trying to recreate a type of doll She had as a child.

Describe the line to me.

Well, there's a pattern to the victims.

They're in their 20s, and they're petite.

Most doll lines revolve around infants.

Is she dressing them like babies?

No, she's not.

Their wardrobe consists of chiffon dresses, Worn by one blond woman, a redhead, and a black woman.

The dresses--is she sewing them herself?

How did you know that?

It's the valois line.

Local company, back in the late eighties.

Probably when our unsub was prepubescent.

Yeah.

They promoted feminism and multiculturalism.

Strong, independent girls from different backgrounds Who could still be friends.

Reid. Birth certificate to fill out.

A form to describe their lives.

And a kit to sew your own clothes.

Jj said she's been at it for a while.

She's probably been sewing since she was a little kid.

Wait a minute. Sir, what's this contest that they held?

That was to see who could come up with the most imaginative doll.

Sew a dress. Write an essay to describe her.

If you won the contest, you'd have your doll featured in next year's line.

I assume that didn't end well, did it?

No, it did not.

It's a classic tool child psychologists use.

Tell me a story with these dolls.

When the company got essays with thinly-veiled references To physical or sexual abuse, They turned the entry forms and the dolls over to the police.

The publicity k*lled the line.

You said the company was local, right?

They might still have the clothes in evidence.

[classical music playing]

[unsub humming]

How are the essays going?

Makes for some pretty depressing reading.

Prentiss is having a good time.

Hey.

These dolls are all like little time capsules, Only the eighties fashion wasn't so kind to them.

I'm surprised how many little girls Knew how to make shoulder pads.

Reid: How's it going on your end?

I got a list of vendors the victims went to--

Tailors, seamstresses, that sort of thing.

Hey, jj, you said something about a handkerchief hem, right?

That's exactly like what she sews for her victims.

What's the name on the entry?

Samantha malcolm.

She's on my list.

Wait a minute, guys. I have her essay around here somewhere.

Right here.

"sally doesn't like the room with the lightning."

That can't be good.

Ok, guys, I just got samantha malcolm's Medical records, and...

Oh, my god, she was doomed.

Like Emily bronte doomed, Like shakespeare doomed, Like red-shirted ensign in "star trek" doomed.

Garcia, what happened to her?

Oh, uhsorry, uh, Well, for the first 10 years, nothing, And then she started a battery of electroshock treatments.

At 10? Who subjects a child to ect?

That would be her father, dr.

Arthur malcolm.

He runs an inpatient mental health facility For troubled young people called new lives.

At first, the essay that samantha wrote raised some flags, But her father explained that the therapy Was to deal with the recent death of her mother.

After that, he started her On a serious regimen of ant i-psychotic dr*gs, Which he weaned her off of a few years ago.

It explains her familiarity with medication.

Where is she now?

Uh, her father declared her incompetent, So he's still the legal guardian.

Everything is in his name.

And all of her records list new lives as her residence.

She couldn't keep victims in an inpatient facility.

She needs privacy.

Garcia, what about real estate holdings In her father's name?

Just his own. But new lives has A bunch of outpatient and halfway houses all over town.

Hotch: Jj, where does she work?

I have her placed at 3 different shops around town.

All right, let's split up and cover the shops and the facility.

I want to go to new lives.

Whether or not she's there, I want to talk to the father.

There are literally hundreds of therapies to help kids through loss.

Electroshock is not one of them.

Take rossi.

Be nice to each other.

See you later.

We're leaving.

Phone...

[dial tone]

No... No.

I am very confused, gentlemen.

What does this have to do with samantha?

We need to talk to her. Is she here?

No, she's at work.

Does she live here, Or did you move her into one of your halfway houses?

As a matter of fact, she is in one of my houses.

Well, we'll need the address.

And I'll need to know what this is about.

She might be tied to a series of abductions.

That's not possible. It's not my daughter.

Is samantha on her own at this house?

There are no other patients, right?

She thought that was best, and I agreed.

Yeah, but let's face it--

You're happy that she's out of your hair.

I beg your pardon?

Because if you had been visiting her recently, doctor, You would know what she's been doing.

Samantha has always been troubled.

3 women are dead because of her.

She's not capable of that.

Are you certain?

I mean, the effects of electroshock, Especially at that age, are permanent.

But maybe you knew that.

My wife died when samantha was 10, And she never recovered.

I tried everything.

Child psychiatry, pet therapy, Nothing helped.

She was cutting herself.

She was in pain.

That's the end of this meeting.

Where's your daughter, doctor?

And, agent rossi, if you try to talk to her, A mentally ill woman, without her knowing what she's doing--

Do you know about the women she's keeping?

And have no medical or legal counsel present, You'll have no case.

Do you understand me? None.

We'll keep the police here In case samantha drops in for a visit.

Let's go, reid.

Hey, a really fast question.

Why are these toys here?

I use them in my therapy.

No, I understand that, but why are they way up on this shelf, Away from where any kids can actually reach them?

They're reminders of patients that I've helped.

Let me ask you something.

What was the name of the girl you helped with this one?

Jenny larson.

Hmm. And this one?

What was the name of the girl You helped with this one?

Abigail moore.

How about this one?

Linda krauss.

These girls are what, they're like 9-

9 or 12 years old, I'm assuming?

My ph. D. Is on the effect of trauma On prepubescent girls.

I do not appreciate what you're implying.

Oh, I'm not implying anything.

I'm making an inference.

An inference is an educated guess.

And based on that, I form a hypothesis.

For instance, my hypothesis here Is that after you r*ped your daughter, You submitted her to electroshock treatment To make sure she stayed quiet.

This is outrageous.

And then, out of guilt, you bought her toys, More specifically, you bought her a line of dolls.

Because that's what serial molesters do. They give gifts.

So you continued the pattern With your other patients, And once they left your care, you added their toys To your collection.

I'm sorry, you can't back up your story, doctor.

This is why I love my job, doctor.

Because my lab, it's a jury of your peers.

My tests will be jenny larson, abigail moore, And linda krauss.

The d. A. Will put them on the stand, And I'm going to personally bring these dolls in, And we're going to watch how they react.

Or you could tell us where your daughter is And we'll tell the d. A. You cooperated.

But once we walk out this door, That deal comes off the table.

2529 adams street.

You'll tell them, right? That I cooperated.

You want to knowow I figured you out?

Those toys.

You take care of them.

These ones you treasured.

But you know what?

The collection's not complete.

Where are they?

She's coming back.

I have to put it back in.

No, please.

Please, don't.

I'm sorry.

Ohh...

Oh...

Don't leave me.

Let us go.

I can't.

Samantha? [gasps]

Hi.

Uh, my name's spencer.

I'm with the fbi.

I know what your father did to you, And I want you to know That he can never, ever hurt you again.

He never touched me. He's a good father.

He loves me.

I know that he probably forced you to say those things, And he punished you if you got it wrong, Sent you to the room with the lightning.

Yeah.

The dolls that your father gave you after he hurt you, What would happen to them?

He kept them in his office with the other toys.

That's where he let you play with them?

But when I moved out, I had to take my friends with me.

I couldn't leave them behind.

Of course. And so you went you get them.

What--what did you find?

[samantha gasping]

Aah!

Yeah.

He gave them to another girl, didn't he?

Mm-hmm.

Do you want them back?

He said I couldn't.

He said they were gone for good.

He lied. He's been lying to you for a long time.

Do you want to see them?

Can I?

Yeah. Yeah, do you want to play with them?

[sighs]

Clear. We need medical here.

Hold on. Hold on one second.

Hey, samantha?

Listen. You need to go with these men, But your friends can go with you, ok?

They won't take-- they won't take them away?

I promise no one will ever take them away again.

Well done, agent reid.

Thanks.

Checkmate in 12.

No way.

Let me show you.

Reid: Isaac Asimov wrote, "in life, unlike chess, the game continues after che"