Memoriam

What happens in Vegas is a concern for Spencer as he stays to investigate if his father is a murderer. Read the recap and review of CBS's Criminal Minds.

BeeCap

The team is packed to go back home. They assemble in the lobby before leaving to the airport. Spencer arrives and tells the team that he wants to stay and spend a few more days with his mother. David tells him to do what he needs to do then come back.

Spencer goes to the Las Vegas police station and asks to see the files on the Riley Jenkins 1984 murder case. He is introduced to Detective Hyde who says that Riley was the first child homicide case that he worked. Spencer is given a file containing a photo of Riley in a little league uniform. Spencer recalls seeing Riley when he was a kid living in the same neighborhood. Spencer takes all of the files and brings them back to his hotel room. In the hallway, he sees that the door to his room is open. He walks in and finds Derek and David hanging out watching soap operas. They tell Spencer that they know that he has been investigating the murder of Riley. Spencer tells them that he had a dream of his father murdering Riley.

Back at Quantico, the employee taking over for JJ while she is on maternity leave, Agent Jordan Todd, meets the rest of the team. Jordan asks where the rest of the team is and is told that they are helping Spencer.

Spencer reads the report on Riley. In 1984, Riley walked home from T-ball practice. He was found by his mother behind a washing machine with his mouth taped and stabbed to death. Spencer finds that Riley lived only half a mile from where he used to live. David tells Spencer that the profile fits a man who is a pedophile. David asks if Spencer is sure that he wants to investigate further and he says yes.

Spencer visits his mom in the psychiatric treatment center. He asks if his dad liked to be around children. She says that if it was up to him, Spencer would have many brothers and sisters. He asks if his dad liked other kids. She says that he coached a little league team. Spencer says that Riley was a real kid that lived in their neighborhood and was on his little league team.

Spencer and Derek meet Lou, Riley's father at a construction site. Lou recognizes Spencer as being William Reid's son. Spencer asks if what he thought of his father. Lou says that he was a good man. Lou tells Spencer that William is working at a law firm in Vegas. Spencer is surprised to learn that he was living there the whole time.

Spencer, Derek and David go to William's work. Spencer becomes nervous to see his father for the first time since he was a kid and goes to the bathroom. William walks out and asks what the FBI want with him. Spencer arrives and greets his father.

William tells Spencer that he doesn't look like him. Spencer says that people sometimes pick up the facial mannerisms of people that are around them and since William wasn't there when he grew up, he didn't pick up anything from him. Spencer says that he always had dreams about Riley and when he arrived in Vegas he started seeing William as the killer. They ask if they can access his computer. William tells them to get a warrant.

After they leave, Spencer calls Garcia to hack into his dad's computer. He goes to his hotel room and finds an envelope slipped under his door. He opens it and finds a file of a sex offender, Gary Michaels, and a note saying, 'You're looking for the wrong guy.' Garcia calls Derek and tells him that she hacked into William's computer. She says that she found no evidence that leads them to believe that he is a sex offender. She says that he keeps an archive of all of Spencer's published works and news articles. Derek tells Spencer that it is good news. Spencer tells him that his dad googling doesn't make up for the lost time.

Spencer goes and plays video poker. A woman sitting next to him notices that he is winning and tries to start a conversation. She asks if he is in town for the convention. He says that there are 12 currently being held in Vegas. She says pick one as she lights a cigarette. He mumbles 6 minutes. She asks what he said. He says that his mother would smoke and he would tell her that every cigarette took away 6 minutes of her life to spend with him. She says that she tried to quit. He asks if she tried hypnosis. Derek and David approach and tell him that they have been looking for him all over the place. Spencer gets up and the woman says that he is leaving 2000 dollars behind. Spencer tells her to keep it. David says that he just gave a hooker money. Spencer says that it was worth it.

Spencer and David meet a hypnotherapist. She puts Spencer under to try to unlock his memories. Spencer remembers waking up one morning and seeing his mother crying in front of a window. He remembers her walking away with her head down. Spencer remembers going to the window and seeing his father burning bloody clothes. Spencer begins to shake under hypnosis and is taken out of his state. He then tells David what he saw.

Spencer visits his mother and tells her what he saw. He asks if William did something to Riley. She says no, begins to freak out and starts slapping her own head. A nurse hears her, walks in and injects her with a sedative. As she is calming down, she tells Spencer that he could have been the victim.

Spencer and Derek walk to the police station and see Riley's dad, Lou, walk out. They wonder what he is doing there. Spencer tells Hyde that he wants to bring his father in for questioning. Hyde tells Spencer to go back to his hotel room and have a couple of drinks by the pool. Spencer is about to walk out, but Derek convinces Hyde to bring in William.

Garcia calls Derek and tells him that the person from the file that Spencer received, Gary Michaels, has a history of lewd behavior and trespassing in a nursery school. She says that he has no record for any activity in years. Derek tells her to keep looking. JJ grabs her abdomen and Garcia notices her pain. Jordan tells Garcia that JJ has been wincing all day. JJ says that she is not due for 3 weeks. Garcia thinks that she is about to give birth and takes her to the hospital.

Spencer, Derek and David watch as William is brought to the interrogation room. He tries to figure out who slipped him Michaels' file. He remembers how resistant Detective Hyde was. He thinks back at how Hyde knew which hotel he was staying. He says that he never told Hyde which hotel he was staying at.

Spencer sits down with his father and asks how he got blood on the clothes that he was burning in 1984. William says that he wants a lawyer. Spencer tells him that he doesn't need a lawyer if he has nothing to hide. William changes the subject and tells Spencer that he is proud of him and his choice to help people. Spencer asks him to tell him the truth. William says that he didn't kill Riley, but he knows who did. Spencer says Gary Michaels. William says yes.

Jordan calls the team and tells them that they found that Gary Michaels is dead. She explains that Gary was murdered and his body was found in a construction site outside of Nevada. She tells them that he was beaten with a pipe or a bat.

The team speak to the station captain. He wonders why the FBI is spending so much time investigating a dead pervert. They find that a pair of broken glasses were found on the scene with a fingerprint. The fingerprint was never processed or identified. Derek tells Spencer that if they find that the print belongs to his dad, he will be put away for a long time. Later, Derek gets a call from the lab. They inform him that they have a match on the print. Derek hangs up and tells Spencer that they will have to get an arrest warrant, but not for his dad.

The team pull up to Lou's construction site. Detective Hyde pulls up and tells them that Lou is his friend and he wants to arrest him. Spencer tells Hyde that he knows that he slipped him Gary's file. Spencer accuses Hyde of not looking for Gary Michaels' killer. Hyde arrest Lou then loads him into the FBI's car to be taken away.

Lou is brought in for questioning. They ask how he knew that Gary was Riley's killer. He says that Gary approached another kid in the neighborhood. He says that he was told by a concerned parent. Spencer remembers being approached by Gary when he was a kid. Spencer asks Lou who told him. Detective Hyde enters the room and Spencer tells him not to interfere. Spencer's mom pushes into the room and says that she told Lou.

Diana, Spencer's mom, tells them that she saw Gary play chess with Spencer. She says that she knew that he was a child molester from the looks he gave Spencer. She told Lou, then two months later, Lou called her to meet him. She went for a ride in his truck where she pointed out Gary putting his trash out in front of his house. Lou told her that Gary has a history of doing bad things to kids. Lou told Diana to leave, but she just sat there as he got out of the truck, grabbed a bat from the back, and entered Gary's house. After a while, Diana entered the house and found Lou standing over Gary's dead body. She ran to Lou then slipped and fell on a puddle of blood. She went back home where William took her clothes and burned them in the morning. William tells Spencer that after that incident, everything changed. He says that he tried to work it out, but couldn't. Spencer tells his dad that he is sorry about his accusations. The team wraps up then takes a flight back home.

Spencer arrives and visits JJ at the hospital. He is introduced to Henry, her baby boy. JJ asks Spencer to hold Henry. JJ asks Spencer if he would like to be his godfather. She says that it is his and Garcia's responsibility to make sure that Henry gets into Yale if they pass away. Spencer holds Henry and tells him that he will get him into Cal Tech instead.

BeeThoughts

I feel bad for Spencer's dad, William, having his son accuse him of being a pedophile and murderer, especially since he has admired him from a distance. It was very nice that JJ made Spencer the godfather. I am afraid, however, that the writers might kill her and her husband off in order to put a child under his care. I think the arrival of the new agent, Jordan, makes this even more possible. Even though there was no real threat to anyone or crime except for the murder in 1984, I enjoyed this episodes' character development with Spencer.

- Kristofer M.