Sign in or 
Share this
The Slave of Duty Recap
The Slave of Duty Recap
Airdate: December 9, 2009
Author: #1hotchfan
Airdate: December 9, 2009
Author: #1hotchfan
Hotch and Jack dress for Haley’s funeral. Hotch fixes Jack’s tie as Jack smiles at his father.At Haley’s funeral, Morgan, Rossi, Kevin Lynch and 3 other FBI Agents are the pallbearers. Mourners gather around the grave site as Hotch speaks, with Jack by his side:
W.S. Gilbert wrote: “It’s that makes the world go around. And if that’s true, then the world spun a little faster with Haley in it. Haley was my best friend since we were in high school. We certainly had our struggles but if there’s one thing we agreed on unconditionally it was our love and commitment to our son Jack. Haley’s love for Jack was joyous and fierce. That fierceness is why she isn’t here today. A mother’s love is an unrivaled force of nature and we can all learn much from the way Haley lived her life. Haley’s death causes each of us to stop and take stock of our lives to measure who we are, and what we’ve become. I don’t have all those answers for myself but I know who Haley was. She was the woman who died protecting the child we brought into this world together and I will make sure Jack grows up knowing who his mother was and how she loved and protected him, and how much I loved her. If Haley were with us today, she would ask us not to mourn her death but to celebrate her life. She would tell us to love our families unconditionally and to hold them close because in the end they are all that matter.
I met Haley at the tryouts of our high schools production of The Pirates of Penzance. I found our copy of the play and I was looking through it the other night and I came across a passage that seemed appropriate for this moment. “Oh dry the glistening tear that dews that marshal cheek.
Thy loving children here in them thy comfort seek.
With sympathetic care, their arms around thee creep.
For oh they cannot bear to see their father weep.”
Mourners walk by and drop white roses on Haley’s casket. When everyone is gone, Hotch picks up Jack and they each rop a single white rose on the casket. Hotch tells Jack to blow mommy a kiss, so Jack does.
At the gathering after the funeral, Hotch talks to friends and relatives. When he has a moment, Rossi tells him he looks like he could use some air. Hotch turns to Jessica, Haley’s sister, and asks if she can make sure Jack gets something to eat. Hotch follows Rossi outside.
The rest of the team are gathered around a table talking. Prentiss wonders what they can do. Morgan says there is nothing they can do, they just have to wait it out. Reid asks if they think Hotch will ever come back. “Would you?” JJ says. Morgan believes Hotch will come back when he’s ready, he just doesn’t know what Hotch will be like when he does. JJ feels they need to be there for him when he’s ready.Outside, Hotch tells Rossi he broke his promise to Haley. “I told Haley that I’d catch Foyet and spend the rest of my life making it up to her,” Hotch says. “You still can, you saved Jack,” Rossi tells him as he sips from his glass. Hotch looks in and sees Jessica giving Jack a sandwich. “You know, I may have the tools to do this job but I don’t know if I have the tools to help my son,” Hotch replies. “You have to ask yourself, what kind of father you want to be and when you figure that out, you’ll know what to do,” Rossi says. Hotch meant what he said at the funeral, things have changed and he has to do what is best for Jack. Rossi assures him he will.
Back inside, Morgan and JJ’s phones go off. The team is called out for another case but they don’t want to go. Reid wants to talk to Strauss, have her call in another team, but JJ tells him no other team is available. Nashville has called them in, 2 bodies were found, both killed on consecutive Friday nights. They are up against the clock and hoping the BAU can find something the Nashville P.D. didn’t. They get up to leave as Morgan approaches Hotch and Rossi. He apologizes and tells them they just got called in. Hotch tells Morgan to call him if he needs anything and the 2 men shake hands. Rossi asks Hotch if he’ll be okay and Hotch says he’ll see him when he gets back. Inside, the rest of the team stops to stare at Hotch before they leave.Hotch (voiceover as he’s packing his old house): “Where we love is home. Home that our feet may leave but not our hearts.” ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes
On the jet, the team reviews the new case. Two women dead in two weeks, both killed in their own homes, no signed of forced entry and the floors were covering in rose petals. Neither women was sexually assaulted. Both women left work on a Friday and didn’t show up for work on Monday. Morgan notes that it’s Thursday and wonders why they were just called in. JJ says the second body had just been found the day before. Reid thinks there may be a socio-economic pattern emerging, both lived in affluent neighborhoods. Both women were brunettes, similar features in high-powered professions. Rossi and Morgan have Garcia run checks on anyone working in the two victim’s homes (i.e., gardeners, maids, florist shops, etc.) and getting a paper trail in where the women were and what they did up to the day they died. “Like a genie in a bottle, poof,” Garcia sees as she connects. Morgan hands out assignments to everyone and tells them he understands all their thoughts are with Hotch but they need to focus on the case.
JJ goes to the police station and meets Detective Kaminsky. He shows them where they can set up. JJ wants to make a statement with the press, alerting the women that there is a serial killer on the loose. They want the women to take preventative measures to avoid becoming the next target. Kaminsky tells JJ that the Mayor wants them to be as specific as possible. JJ tells him they need to alert every women. If they isolate victimology to early, it will throw the unsub out of his comfort zone, making him harder to track.
Morgan and Prentiss are at the Johnson crime scene. The house has a security system but the victim only used it when she went out of town. Her dog was killed by the unsub and hidden in a storage container in the garage. She had all the precautions to prevent a home invasion but didn’t use them properly. The unsub left his prints all over at both crime scenes, which typically would indicate he’s disorganized. The crime scene, however, screams organization the way the stage was set with the flowers, dog, indicates he’s very organized even though he was a stranger to the women. The unsub was lying in wait for the women and knew his prints wouldn’t show up in the system. The unsub has no priors and is most likely educated. Morgan and Prentiss walk around the house, checking out the crime scene and profiling the unsub. The unsub knew when the victim would leave her house and when she would return. “He’s stalking her,” Prentiss says. As Prentiss talks, a tall, pretty brunette comes rushing out of her house. A man is watching her from the road. She gets into her car, starts it and takes off. The man watches her leave. Prentiss says there are no prints on the doors, windows or the garage, so she wants to know how the unsub got in.
Rossi and Reid are at the morgue and meet with the Medical Examiner. There are defensive wounds on both women, more-so on the latest victim, Melissa Johnson. There were no ligature marks on either women, so they weren’t tied up. Rossi wonders how the unsub kept them from running out. The M.E. tells them that stab wounds weren’t the only injuries. Melissa had a concussion and Bethany Hemminger had a broken rib, an initial assault to prove his dominance. The M.E. shows them the report. The contents of both women’s stomach were the same: chicken, pasta, broccoli, salad and red wine. “He’s playing out a fantasy, one he has to control. He sets the scene with flower petals and wine and then he cooks for them,” Rossi says. “Their last supper,” Reid says.
Prentiss and Morgan continue going over the house. The unsub uses the same routine, the same meal. Prentiss points out it’s not routine, it’s proper etiquette. The unsub pulled the victim’s chair out for her, poured the wine, and cleaned up after. In the bathroom, he poured her a bath but that’s where the etiquette ended and where Melissa was killed. She realized she was more vulnerable in the bathroom and fought to get away, but was killed instead. “Home is where your supposed to feel safe. Nobody deserves to have that taken away,” Prentiss says.
Jack is lying down, watching videos of him and Haley playing soccer. Hotch comes in and tells Jack it’s time for his pj’s. Jack asks to watch one more time because he’s waiting for mommy. They watch the video as Jack and Haley blow candles out on a cake. They both blow kisses to Hotch over the video and say bye. Hotch tells Jack he misses her too. Jack asks if he can sleep with Hotch again. Hotch says sure, then picks up Jack and brings him upstairs, leaving the video paused on the television screen.
Rossi checks in with JJ. Anyone who had a key to the victim’s homes had alibi’s. There aren’t any crossovers that they can find. From the video feed, Garcia created a paper trail of where the 2 women were leading up to their deaths. While she found no crossover, the women did run in the same circles. The women enjoyed a high class lifestyle and the unsub has the skills to go with it. Reid has Garcia look at dating and social networking sites. Garcia logs off to run the check. The team is still stumped as to how the unsub is getting into the homes. Morgan dismisses the team to their hotels to get some rest. Prentiss thinks they are giving up but Morgan points out they haven’t slept since the funeral. He wants them fresh and ready to start over in the morning.
A young brunette is standing in her home, by her fireplace, looking scared. The unsub is sitting on her couch, sipping wine and looking through a magazine. She asks him to turn the music off but he points out it’s her favorite song. “How do you know that?” she asks. “It’s the most played song on your IPod,” he tells her. Scared, she tries to run but he catches her. He tells her to stop it, she’s ruining everything. She begs him to stop, she’ll do whatever he wants. With a serious look, he tells her he put a lot of effort into making it a special night, is it to much to ask for a little appreciation. She apologizes and again, says she’ll do whatever he wants. He finally smiles and tells her it’s okay, it’s just a misunderstanding and lets go of her face. He kisses her hand and tells her it’s time for her bath.
Hotch is unpacking Jack’s toys at his apartment. He tells Jack to figure out where he wants to put all his toys when there’s a knock on the door. Hotch checks the peephole, then lets Chief Strauss in. He thanks her for coming to him. She makes small talk with him about how he is doing. After a few moments, she hands him a piece of paper. It’s retirement, offering him full pension and benefits. “Are you saying you want me to leave the BAU?”, he asks. She tells him she’s offering him a way out. Morgan’s promotion was temporary and they are confident in his abilities and she could make it more permanent. If Hotch accepts the retirement, the team would still remain intact, with Morgan as the leader, and Hotch can spend more time with his son. Hotch asks when she would like the decision. “I thought I would be leaving with one. What’s your hesitation?” she asks. Hotch wants to weigh all of his options. She agrees to give him time.
The team is giving their profile to the Nashville P.D. They feel unsub is already with his next victim. The unsub drives the right car, wears the right clothes and probably comes from a place of status. He’s endearing, sociable and one would never suspect he is capable of murder. It’s the fantasy that fuels his drive, he’s recreating a romantic evening, repeating it with each of his victims. The unsub has recently had a relationship taken away from him. He believes he is in a relationship with the women, no matter how fleeting the initial interaction is, it’s everything to him, an invitation. They hand out a list of places to canvas and if anything stands out, they want the police to give it to the BAU to follow up on.
At the third victim’s home, she’s in the bathtub reading the headline about the serial killer. He is in the shower as she talks to him. She discusses the weather and asks what he wants to do today. Now out of the bath and shower, she asks if he wants to go and see a movie. He wants to stay inside and watch a DVD. She tells him, Joe, she wants to go on a real date. She was hoping after they’d made love the night before, how much he means to her. She kisses him and asks if he trusts her. They get dressed and begin to head out. As they do, they hear someone letting themselves in with a key, so Joe and Erica move away from the door and back into the house. A man comes in calling for Erica, saying “honey it’s me.” He notices the flower petals on the floor and asks if she has a surprise for him. When he gets no response, he pulls out his cell phone and tries calling her. He hears her cell phone ringing, then notices her keys and phone on the table. He walks over and then tosses his phone down with her’s. He notices more flower petals and realizes something is wrong. He calls for Erica again and from a closed door, she screams for Grant to help her. He turns and Joe steps out of a powder room, holding Erica. He asks Grant, “Why do you have a key?” Once Grant realizes what’s wrong, he tells Erica to run and goes after Joe. Erica runs to the door but Grant comes around the corner and tells her to go up the stairs. As he leans into the banister, Erica runs upstairs. Joe grabs Grant from behind and repeatedly stabs him, asking why he has a key. Erica screams for Grant from the top of the stairs and watches, horrified as Joe kills her boyfriend. Joe lets Grant go and watches him fall to the ground. Covered in blood, he turns around and asks Erica why Grant had a key.
The team shows up at the next crime scene. The home belongs to Erica Silverman. They need dental records to make a positive ID as both victims are badly beaten. The UPS man showed up and needed Erica to sign for a package. The door was wide open so he discovered the bodies. Grant’s body lay in the hallway, directly in front of the door. Erica has multiple stab wounds to the face and neck and there is evidence she had sex with him before she died. There was no sign of force so the sex was consensual. Prentiss says she gave him what he wanted to keep herself alive, but he killed her anyway. She and Rossi wonder what more the unsub wanted from her. Downstairs, Morgan is going through the kitchen. He notices the dinner dishes were washed but the breakfast dishes weren’t. They realize the boyfriend must have interrupted it. Reid says that Erica appeared to have been with the unsub all night. JJ gets a call from Garcia. Aside from a few online purchases, Erica hadn’t used her credit card all week so Garcia can’t find a paper trail on her.
Reid checks the garage and car. JJ comes in and updates him on what Garcia did her. Reid feels there is another way to figure out where Erica had been and opens the car. He asks about the other victim’s cars, which have been impounded. Reid wants to see all of them, and Grant’s as he may have driven Erica somewhere the unsub could have been.
Back in the office, the team reviews what they have found. Prentiss wonders how the unsub missed Grant. JJ tells her that Grant was out of town for the week visiting family in Indianapolis. The kills indicated he knew both victims. Rossi says the more you spend time with the victim, the more desperate the attack. Erica was stabbed v17 times in the face and grant was stabbed 34 times in the face and genitals. Morgan asks Kaminsky if his men have had luck with their canvassing. Kaminsky says they haven’t and he’s thinking of pulling his men off for the night. Morgan feels that’s a mistake. Kaminsky feels if the unsub sticks to his time table, they have another week before the next attack. Rossi points out the unsub is desperate, he has never gotten this far before and needs to finish his fantasy. He tells everyone the unsub will chose his next victim that night. Morgan wants JJ on the news, narrowing the victimology and letting people know the killer is out there now. The team doesn’t know where he is finding his victim’s. Reid feels that Erica’s location narrows down the area and that the unsub lives within the radius of the 3 victim’s.
Hotch walks into the kitchen where Jessica is making Jack pancakes for supper. Hotch asks Jack about the action figures he’s playing with. Jack says one is the bad guy and one is daddy. Jessica asks who wins. “Daddy and nobody beats daddy,” Jack says. Hotch sends Jack off to wash his hands before dinner. Hotch thanks Jessica for her help and support. She reminds him they are family and she’ll be there as much as he wants. He tells her the Bureau offered him retirement. He feels Jack needs him now more than ever. When he and Haley broke up, he knew at least that Jack had his mother and right now he needs his dad. Jessica tells him he and Haley didn’t separate because they stopped loving one another, his job just got in the way. She tells him he doesn’t need to retire. She offers to stay with Jack while he has to be away. It would mean a lot to her if he let her help out, for Haley.
Garcia is running a search and finds something from the victim’s GPS systems. Erica always drove just to work and home, never deviated from her routine. Garcia says she even had her groceries delivered. On Tuesday before her murder, she went to a park. The other 2 victims didn’t go but JJ and Reid head over to the park to get some answers.
Rossi goes in to talk to Morgan. “Rossi, it’s his team, I’m not going to stand in the way of that,” Morgan says. Rossi tells Morgan that Strauss offered Hotch retirement. Hotch lost his wife because of his job, he’s not going to lose his son because of it to. Rossi wants to know if Morgan will be willing and ready to step down if Hotch comes back or step up if he doesn’t. “I’m gonna do whatever Hotch needs me to do. He’s lost enough,” Morgan replies. Rossi nods his head and then starts to head out. Morgan asks him to come back to show him something. He wonders if the unsub is someone who had money but no longer does. If the loss the unsub felt was not only a loved one, but monetary as well. Rossi calls Garcia and they have her do a search on employees for all the venues the 3 women visited. They are looking for someone who spent beyond their means.
JJ and Reid visit the park and talk with the Manager. They ask about events on Tuesday. They had a corporate fundraiser between 4 and 7, the time frame in which Erica Silverman was there. JJ realizes it’s a big hike for the women to come up to the park in high heels. The Manager tells them they have a lot on the other side where the women park, it’s easier for them to get to the park without the hike. JJ and Reid realize that a Parking Valet would have access to the women’s keys and GPS and would go unnoticed.A pretty, brunette pulls up to a club and flirts with the valet. She thanks him and calls him Joe. He pulls her car up into the parking spot, then gets her address from the GPS and the code for her garage door opener.
Garcia pulls up the records on who handled parking for events the 3 women went to. It was the same company, Culpepper Valet Company. Morgan wants Rossi and Prentiss to pick up the owner of the company. He asks Garcia to run a check on all the employees. She tells him she sent it to his inbox 60 seconds ago. Culpepper is contracted with 2 companies for Valet that day. Reid and Morgan hope the unsub doesn’t have his next victim yet.
Rossi and Prentiss meet with the owner of Culpepper Valet. They give him the profile for their unsub. The owner tells them the man’s name is Joe Beltser. He was head over heels in love and engaged but his fiancée was sleeping with the best man.
The team, along with Detective Kaminsky, head to Joe’s apartment. The SWAT team is meeting them there. Garcia is on the line and gives them a background on Belser. His parents died 6 years prior in a booting accident. Belser lost his inheritance in the stock market and since then, he’s been racking up debt faster than he can pay it off. His ex. Fiancée’s name was Rose Smith until the wedding was called off. His life line was Rose, she kept him in the world to which he was used to and that ended when the wedding was called off. They arrive at Belser’s home but he’s not there. They find the evidence of the flower petals and Universal garage door openers. They realize that’s how he got into the victim’s homes undetected. JJ and Reid are at the lounge where Belser is supposed to be. They get a list of VIP attendees and only 6 are women. Reid calls Garcia and has her run the 6 names. She cross references the names and narrows it down to 3. Of the 3 women, only 1 is a brunette, Ann Herron. Garcia gives them the address.
At Ann’s home, she is running from Joe. He is angry and they are fighting. She screams as he attacks her. He tosses her to the ground and he pulls out a knife. A light shines on Joe’s face and he hears someone yell “FBI, drop the knife.” It’s Morgan. He and Prentiss disarm Joe while Rossi tends to Ann. Prentiss gets in Joe’s face and taunts him. She tells him when he’s in prison and he comes for Joe in the night, do her a favor, play along. Morgan shakes hands with Kaminsky and meets up with Prentiss. He asks her how Anna is. She tells him Ann is strong, she’ll make it but you don’t come through something like this without scars. “Scars remind us where we’ve been, they don’t have to dictate where we’re going,” Rossi says.
Hotch is at the cemetery, sitting by Haley’s grave. Rossi comes up behind him. He tells Hotch he had a feeling he’d find him there. He wants to know if Hotch has told her that he’s coming back to the team, that fighting the bad guys is who he is. “I don’t have to tell her. She already knows,” Hotch replies. “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
#1hotchfan |
Latest page update: made by #1hotchfan
, Dec 14 2009, 9:20 PM EST
(about this update
About This Update
Edited by #1hotchfan
1 image added view changes - complete history) |
|
Keyword tags:
Criminal Minds
episode recap
Season 5
The Slave of Duty
More Info: links to this page
|
There are no threads for this page.
Be the first to start a new thread.
