By: Mariah Thomas
The first seven minutes show viewers how Tessa (Jordana Spiro) and Cyrus (Silas Weir Mitchell) crossed paths in a flashback from 2002. A college aged Tessa was having a rough day when she made her way into a sleazy bar. When she sees the bartender pouring Cyrus a drink she requests the same thing and Cyrus offers to pay. She quickly shoots down his advances and he backtracks and says she is his son’s age. She grows to trust him in this moment and opens up about her bad day and he claims to be having one too. On this day, he claims his wife died and his son left him. Tessa reveals her college professor and mentor tried to take advantage of her while working on a research assignment. She was in college pursuing scientific research and technological advances. Cyrus made his exit from the bar before her and by the time Tessa left, the parking lot was eerily quiet. When she was making her way back to her car, Cyrus snuck up behind her to drug her and stuff her in his trunk.
Present day, a kidnapped Voit (Zach Gilford) awakens in a dark warehouse. He finally comes face to face with Tessa for the first time. She says “I don’t mean anything to you, do I?” to which he quickly says she doesn’t. She simply replies “you mean everything to me”. At the same time the BAU are working the scene after the mass shooting at the hospital. JJ (AJ Cook) points out that Voit and Dr Ochoa (Aimee Garcia) are both missing. As Prentiss (Paget Brewster) processes this, she gets a call from Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness) updating them that the shooters were able to get in using Dr. Ochoa’s access codes. Prentiss, JJ and Rossi (Joe Mantegna) discuss the possibility of Dr. Ochoa working with the disciple. They all agree if she was, it only made sense to do so under distress or threat of loved ones in harm’s way.
At the BAU, Evan (Geoff Stults) is upset having to deal with the fallout of the kidnapping. It is his job to give various officials and the public information, however, due to Voit’s identity of being the Sicarius killer being under wraps, it makes things more difficult. Proving she is better for this job that was taken from her, Rebecca (Nicole Pacent) walks Evan through the steps she would be taking. He quickly realizes her route would work and she offers to help.
Up until this point, the audience has been in suspense wondering if Dr. Ochoa was involved in this case more directly. The first glimpse of her in this episode is showing her restrained as Tessa tauntfully walks around her. Dr. Ochoa is visibly scared and confused at what is happening. Tessa reveals her intention in kidnapping her too is because she is the only one who can bring Sicarius back to her. Tessa checks back on Voit who is concerned about Dr. Ochoa’s whereabouts. She picks up that Voit may have a small crush and pulls on his emotions about it. His main concern seems to be keeping her safe. Tessa finally reveals her full identity to Voit and for the first time he realizes her direct connection to Cyrus. In another flashback, we see much time pass with Tessa being held captive in Cyrus’s basement. The passage of time is shown by her conditions and set up changing gradually. What starts as an empty cot, turns into a small bed with blankets and a pillow. Eventually she earns the ability to be chained to the floor and walk around upstairs. It is heavily implied that sexual abuse took place during this time too. Cyrus conditioned Tessa and broke her down completely. Voit finally understands her intrigue with him.
In Garcia’s lair, JJ comes in for updates on what Garcia has found. Garcia tells her that Dr. Ochoa had been receiving emails from a colleague’s email that was cloned. This “doctor” was discreetly getting updates about Voit claiming to have a similar patient and asking for advice. Additionally, her email seems to have been hacked this way allowing Tessa to gain access to her codes to let herself in to kidnap Voit.
Tyler (RJ Hatanaka) and Luke (Adam Rodriguez) approach Prentiss with updates about Dr. Ochoa’s family. They were quickly able to locate her immediate family in the area and place them in protective custody. JJ updates them all with the information she discovered with Garcia. They realize that she wasn’t helping nor was she taken with a threat. This makes them realize her presence is directly linked to Voit. They fear watching her be killed may set Voit into a regression and bring Sicarius back out of him. They all grew concerned for her safety.
Tessa finally brings Voit to Dr. Ochoa. She is strapped to a chair with a metal contraption keeping her mouth open. Tessa intends for someone to drop the sicarius spider “balloons” into her stomach and kill her like a previous victim this season. This was the case that first brought remnants of Sicarius to the surface in Voit. Before she can be harmed, Voit attacks and kills the one ordered to drop the spiders in her mouth. The audience quickly realizes this was Tessa’s plan all along. She knew Voit would never let harm fall on Dr. Ochoa.
The BAU discusses possibilities of the connection between Cyrus and Tessa. They discover that police had been suspicious of Cyrus in 2004 and went to speak with him. Tessa opened the door and claimed to be his daughter stating he was out of the country. The scene continues and we see Cyrus was watching this interaction and this is the moment she earned more of his trust. As the BAU pieces together more, there are flashbacks confirming their theories. The night Voit killed Cyrus, Tessa was there. This was unknown to Voit. She listened to their entire exchange and in this moment latched onto Voit. She was the one to set the fire, not Voit as everyone had assumed.
Back in the warehouse, Voit silently stares at the body of the man he killed to protect Dr. Ochoa. His silence begins to scare her and she reassures him he did what he needed to. She reminds him that his actions saved her and this doesn’t negatively impact his healing journey. She asks him how he’s feeling just as Tessa reenters the room. She corrects Dr. Ochoa and says she asked the question the wrong way and proceeds to ask it in a more animated way. Voit finally turns around and says he feels like a God. It seems the Sicarius killer in him has been reawaken.
Evan, Rebecca and Garcia bring new information to Emily in her office. They were able to find a trail of missing middle aged men who seemingly may have been Tessa’s victims. They compare her to Aileen Wurnos. This showcases the trauma that comes along with Tessa being a killer. They understand cruel circumstances made her this way.
Voit is able to convince Tessa to trust him. He convinces her it is best for the network to stay underground despite her wanting them to reign above it. He brings logic to the conversation. In order to fully make her believe he’s changed, Voit demands he be given a gun. Tessa hesitantly gives him one and he goes to Dr. Ochoa. Tessa watches on the monitors as Voit appears to shoot and kill Dr. Ochoa. He gives her no time for questions and says they can frame her and be free themselves. He convinces her to make the network hackable for Garcia to trace and promises they would be gone before the BAU got there.
JJ and Rossi continue to talk over the case in his office. Rossi points out that very specific people have shown Voit grace and he seems to appreciate it. Though JJ is worried about Dr. Ochoa, Rossi says if they all believe he really has changed, Voit would not let anything happen to her. In the roundtable room, Tyler and Luke find more information to share. They discover the story of Tessa’s disappearance. Her scummy advisor finally came forward to report her missing after she left and stole his car after he came onto her. They piece together she is most likely in a similar warehouse to where her trauma truly began. Garcia is able to hack into the network unknowingly with the help of Voit. She is able to ping the exact location of the warehouse, and location of every single serial killer still connected to the network.
The BAU rushes over to the warehouse just as Garcia is able to turn off the charges preventing them from entering. As the BAU and other officers storm the warehouse, Tessa and Voit run. JJ and Tyler are caught in a shootout as they chase down Tessa and Voit. In another area of the warehouse Rossi finds an unharmed Dr. Ochoa. She quickly tells them that Voit saved her and is on their side. Flashing back to Voit and Tessa, he holds a gun on her and tells her she should have never trusted him. JJ and Tyler catch up to the pair as Tessa runs off.
Voit now turns his gun on JJ and tearfully pleads with her to shoot him. Trusting he would not harm her, she walks straight toward the loaded gun and takes it from his hands gently. Tyler watches in complete shock. In the previous seasons, Voit has had a hand in JJ’s trauma directly. She is able to understand he is a changed person and needed grace in that moment. Outside, Tessa runs out to see she is cornered. Emily attempts to reason with her saying they understand her story. Emily tells her she should have been building rockets to the moon but was betrayed by a man she trusted. That led her to an even crueler fate. As Tessa lashes out and goes to raise her gun at Emily, Luke is able to pin her down.
Voit sits distraughtly in the interrogation room and Dr. Ochoa walks in. The pair share a final conversation where she is able to express her gratitude for him saving her life. He claims he had no choice but she reminds him that he did and he actively chooses good. Though he is bad, there is still good in him. As she leaves, Rossi enters the room. Voit has grown tired and knows this is the end of the road for him. He admits killing again felt good but he struggles mentally knowing how wrong it is. He claims all he wants is justice for the families of everyone he has harmed and realizes the only way to do that is confess. Prior, they were never able to pin the Sicarius murders on him. Once and for all, he breaks down and confesses. JJ and Emily watch the moment happen and JJ expresses that she somehow feels bad for him.
The duo head out and join the rest of the team in the bullpen. Luke and Tara tease Tyler. He is nervous now that this case is over, he will be transferred. However, Emily quickly comes in and confirms he is permanently stationed with them. Evan announces he is stepping away from his job as he knows he is not the right fit but points to Rebecca returning. Everyone jokes and decides to go out for drinks and snacks to celebrate wrapping up this case.