By: Mariah Thomas
We see a board of killers from the show dating back to Season One. They seem to be of fascination to James Crowley (Justin Kirk) given Voit (Zach Gilford) was lightly inspired by them. This is the basis for his lectures he gives at various colleges. In a flashback from two months prior to our current timeline, Crowley is giving one of these lectures. In attendance is Laura Boyd (Jessi Case) and Holly Voit (Allison Nordahl). Both girls separately wait in line to speak to him after the lecture. Laura looks for advice on her boyfriend Lance (Connor Storrie) who doesn’t seem to be taking their break up well and Holly questions him about his book. She especially has an interest in his chapter on serial killer genes. He instantly knows who she is already having an obsession with Voit.
Back during the present timeline, Holly walks and chats with a boy she likes. He seems to grow concerned they are being followed but Holy assures him not to worry about it. Though she can’t tell him, she knows it’s the U.S Marshalls assigned to monitor her. She calls the Marshall and requests he give her some space tonight as he’s scaring her friends. He obliges but unfortunately in the next instant, she is kidnapped by James.
Prentiss (Paget Brewster) and Rossi (Joe Mantegna) meet Director Madison (Clark Gregg) in Voit’s cell to discover Voit escaped. He tells them the news can only black out for 12 hours the escape for 12 hours and he’s issued a ‘shoot on sight’ order to law enforcement if he’s seen. Rossi and Prentiss rally for Voit being changed to reaffirm he’s not a threat needed to be shot. Madison grows agitated and places blame on the BAU for their predicament. Rossi is quick to remind him he made a deal with Voit in the first place and that’s why he got special treatment.
Voit quickly pieces together a plan and his imaginary Rossi talks him through what to expect. Though he changed license plates to avoid detection, the car will still have an alert. Voit knows the BAU isn’t calling the shots and there will be a few hours before anything is put out to track.
In Philadelphia, James has Laura in the same electric shock chair as Lance. Though she is scared he tells her that her purpose to him isn’t to die but to be a messenger. She can only serve her purpose doing exactly what he says and she promises to do just that.
Rebecca (Nicole Pacent) tells the team that Holly has been kidnapped. Garcia quickly realizes what James got out of Sheila (Yvette Nicole Brown). He was able to find a backdoor in with her information to track their current alias’s. The team wonders why he wouldn’t go for the whole family or just kill Holly instantly. Tara (Aisha Tyler) points out the kill needs to be in front of Voit to prove he’s better. He needs to let Voit see the God he thinks he is and the man he tried to be. He wants to surpass Voit and since it is unrealistic to do so via body count, he needs to destroy Voit emotionally. The team knows Laura Boyd will be bait to lure them away from the real action.
Once in her tech cave, Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness) gets an email from Laura Boyd. She immediately calls Emily and opens the link to a video chat. Like Lance, Laura is reading from the computer in a riddle-like way. She tells Garcia, Prentiss and Tara if they want to save her life, they must make sure no one stands in the way of Voit’s destination. Her death is preventable and would be on them. When Garcia tries to trace the location, she ends up shocking Laura. The fan watches this unfold from another location with an AI monitor. He has Holly bound in another location. She is angered and lets her rage guide their every interaction. The fan sits in front of her and reminds her of the time they spoke after his talk at her college. She tells him her dad is smarter and when he gets there, he’s going to kill him. Crowley tells her that’s what he’s counting on as he has a bigger plan to kill her first.
Rebecca, Madison and the team discuss Voit sightings. People have seen up and down the way to Florida. JJ (AJ Cook) states that Voit’s former victim, Deena, is the connection. That is how Justin came in to see Voit and she was abducted in Florida. She was part of a church, cult-like group and traveled to hand out pamphlets. The same font in Deena’s pamphlets was used in Crowley’s letters to Brian (Paul F. Tompkins) and Voit. They were able to uncover more about the origins of the cult and find properties that have since been abandoned in the original leader’s name.
Garcia continues to talk with Laura and she continues reading things robotically. Garcia realizes the AI is able to feed her lines without Crowley’s direct typing. Tyler (RJ Hatanaka) has Garcia freeze frame the background and pull it up on a bigger screen. He recognizes a type of material in the back. He himself put that up in industrial buildings in Afghanistan. A failed factory rebuild may be the key and Garcia finds one that is an old typewriting factory. Tara reminds the team they need to play it safe to protect Laura. They need to find a way to distract Crowley and Garcia has an idea.
Voit makes a pit stop and prepares for his showdown with the fan. He calls Rossi and checks in on Sydney (Kiele Sanchez) and his other daughter. Once confirming they are okay, he tells Rossi he needs to handle it and save his daughter. Voit is well aware Rossi would be instantly headed to Garcia to trace the call so before she even speaks says hello to her and apologizes. He knows she went to bat for him for his sentence and his actions now will reflect poorly on her. Rossi reminds him he’s not the guy he used to be and to let them help but Voit knows James only wants Voit’s submission. They find his location and find a nearby property owned by the Prescott family. Rossi, JJ and Emily are wheels up but can’t make a move until Laura is free.
Tara, Luke (Adam Rodriguez), Tyler and swat arrive outside. Garica sees them on the camera and tells them to pose as she plans to loop the feed to give them time to rescue Laura. James types to Laura to remind Garcia if the agents enter she will die. Garcia tells her they know and will not move. After this, she activates a video loop and the team moves in. Garcia talks to Laura and tells her they will protect her. Laura breaks protocol and talks to Garcia as herself. She is fearful that regardless of what she’s saying, he will still kill her. Once the BAU is in the room, they cut Crowley’s audio and tell her to keep her eyes on camera since he can still see. Luke instantly spots a pressure plate under Laura that will be blown if wifi is cut. Luke offers to stay back and hold the pressure plate while they move Laura. They don’t have time to find another way and quickly move on with this plan. Garcia jams the signal and the team moves into action. Crowley can’t see what’s happening and feels his first sense of defeat. Tara and Tyler run with Laura once they are out, Luke runs and takes cover. Luke is unconscious in the aftermath of the blast. In his haze, he sees a dog that fans will quickly recognize to be Roxy. He manages to stand up and follow the dog. He makes it safely out of the building and asks Tara where the rescue dog is. Tara is confused by this and thinks he just hit his head a little hard. He realizes it was a vision of Roxy that saved him.
Meanwhile, Crowley tries to talk himself down from a breakdown. Though this puts the BAU slightly ahead of him, he still has his showdown with Voit to prepare for. He attempts to get into Holly’s head by reminding her of the man her father really is. “If your father loved you, why did he risk your life by living a double life?”
The 12 hour news blackout has ended and Voit’s escape is making quick headlines. Madison and Rebecca talk with Rossi, JJ and Emily while they are on the jet headed to Florida. Madison checks in on Laura and Prentiss says she is physically doing well but the emotional rollercoaster she went on will take time to process. JJ goes to tell him more but she is promptly cut off by Prentiss as she doesn’t want to let Madison fully in on their plan. She knows he wants Voit dead.
Voit arrives at the mansion and enters with his gun. He’s greeted by James staring out at the ocean. James is delighted he made it before the BAU. He tries to provoke the serial killer out of him to guess where Holly is at. Instead of telling her where, he makes him think of what he would do in his shoes. He then tells him to get on his knees . Voit submits to save Holly and is walked to the basement where he sees her bound. He runs to her and goes to remove shockers but James sets them off before he’s able to get them all off. Both men begin to fight.
Prentiss tells the Florida police department no shots fired at Voit until they secure the hostage. Back inside, James and Voit keep fighting. After seeming to knock James out, Voit gets Holly free and tells her to go wait in the car. She heads out and as Voit goes to handcuff James, he is attacked. Holly overhears this and rushes to save her dad. She stabs James who seems delighted by this. She continues to stab him in rage and Voit witnesses this. He stops her and has her sit in the corner while he takes the blame when he hears the FBI enter. JJ moves in to check on Holly and Rossi arrests Voit. He complied instantly. Voit and Holly have a final hug outside before he is taken away. He apologizes to her and says everything is his fault. He reminds her that he loves her. Prentiss and JJ hold Holly back from following her dad further.
Madison questions Rossi on the physical evidence that Holly killed the fan, not Voit. He continues to explain away the evidence, adamant she didn’t do it. Madison covers every square inch of evidence before eventually accepting this as fact to close the case.
Emily and JJ comfort Holly while she waits for her mother. She questions if they need to tell her mom what happened. Prentiss reminds heroOnly 3 only know the truth, one of which is dead and the other is her father. She can tell her mom anything. JJ tells her that Voit knows only the BAU would understand and will be there for her. They know what she did but also empathize with Voit’s sacrifice for her. As that scene ends, Holly has a haunted smile on her face. This may leave the door open to see her story expanded someday.
Rebecca tells the team the director is praising the BAU for apprehending Voit without force. He also publicly reaffirmed their profile on Voit being a minimal threat. However, that doesn’t mean much since he still will be transferred to a non disclosed high security prison. With Voit intending to plead guilty to James’ murder, the BAU officially seems to be done with him. The team all have different reactions that will surely mirror the audience reaction to the end of Voit’s story. Luke and Tyler are excited he’ll be out of their lives and believe he should rot for what he’s done. JJ holds some empathy and wishes he could still be there for Holly while Tara says there is more to learn from him. Prentiss says regardless of the mixed feelings, he’s gone and jokes ‘ wheels down’ and encourages everyone to go home. She checks in with Rossi in his office since he was silent downstairs. He tells her it’s not over for him yet. Before he can be done with Voit, he still needs to write his book.
Flashing forward six weeks later, Luke, Tyler, JJ and Garcia move Henry into his dorm. They joke they had to drive down so much stuff and JJ grows emotional when it’s time to go. She tells him his dad would be so proud. We then see a flashback montage of Henry growing up on the show with JJ. She gives him a final hug and he heads off to his freshman orientation while they wave from the car.
Rossi finishes writing his book in Italy with a glass of wine. He sees his hallucination of Voit for a final time before closing the book and watching him disappear.
Tara and Prentiss cheers over margaritas and summarize the Voit era. Tara says they are approaching the 4 year anniversary when this case would’ve started. Prentiss acknowledges those four years left a mark but they’re all ready to move on. They cheers a final time and Madison comes in with a new case for the BAU.