Erin Strauss

Erin Strauss is the BAU Section Chief, the direct superior to Aaron Hotchner. Her job lies in administration, and she has no actual field experience.

Team Relationship
She seemed to be under the impression that Hotchner's team was disorganized and posed a threat to the BAU, prompting her to enlist Emily Prentiss to spy on the them (a manoeuvre that backfired when Prentiss resigned her position instead) and to attempt Hotch's removal from the BAU with a pending investigation on his methods. She backed off her attention from the team after experiencing first hand what the team lives with every case in the field (In Name and Blood), but not before making sure that they understood that none of them will ever be able to move up in any higher positions within the FBI (though this opinion appear to have been proven wrong in later episodes).

In the episode "100", she conducted the inquiry into the events surrounding the actual beating to death of George Foyet. She questioned each team member in turn to get to the bottom of the situation, and ensure that "a bloodbath like this never happens again." She finally questioned Hotch, who told her that he believed if Foyet were allowed to get up off of the floor, he would have killed Jack too. She effectively cleared him saying, "That's good enough for me". She also fell away from her cold and spiteful personality that was the norm for most previous episodes and sincerely told Hotch how sorry she was and that "if there is anything you [Hotch] or your son needs..." she would help.

Her opinion of the BAU appears to have changed due to her experiences in the field during the episode In Name and Blood and seeing the aftermath of the events in 100. She appeared to be very disturbed while reading the autopsey report on Haley and determined Hotch was justified in killing Foyet.

Appearances

 * Season Two
 * "No Way Out II: The Evilution of Frank"
 * Season Three
 * "Doubt"
 * "In Name and Blood"
 * "Scared to Death"
 * "About Face"
 * Season Five
 * "Cradle to Grave"
 * "The Eyes Have It"
 * "100"
 * "The Slave of Duty"
 * "The Fight"
 * Season Six
 * "J.J."