Sean Hotchner

"Don't profile me, Aaron."

Sean Hotchner is the younger brother of SSA Aaron Hotchner, who first appeared in The Tribe.

Background
Little is specified about Sean's past, other than he was born sometime during 1981 and had a dream of becoming a lawyer, much like his older brother. He planned to study law in Georgetown University, but sometime prior to The Tribe, he changed his mind for unknown reasons and decided to become a frycook at a restaurant in New York.

The Tribe
In the beginning of the episode, Sean told Hotch his change of plans at the BAU headquarters, but was met with disapproval. The two have a brief argument and Sean leaves. At the end of the episode, Hotch meets up with Sean at the restaurant he was now working at, and he tells him that he realized that Sean should handle life his own way. The two make amends and Hotch decides to purchase some food from Sean.

Brothers Hotchner
Prior to "Brothers Hotchner", Sean had lost his job at the restaurant and now works as a bartender in a New York City bar called the Edinburgh. After witnessing the death of Anna, a barfly, which is cited as an apparent overdose on ecstasy, he calls Hotch, who is in Manhattan on vacation with Jack and Beth because he believes the death to be suspicious due to the bleeding from her eyes, nose, and mouth, as well as the fact that the manager wasn't willing to call 911 for some time after the death. He tells Hotch about Linda Heiying, who had also apparently overdosed, but who he was sure was not using because he had a relationship with her. Hotch promptly calls the rest of the team over to New York.

Sean later reveals to Rossi that he was using ecstasy while he was dating Linda, but she had convinced him to get clean and he had not used in two months. He had been getting the drugs from Thane Parks, his boss at the bar, who would date-rape women at the bar using ecstasy-tainted wine. He then volunteers to try and wrangle information about the drugs from Thane by wearing a wire. While undercover, he lies to Thane to earn his trust. Falling for the trick, he takes him down to the storeroom so that he can help him dump the tainted wine, and when Thane admits to spiking it after discovering that one of the cases is taken by Sean (unbeknownst to Thane), who then accuses him of killing Linda and assaults him. Hotch and Morgan intervene just in time to prevent Sean from getting stabbed by Thane. Sean goes outside, texts an apology to Hotch, and flees.

Later, Sean calls Hotch from a payphone; Hotch tries to convince him to come back, as it appears that the unsub was targeting employees of the Edinburgh after the death of a man named Jim Peters occurs. Sean tells him to solve the case, to which he will then finally come back. After the case is solved and the killer is arrested, Sean shows up at Hotch's hotel room, meeting Beth and seeing Jack for the first time in four years. He admits that the missing case of wine was his fault, and that he had sold it to pay rent. Hotch tells him that they need to do better; Sean agrees, and acknowledges that he needs to own up to his mistakes, stating his knowledge that he'll have to face charges for assaulting Thane and then fleeing. He then asks Hotch if he knows any good lawyers. The police then take Sean into custody, but not before him and Hotch shake hands.

Appearances

 * Season One
 * "The Tribe"
 * Season Eight
 * "Brothers Hotchner"