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L.D.S.K.

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"L.D.S.K." is the sixth episode of Season One of Criminal Minds.

Summary[]

The BAU travels to Des Plaines, Illinois, to assist the search for a sniper before he shoots more people. Meanwhile, Reid fails his firearms qualification exam and is forced to work without a gun, which only makes things worse for him when he and Hotch are both caught up in a life-threatening situation.

Full Summary[]

Outside, at Franklin Public Park in Illinois people are enjoying their lives.  A gunshot goes off, and suddenly we are in an inside shooting range with Reid and Hotchner.  He’s assisting Reid in getting his qualifications tomorrow.  He takes another shot, and we are back at the park. A boy scored a touchdown and when he turns, his dad is face down on the ground.  Upon turning him over, he sees a gunshot wound to the stomach.  Another shot rings out and we’re back at the range with Reid and Hotchner.  Hotchner grabs the gun from his ankle and shoots three times before telling him that Gideon once told him he doesn’t need a gun to kill someone.  Back at the park, we see someone riding before we’re back in the range and Reid fires another shot. 

In the bullpen, Elle tells everyone to be nice, because Reid didn’t pass his qualifications.  Reid comes in and Derek tries to offer his assistance and a whistle, teasing him. JJ comes in with the file on the shootings.  Three shots fired.  LDSK, long distance serial killers. 

After a quick meeting of the unsub in the conference room, the team continues to talk about LDSKs on the plane.  They ask each other why he does what he does, and if it’s skill, unwillingness to kill on site, or something else entirely. 

Most of the team meet Shea Clavin at Franklin Park while Gideon and Greenaway heads to the hospital where they meet with the chief of surgery and an egotistical surgeon.  The two doctors are discussing the surgery, where Landman says that he can perform a risky surgery which will get the bullet out of the patient’s spine.  The rest of the team talks about how the unsub made sure his spot would be empty when he came back for the shootings.  Gideon and Greenaway wait for Dr. Landman to finish the surgery, and he returns with the bullet fragments, stating that the surgery was a success and the patient will recover.

The team comes to the conclusion that the unsub may have law enforcement backgrounds and knowledge.  Garcia found the bullet type has a gun with a shorter, harder to manage gun, and the unsub has specialized training. 

At a cafe, a couple is talking, when suddenly the woman mentions she doesn’t feel good.  When she gets up the man sees that she’s bleeding.  More gunshots ring out, and it sends everyone into a panic. After the team sees the crime scene, they go back to the precinct and give the profile to the officers and detectives.  But they all get tense when Hotch insists that he knows law enforcement.  One of the officers makes a joke about the unsub ‘driving a white van’ to which he’s called out.  Hotch, Clavin, and JJ go into the office, to which they say that they want to reenact the last crime scene. 

At the crime scene they are reenacting the crime scene, with people holding cameras and seeing what might have been able to be seen.  While they are moving to different positions, JJ is watching the news, and it’s revealed that the unsub might be part of the police department. They go down the hill to the news broadcaster and he gives up a cell phone number.  They call Garcia and she tracks him down, only for them to realize that the leak is Scott McCarty, the very man playing the unsub in the reenactment.

Each of the team members are taking calls, and McCarty asks what’s going on.  When he gets no response, he gets agitated.  A SWAT team smokes him out, and they all take cover.  McCarty discards his weapon, and they cuff him without incident.  However, as they are taking him in, he’s shot in the head. The unsub is somewhere close by.

Back at the precinct Garcia calls with the geographical profile, noticing that it centers around the hospital.  As Gideon, Reid, and Clavin are driving, Gideon instantly thinks Dr. Landman is the unsub as he matches the profile. 

The whole team goes to the hospital and talks about Dr. Landman.  They find out that he didn’t get the chief of surgery gig last month.  Gideon confronts him and Landman catches on that he is viewed as a suspect.  When asked for an alibi, he says that Dr. Hannah Pate was in his office, and that she thinks he’s a god just like he does. They go down to the ER and discuss how Landman doesn’t fit the profile. 

They come to the conclusion that the actual unsub must work in the ER on the second shift. They talk to one of the nurses and give him the profile.  Gideon comes out of the room to talk to JJ and Elle.  As police come down the hall a nurse slides into the changing room, grabbing a bag.  He reveals a ranger tattoo.  Going back to Reid and Hotchner discussing the profile, the woman recognizes him as Phillip Dowd.  Hotchner tells him to tell Gideon, and the nurse comes down the hall, reveals a gun, and hits Reid with it; knocking him out.  He takes a security guard as a hostage, and Hotch pulls his gun as the unsub shoots out the lights.

Hotchner puts down his gun as the unsub tells him his gun is on full auto.  He takes Hotchner’s gun and calls Reid over. He tells Hotchner to take Reid’s gun, to which Hotch says he’s unarmed.  He’s in disbelief and checks him for one.  When he’s sure that Reid doesn’t have a gun he has the security guard zip tie both Hotch and Reid.  Then he taunts Reid for not carrying a gun.

Hotchner plays along, trying to gain sympathy with the unsub; offering that he should let himself and Reid build a barricade.  When Dowd is suspicious, he says that everyone knew Dowd was in here and they sent Reid in with him, who is pretty much useless. He tries to ‘blame’ everyone else, making his ‘situation’ sympathetic with Dowd. 

Dowd falls right into it. He starts to trust Hotchner.  Hotch asks for a favor:  to beat up Reid.  He tells him to go for it, and Hotch shoves Reid, then begins to kick him in the stomach, taunting him.  Reid grabs the gun from Hotchner’s ankle holster, but Dowd sees the empty holster.  He raises his gun and Reid shoots him in the head. As the SWAT team is about to breach, they open the door, announcing that they have control. 

Outside in an ambulance, Hotch asks if he’s okay.  They go over how he hoped that Reid would catch on, and Reid says he realized what was going on when Hotch had him move the hostages out of his line of fire. Reid teases Hotch, and goes to hand over the gun, but Hotch tells him to keep it, saying he passed his qualification. Reid hands Derek back the whistle as he passes him.  On the plane when Gideon asks how he’s doing, Reid admits that he was right and doesn’t need a gun to kill somebody, but that it helps.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Recurring[]

  • Kirsten Vangsness - Penelope Garcia

Guest[]

Referenced Criminals[]

Music[]

  • "Tears and Rain" by James Blunt
  • "Where Is My Mind?" by Pixies

Bookend Quotes[]

  • Jason Gideon: Nietzsche wrote, "The irrationality of a thing is not an argument against its existence, rather, a condition of it."
  • Aaron Hotchner: Shakespeare wrote, "Nothing is so common as the wish to be remarkable."

Trivia[]

  • This is the first episode where someone other than Gideon says part of the bookend quote.
  • According to Gideon; Phillip Dowd is the first L.D.S.K that the BAU has caught using their profile.
Criminal Minds Episodes
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