Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa
Airdate	May 14, 2008
Written by	Jay Beattie Dan Dworkin
Directed by	Steve Boyum
EPISODE GUIDE
Previous:	"The Crossing"
Next:	"Lo-Fi"

"Tabula Rasa" is the nineteenth episode of Season Three and the 64th overall of Criminal Minds.

Summary

After a suspected serial killer wakes up from a coma, the BAU reopens the case and uses brain fingerprinting to determine if he really doesn't remember the crimes that had been committed four years earlier in Roanoke, Virginia.

Guest Cast

• Jon Barton - SWAT Leader
• Heather Belling - April Sutherland
• Anne Betancourt - Nina Moore
• Roxana Brusso - Lidia
• Amy Carlson - Cece Hillenbrand
• Steven Culp - Lester Serling
• Loreni Delgado - Technician
• Beau Dremann - Sergeant
• James Eckhouse - Mr. Corbett
• Bob Gebert - Doctor
• Dick Herlan - Mr. Moore
• Jenn Marie Jones - Darci Corbett
• Eric Lange - Brian Matloff
• Sarah MacKay - Nurse
• F. William Parker - Judge
• John Pirruccello - Resident Jogger
• Jenny Powers - Woman
• James Sharpe - Detective Ted Jarvis

Referenced Criminals

• David Carpenter, The Trailside Killer
• Eric Rudolph, The Olympic Park Bomber
• The Richard Jewell case
• Derrick Todd Lee, The Baton Rouge Serial Killer
• Dennis Rader, BTK

Bookend Quotes

• Aaron Hotchner: "All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." – Anatole France
• Mr. Corbett and Spencer Reid: "What though the radiance that was once so bright, be now forever taken from my sight. Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower; We will grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind." – William Wordsworth

Trivia

• The title of the episode is Latin for "blank slate" and philosophically refers to the state of a person's mind before it has any experience of the world. The term is also referring to Matloff waking up without his memory.
• Chronologically, this episode shows the first time Morgan refers to Garcia as "baby girl".
• This is the 1st of 9 episodes in which a non-BAU/ guest cast character, Mr. Corbett, recites a bookend quote. The other episodes are:
  • "Coda" - Ending bookend quote recited by Ian Doyle.
  • "Lauren" - Ending bookend quote recited by JJ (who was with the State Department at that time)
  • "Zugzwang" - Ending bookend quote recited by Maeve Donovan.
  • "200" - Beginning bookend quote recited by Prentiss. (Who was with Interpol at that time)
  • "Beyond Borders" - Ending bookend quote recited by Jack Garrett.
  • "Tribute" - Beginning bookend quote recited by Prentiss. (Who was with Interpol at that time)
  • "Chameleon" - Beginning (and only) bookend quote recited by Krystall Richards.
  • "Family Tree" - Beginning and end bookend quote recited by Everett Lynch.
• The case referred to in court regarding brain fingerprinting, The State of Iowa vs. Terry Harrington, is a real life case in which a wrongfully convicted man was freed in part due to brain fingerprinting. The brain scans showed the man, Terry Harrington, had no memories associated to images or descriptions of a crime scene where he had allegedly murdered a retired police captain, John Schweer. The test, along with the revelations that the police had surpressed reports about other potential suspects and coerced witness testimony, lead to a retrial of Harrington. Subsequently, the state dismissed their case against Harrington, freeing him after more than 20 years in prison.

Notes

• Despite Reid being established as having an eidetic memory, in this episode, he was unable to remember Garcia's name. This may have simply been an error on the writer's part.
  • During multiple flashbacks both Reid and Garcia are referred to as being new. While Hotch and Reid are at the scene of one of the victims body, Hotch introduces Reid as a new agent. In another flashback, Morgan refers to Garcia as being the "new tech girl". So it would make sense that Reid didn’t know her name yet.

Criminal Minds Episodes

Season One Extreme Aggressor • Compulsion • Won't Get Fooled Again • Plain Sight • Broken Mirror • L.D.S.K. • The Fox • Natural Born Killer • Derailed • The Popular Kids • Blood Hungry • What Fresh Hell? • Poison • Riding the Lightning • Unfinished Business • The Tribe • A Real Rain • Somebody's Watching • Machismo • Charm and Harm • Secrets and Lies • The Fisher King, Part 1 Season Two The Fisher King, Part 2 • P911 • The Perfect Storm • Psychodrama • Aftermath • The Boogeyman • North Mammon • Empty Planet • The Last Word • Lessons Learned • Sex, Birth, Death • Profiler, Profiled • No Way Out • The Big Game • Revelations • Fear and Loathing • Distress • Jones • Ashes and Dust • Honor Among Thieves • Open Season • Legacy • No Way Out II: The Evilution of Frank Season Three Doubt • In Name and Blood • Scared to Death • Children of the Dark • Seven Seconds • About Face • Identity • Lucky • Penelope • True Night • Birthright • 3rd Life • Limelight • Damaged • A Higher Power • Elephant's Memory • In Heat • The Crossing • Tabula Rasa • Lo-Fi Season Four Mayhem • The Angel Maker • Minimal Loss • Paradise • Catching Out • The Instincts • Memoriam • Masterpiece • 52 Pickup • Brothers in Arms • Normal • Soul Mates • Bloodline • Cold Comfort • Zoe's Reprise • Pleasure Is My Business • Demonology • Omnivore • House on Fire • Conflicted • A Shade of Gray • The Big Wheel • Roadkill • Amplification • To Hell and Back, Part 1 • To Hell and Back, Part 2 Season Five Nameless, Faceless • Haunted • Reckoner • Hopeless • Cradle to Grave • The Eyes Have It • The Performer • Outfoxed • 100 • The Slave of Duty • Retaliation • The Uncanny Valley • Risky Business • Parasite • Public Enemy • Mosley Lane • Solitary Man • The Fight • A Rite of Passage • ...A Thousand Words • Exit Wounds • The Internet Is Forever • Our Darkest Hour Season Six The Longest Night • J.J. • Remembrance of Things Past • Compromising Positions • Safe Haven • Devil's Night • Middle Man • Reflection of Desire • Into the Woods • What Happens at Home • 25 to Life • Corazón • The Thirteenth Step • Sense Memory • Today I Do • Coda • Valhalla • Lauren • With Friends Like These... • Hanley Waters • The Stranger • Out of the Light • Big Sea • Supply and Demand Season Seven It Takes a Village • Proof • Dorado Falls • Painless • From Childhood's Hour • Epilogue • There's No Place Like Home • Hope • Self-Fulfilling Prophecy • The Bittersweet Science • True Genius • Unknown Subject • Snake Eyes • Closing Time • A Thin Line • A Family Affair • I Love You, Tommy Brown • Foundation • Heathridge Manor • The Company • Divining Rod • Profiling 101 • Hit • Run Season Eight The Silencer • The Pact • Through the Looking Glass • God Complex • The Good Earth • The Apprenticeship • The Fallen • The Wheels on the Bus • Magnificent Light • The Lesson • Perennials • Zugzwang • Magnum Opus • All That Remains • Broken • Carbon Copy • The Gathering • Restoration • Pay It Forward • Alchemy • Nanny Dearest • #6 • Brothers Hotchner • The Replicator Season Nine The Inspiration • The Inspired • Final Shot • To Bear Witness • Route 66 • In The Blood • Gatekeeper • The Return • Strange Fruit • The Caller • Bully • The Black Queen • The Road Home • 200 • Mr. & Mrs. Anderson • Gabby • Persuasion • Rabid • The Edge of Winter • Blood Relations • What Happens in Mecklinburg • Fatal • Angels • Demons Season Ten X • Burn • A Thousand Suns • The Itch • If the Shoe Fits • Boxed In • Hashtag • The Boys of Sudworth Place • Fate • Amelia Porter • The Forever People • Anonymous • Nelson's Sparrow • Hero Worship • Scream • Lockdown • Breath Play • Rock Creek Park • Beyond Borders • A Place at the Table • Mr. Scratch • Protection • The Hunt Season Eleven The Job • The Witness • 'Til Death Do Us Part • Outlaw • The Night Watch • Pariahville • Target Rich • Awake • Internal Affairs • Future Perfect • Entropy • Drive • The Bond • Hostage • A Badge and a Gun • Derek • The Sandman • A Beautiful Disaster • Tribute • Inner Beauty • Devil's Backbone • The Storm Season Twelve The Crimson King • Sick Day • Taboo • Keeper • The Anti-Terrorism Squad • Elliott's Pond • Mirror Image • Scarecrow • Profiling 202 • Seek and Destroy • Surface Tension • A Good Husband • Spencer • Collision Course • Alpha Male • Assistance Is Futile • In the Dark • Hell's Kitchen • True North • Unforgettable • Green Light • Red Light Season Thirteen Wheels Up • To A Better Place • Blue Angel • Killer App • Lucky Strikes • The Bunker • Dust and Bones • Neon Terror • False Flag • Submerged • Full-Tilt Boogie • Bad Moon on the Rise • Cure • Miasma • Annihilator • Last Gasp • The Capilanos • The Dance of Love • Ex Parte • All You Can Eat • Mixed Signals • Believer Season Fourteen 300 • Starter Home • Rule 34 • The Tall Man • Innocence • Luke • Twenty Seven • Ashley • Broken Wing • Flesh and Blood • Night Lights • Hamelin • Chameleon • Sick and Evil • Truth or Dare Season Fifteen Under the Skin • Awakenings • Spectator Slowing • Saturday • Date Night • Ghost • Rusty • Family Tree • Face Off • And in the End...