"The Itch" is the fourth episode of Season Ten and the 214th overall of Criminal Minds.
Summary[]
When a body is discovered in Atlanta covered in scratches, the BAU finds that this death and subsequent murders could be linked to a man suffering from an obsessive skin disorder.
Guest Cast[]
- Jon Abrahams - Leo Jenkins
- Jerrell Anderson - Support Group Member #4
- Ivy Beech - Support Group Member #1
- François Chau - Doctor Jack Chun
- Alicia Coppola - Lisa Randall
- Cullen Douglas - Doctor Tony Wilson
- Lisa Rachel Harris - Support Group Member #2
- Ronobir Lahiri - Doctor William Suri
- Jeff Lorch - Albert Stillman
- Brian Maillard - Doug Adams
- Brit Morgan - Jane Posner
- John Prosky - Jim Carlson
- Jim Titus - Officer Mike Nash
Music[]
- "Black Lemon" by Generationals
- "Silver Light" by Trampled by Turtles
- "Gold on the Leaves" by Luluc
Bookend Quotes[]
- Aaron Hotchner: "What's the matter, you dissentious rogues, that rubbing the poor itch of your opinion make yourselves scabs?" – William Shakespeare
- Jennifer Jareau: "Getting rid of a delusion makes us wiser than getting hold of a truth." – Ludwig Börne
Trivia[]
- The episode mentions a description of a woman reported to have scratched an itch in her head, past her skull until she reached her brain matter because she couldn't feel pain due to substance abuse and shingles. The title of a 2008 New Yorker article covering the same woman and the science of itching sensations is also titled The Itch.
- The plotline and crimes of the episode are uncannily similar to both the theater play and the movie adaptation Bug, involving a conspiracy theorist with delusional parasitosis roping a young woman into his madness of governments implanting bugs everywhere.