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"The Replicator" is the twenty-fourth episode of Season Eight of Criminal Minds, the 186th overall, and the second of the two-part season finale.

Summary[]

The Replicator zeroes in on the BAU when the killer targets one of the team as the next victim. The team must now struggle against his endgame as the stakes grow higher.

Guest Cast[]

Referenced Criminals[]

Music[]

Bookend Quotes[]

  • David Rossi: "Affliction comes to us, not to make us sad but sober; not to make us sorry but wise." — H.G. Wells
  • Aaron Hotchner: "The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life." — Richard Bach

Trivia[]

  • Lily Kershaw previously sang the ending song of the two-hour Season Seven finale "Hit" and "Run", "As It Seems". She also portrayed Kelly Shane in the two-hour Season Four finale "To Hell...and Back".
  • There was an original plan to have the episode end in a cliffhanger with the team trapped in the room where Blake was held captive, and that the Season Nine premiere episode would focus on capturing the Replicator. The idea was dropped due to the fact that five out of the seven main actors' contracts ended with the season, plus the showrunner Erica Messer's and all the writers'. Also, the possibility of the show not being renewed for a ninth season if the negotiations failed was too real and, in that case, CBS and ABC Studios wanted for the series to have a real series finale (although the show was indeed renewed for a ninth season).
  • Mark Hamill and Joe Mantegna, the actor who portrays Rossi, previously guest-starred together in a 1998 episode of the long-running animated sitcom The Simpsons.
  • During Strauss' funeral, a number of BAU members pass by a grave that reads "STABLER". This may be a reference to Elliot Stabler, a detective and main character in NBC's Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. Ironically, or perhaps intentionally, the Season Eight finale was released exactly 104 weeks (2 years) after Stabler's final appearance, the Season Twelve Finale of his respective show (May 11, 2011 vs May 15, 2013). The disconnect in dates is likely due to scheduling, as both shows released new episodes on Wednesdays.


Criminal Minds Episodes
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