The Silencer

The Silencer
Airdate	September 26, 2012
Written by	Erica Messer
Directed by	Glenn Kershaw
EPISODE GUIDE
Previous:	"Run" (Season Seven)
Next:	"The Pact"

"The Silencer" is the first episode, and the season premiere, of Season Eight and the 163rd overall of Criminal Minds.

Summary

When a Texas prison inmate escapes during a transfer, he leaves behind victims with their mouths sewn shut, a signature the BAU remembers as unique to the infamous serial killer "The Silencer". While they investigate who he was and who he has become, the team gets to know their newest member.

Guest Cast

• Jayne Atkinson - FBI Section Chief Director Erin Strauss
• Jarrod Bailey - John Myers (teen)
• Matt Beck - Tyler Parker
• Cici Leah Campbell - Silencer Victim
• Meagan Campbell - Laura Tucker
• Aidan Collins - John Myers (child)
• Bianca D'Ambrosio - Kelly Tucker
• Tracy Fraim - Officer Kevin Jensen
• Sam Hennings - U.S. Marshal John Tilghman
• Troy Michael Kotsur - John Myers
• Ray Mirabal - Mitch Gregory
• Jessica Ires Morris - Julie Myers
• Julia Silverman - Doctor Janine Ainsworth
• Brian Slaten - Danny Tucker
• Kayla Tabish - Girl at Rest Stop

Referenced Criminals

• Theodore Kaczynski, The Unabomber
• Gary Ridgway, The Green River Killer
• Amerithrax

Music

• "When the Music's Not Forgotten" by Deadman

Bookend Quotes

• Aaron Hotchner: "As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do." — Andrew Carnegie
• Aaron Hotchner: "A man is known by the silence he keeps." — Oliver Herford

Trivia

• This episode marks the first appearance of Jeanne Tripplehorn in the main cast as Dr. Alex Blake.

Notes

• The episode unsub's signature is referred to as a "double-knot ligature" instead of a double-knot suture, which is shown in crime scene photos. This was most likely a mistake on the writer's part.
• Mountains are seen in the background when the unsub arrives in Sweetwater, Texas, which is located in an extremely flat geographical area and not close to any sizeable mountains.
• In two separate scenes, the unsub's birthday is shown on Garcia's screen as January 10, 1974 and October 1, 1974.
• Though a BAU evidence board showed two victims named Jane Helmway and S. Clanden, a later scene with Garcia's computer screen instead gave the victims' names as Sally Pargrave and Cindy Keelson, respectively.

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...