Criminal Minds: Season 8
Season 8 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Picks up essential narrative continuity directly following the events of Criminal Minds Season 7.
- Character alliances, factions, and personal loyalties undergo significant shifts under escalating stakes.
- Addresses unresolved cliffhangers and thematic mysteries introduced during previous seasons.
- Establishes the primary seasonal conflict that drives serialized character arcs toward the finale.
Episode Guide
Season 8 Progress Shield
The Silencer
Sep 26, 2012 · 42 min
When a Texas prisoner escapes during a transfer, he leaves behind victims with his unique trademark, sewing their mouths shut, a signature the BAU remembers as unique to the UnSub
The Pact
Oct 10, 2012 · 42 min
When the bodies of two seemingly unrelated victims are found just hours apart in San Diego and Los Angeles respectively, the BAU suspects that that not one, but two killers are wor
Through the Looking Glass
Oct 17, 2012 · 42 min
An UNSUB who kidnaps families with the intention of making them admit to and pay for their indiscretions.
God Complex
Oct 24, 2012 · 42 min
When a legless body is found in the New Mexico desert and a second unwilling amputee shows up at the hospital, the BAU team searches for this amateur surgeon before he preys upon h
The Good Earth
Oct 31, 2012 · 42 min
The team heads to Oregon as four men have gone missing.
The Apprenticeship
Nov 7, 2012 · 42 min
When prostitutes in Miami are discovered murdered in a similar style to local animals found dead there, the BAU must work fast to find an unsub whose confidence is quickly escalati
The Fallen
Nov 14, 2012 · 42 min
The BAU travels to Santa Monica when burned bodies of homeless people begin showing up by the famous pier. Also, Rossi reconnects with his former Marine sergeant from Vietnam.
The Wheels on the Bus...
Nov 21, 2012 · 42 min
The BAU team goes in pursuit of a missing school bus full of children outside the Washington, D.C. area, and it becomes a race against time for them to bring them home safely.
Magnificent Light
Nov 28, 2012 · 42 min
An attendee at a popular motivational-speaker's conference in Seattle is murdered and the speaker himself disappears soon afterward. Meanwhile, Garcia is puzzled when Morgan refuse
The Lesson
Dec 5, 2012 · 42 min
A ritualistic killer is hunted after male bodies are found that have been physically altered. Meanwhile, Reid gets anxious at the prospect of meeting his mystery woman.
Perennials
Dec 12, 2012 · 42 min
The BAU heads south to investigate a fast-moving UnSub whose signature matches that of a serial killer from 30 years ago. Also, the team learns that someone is tracking their cases
Zugzwang
Jan 16, 2013 · 42 min
When Reid discovers that his girlfriend has been kidnapped by her stalker, he and the BAU team band together to find her before it's too late.
Magnum Opus
Jan 23, 2013 · 42 min
While Reid copes with a loss in his personal life, the rest of the BAU travels to San Francisco to investigate victims discovered in the Mission District.
All That Remains
Feb 6, 2013 · 42 min
A writer's daughters vanish on the anniversary of their mother's disappearance, which leads the BAU to investigate the man as a possible suspect.
Broken
Feb 20, 2013 · 42 min
The BAU heads to Austin to investigate victims found there with their watches set inaccurately, a clue which may connect the crimes. Meanwhile, the UnSub stalking the BAU inches cl
Carbon Copy
Feb 27, 2013 · 42 min
When victims are found in Philadelphia in a similar style to victims of The Replicator, the stalker who has been tracking the BAU's every move, the team thinks this could be the br
The Gathering
Mar 20, 2013 · 42 min
The BAU investigates victims who were documenting their personal lives and inner desires on blog posts and social media. Also, Kevin gets jealous when he learns Garcia may have a n
Restoration
Apr 3, 2013 · 42 min
The BAU goes to Morgan's old neighborhood in urban Chicago in search of an unsub targeting middle-aged men, and a clue leads Morgan to believe that they are after someone connected
Pay It Forward
Apr 10, 2013 · 42 min
When a time capsule in a small Colorado town is opened twenty-five years later and contains a gruesome discovery, the BAU investigates the crime and find a possible link to the dea
Alchemy
May 1, 2013 · 42 min
The BAU travel to Rapid City after two male victims are discovered murdered in a ritualistic manner. Also, Reid continues to grieve over Maeve’s death.
Nanny Dearest
May 8, 2013 · 42 min
The BAU travels to Los Angeles looking for an UnSub who is kidnapping nannies and the children they care for on the same day each year.
Number Six
May 15, 2013 · 42 min
The BAU goes to Detroit to track an UnSub with a rapidly changing MO. Also, Blake's husband returns from overseas with a life-changing career proposition for her.
Brothers Hotchner (1)
May 22, 2013 · 42 min
The Replicator zeroes in on the BAU when the killer targets one of the team as the next victim. Also, the BAU is called in to investigate a string of deaths in Manhattan tied to ap
The Replicator (2)
May 22, 2013 · 42 min
The Replicator zeroes in on the BAU when the killer targets one of the team as the next victim. Also, the BAU is called in to investigate a string of deaths in Manhattan tied to ap