The Best Episodes of Criminal Minds Season 1

After interviewing a couple on death row for serial murders, Gideon suspects that the woman is actually innocent. But since she's set to be executed in two days, it's a race against time to prove it.

Director: Chris Long

Writer: Simon Mirren

While on their vacations, each of the team receives a clue from a psychopathic killer challenging them to save his next victim.

Director: Edward Allen Bernero

Writer: Edward Allen Bernero

The BAU is asked to identify a killer who is shooting at victims in broad daylight, and the team works with local law enforcement officers to recreate one of the shootings.

Director: Ernest R. Dickerson

Writer: Andrew Wilder

Reid finds himself in danger when he falls for a starlet whose stalker has turned into a killer.

Director: Paul Shapiro

Writer: Edward Napier

The BAU profiles a serial killer who takes families hostage and lives with them as a father figure during what is supposed to be their family vacations.

Director: Guy Norman Bee

Writer: Simon Mirren

After a fourth woman goes missing in as many months, the team is brought in to track down the guy before he kidnaps again. Hotch is asked to secretly evaluate Gideon to see if he is ready to work full time again.

Director: Richard Shepard

Writer: Jeff Davis

The BAU investigates the kidnapping of a U.S. District Attorney's daughter and determines the kidnapper isn't seeking money -- he's after her twin sister.

Director: Guy Norman Bee

Writer: Judith McCreary

Elle, along with many others, is held hostage on a train in Texas by a paranoid schizophrenic who is convinced that the U.S. government is monitoring him. Hotchner and Gideon are forced to play into the man's fantasy to save the people he has taken hostage.

Director: Félix Enríquez Alcalá

Writer: Debra J. Fisher, Erica Messer

The BAU team travels to San Diego to stop a rapist and murderer who commits his crimes in the middle of the day.

Director: Matt Earl Beesley

Writer: Edward Allen Bernero

A serial killer reappears after 20 years of silence and contacts the BAU with the promise he will kill another victim in the next five days.

Director: J. Miller Tobin

Writer: Debra J. Fisher, Erica Messer

The team of investigators tries to capture a serial arsonist who has been terrorizing a college campus.

Director: Charles Haid

Writer: Jeff Davis

Gideon and his team track down a copycat bomber terrorizing a quiet community.

Director: Kevin Bray

Writer: Aaron Zelman

The BAU team believes a dangerous cult may be responsible for the mass murders of five college students in an empty house.

Director: Matt Earl Beesley

Writer: Andrew Wilder

The BAU unit travels to NYC to investigate a series of murders that appears to have been committed by a vigilante conducting revenge on former criminals who have been released by the justice system.

Director: Gloria Muzio

Writer: Chris Mundy

The BAU works to capture a serial killer who has evaded capture by altering his appearance.

Director: Félix Enríquez Alcalá

Writer: Debra J. Fisher, Erica Messer

The BAU works with the CIA to identify a mole within that organization, whose leaks are putting operatives at risk.

Director: Matt Earl Beesley

Writer: Simon Mirren

When an undercover cop in Baltimore involved in a mob investigation goes missing, the BAU believes a serial killer rather than organized crime has something to do with his disappearance. The probe leads to several unsolved missing persons cases.

Director: Peter Ellis

Writer: Debra J. Fisher, Erica Messer

The team investigates the death of one teen, and the disappearance of another , which may be linked to a satanic ritual.

Director: Andy Wolk

Writer: Edward Allen Bernero

When a young girl is abducted in broad daylight from a playground in a seemingly safe neighborhood, the BAU team initially believes her father is responsible. When he is able to provide an alibi, the team is forced to look for clues where the girl lives to determine who is really responsible.

Director: Adam Davidson

Writer: Judith McCreary

The team travels to New Jersey where several people have been poisoned, one of them fatally with LSD, ten times more potent than the street version.

Director: Thomas J. Wright

Writer: Aaron Zelman

The BAU team travels to Mexico to aid in the capture of a serial killer who is targeting elderly women.

Director: Guy Norman Bee

Writer: Aaron Zelman

While Gideon is stuck at the office on crutches, the rest of the team travels to Tennessee to track down a killer who disembowels his victims and supposedly eats their organs.

Director: Charles Haid

Writer: Edward Napier