8.5/103,271 votes#1 - Mayhem
Season 4 Episode 1 - Aired 9/24/2008
When an SUV carrying members of the team explodes, the rest of the team fights to save them and catch the terrorists responsible for the bombing.
Director: Edward Allen Bernero
Writer: Simon Mirren
7.7/102,345 votes#2 - The Angel Maker
Season 4 Episode 2 - Aired 10/1/2008
A series of murders is linked to a serial killer executed a year earlier, and the BAU team must find the link between the dead killer and the new spate of crimes.
Director: Glenn Kershaw
Writer: Dan Dworkin, Jay Beattie
8.2/103,073 votes#3 - Minimal Loss
Season 4 Episode 3 - Aired 10/8/2008
Reid and Prentiss are taken hostage when they go under cover to investigate possible child abuse at an underground cult.
Director: Félix Enríquez Alcalá
Writer: Andrew Wilder
7.6/102,253 votes#4 - Paradise
Season 4 Episode 4 - Aired 10/22/2008
The BAU joins the manhunt to catch a serial killer who conceals the manner of his crimes by staging car accidents.
Director: John Gallagher
Writer: Debra J. Fisher, Erica Messer
7.3/102,225 votes#5 - Catching Out
Season 4 Episode 5 - Aired 10/29/2008
The BAU investigates a series of murders that appear to be connected to a killer who jumps trains and chooses his victims based on their proximity to the railway.
Director: Charles Haid
Writer: Oanh Ly
8.1/102,947 votes#6 - The Instincts
Season 4 Episode 6 - Aired 11/5/2008
While investigating the abduction of a young boy in Las Vegas, Dr. Reid starts to have dreams that might help reveal buried memories from his childhood.
Director: Rob Spera
Writer: Chris Mundy
8.4/103,075 votes#7 - Memoriam
Season 4 Episode 7 - Aired 11/12/2008
As Reid's investigation of a young boy's murder in Las Vegas continues, he discovers possible connections to his own past.
Director: Guy Norman Bee
Writer: Dan Dworkin, Jay Beattie
8.3/102,690 votes#8 - Masterpiece
Season 4 Episode 8 - Aired 11/19/2008
When a narcissistic psychopath confesses he has killed seven people and more will die, the team must locate his latest victims before it is too late.
Director: Paul Michael Glaser
Writer: Edward Allen Bernero
7.9/102,455 votes#9 - 52 Pickup
Season 4 Episode 9 - Aired 11/26/2008
Agents Prentiss and Todd go undercover to profile a serial killer who uses skills of persuasion to lure women into danger.
Director: Bobby Roth
Writer: Breen Frazier
7.5/102,125 votes#10 - Brothers in Arms
Season 4 Episode 10 - Aired 12/10/2008
The BAU team hunts for a serial killer who targets members of the police department in Phoenix, Ariz., a case that hits close to home for Morgan, a former cop.
Director: Glenn Kershaw
Writer: Holly Harold
8.3/102,461 votes#11 - Normal
Season 4 Episode 11 - Aired 12/17/2008
The team investigates a serial killer who shoots luxury car owners on Southern California's freeways.
Director: Steve Boyum
Writer: Andrew Wilder
7.6/102,091 votes#12 - Soul Mates
Season 4 Episode 12 - Aired 1/14/2009
The BAU team suspects a member of an affluent community in Atlanta is responsible for the disappearance of a local young woman and that the suspect may have worked with an accomplice
Director: John Gallagher
Writer: Debra J. Fisher, Erica Messer
7.8/102,208 votes#13 - Bloodline
Season 4 Episode 13 - Aired 1/21/2009
The BAU team becomes involved in the case of a family working together to abduct young girls.
Director: Tim Matheson
Writer: Mark Bruner
7.4/101,959 votes#14 - Cold Comfort
Season 4 Episode 14 - Aired 2/11/2009
The mother of an abducted child works with the BAU to apprehend a serial killer who kidnaps, murders, and embalms his victims.
Director: Anna Foerster
Writer: Dan Dworkin, Jay Beattie
8.1/102,221 votes#15 - Zoe's Reprise
Season 4 Episode 15 - Aired 2/18/2009
The team pursues a copycat serial killer who is recreating the techniques used by past famous murderers.
Director: Charles S. Carroll
Writer: Oanh Ly
8.1/102,468 votes#16 - Pleasure Is My Business
Season 4 Episode 16 - Aired 2/25/2009
The team searches for a female suspect who uses her professional skills as a high class call girl to lure and kill high-powered executives.
Director: Gwyneth Horder-Payton
Writer: Breen Frazier
7.0/102,677 votes#17 - Demonology
Season 4 Episode 17 - Aired 3/11/2009
Agent Prentiss has a personal connection to one of the victims in a series of deaths with religious overtones.
Director: Edward Allen Bernero
Writer: Chris Mundy
8.5/102,581 votes#18 - Omnivore
Season 4 Episode 18 - Aired 3/18/2009
Agent Hotchner revisits the first case he worked at the BAU when details come forth that one of the deadliest serial killers in New England's history has struck again after a 10-year hiatus.
Director: Nelson McCormick
Writer: Andrew Wilder
7.3/102,727 votes#19 - House on Fire
Season 4 Episode 19 - Aired 3/25/2009
The BAU team must track down a serial arsonist who instills fear in a small town by setting fire to community meeting places and killing several residents in the process.
Director: Félix Enríquez Alcalá
Writer: Holly Harold
8.4/103,356 votes#20 - Conflicted
Season 4 Episode 20 - Aired 4/8/2009
The team travels to Fort Lauderdale during spring break to find a serial killer who is targeting co-eds on vacation.
Director: Jason Alexander
Writer: Rick Dunkle
8.0/102,110 votes#21 - A Shade of Gray
Season 4 Episode 21 - Aired 4/22/2009
When profiling a series of child abductions and murders, the team discovers that one of the cases may not be the handiwork of the serial killer they apprehended.
Director: Karen Gaviola
Writer: Debra J. Fisher, Erica Messer
8.2/103,186 votes#22 - The Big Wheel
Season 4 Episode 22 - Aired 4/29/2009
When the team is sent a videotape from a serial killer detailing one of his crimes, they discover a hidden message asking them to help him stop his murderous ways.
Director: Rob Hardy
Writer: Simon Mirren
7.3/102,266 votes#23 - Roadkill
Season 4 Episode 23 - Aired 5/6/2009
An unsub who kills with his car is the subject of a BAU investigation.
Director: Steve Boyum
Writer: Dan Dworkin, Jay Beattie
8.4/103,059 votes#24 - Amplification
Season 4 Episode 24 - Aired 5/13/2009
When a new type of chemical warfare is released into the open air, the BAU must act quickly to find the source before any more innocent people are exposed.
Director: John Gallagher
Writer: Oanh Ly
8.4/102,566 votes#25 - To Hell... (1)
Season 4 Episode 25 - Aired 5/20/2009
The BAU tracks a serial killer who chooses junkies, prostitutes and the homeless off the streets of Detroit as his victims and takes them across the border into Canada, and an agent's life is in peril.
Director: Charles Haid
Writer: Chris Mundy
The Best Episodes of Criminal Minds Season 4
Every episode of Criminal Minds Season 4 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Criminal Minds Season 4!
An elite team of FBI profilers analyze the country's most twisted criminal minds, anticipating their next moves before they strike again. The Behavioral Analysis Unit's...
Genres:CrimeDramaMystery
Season 4 Ratings Summary
"Mayhem" is the best rated episode of "Criminal Minds" season 4. It scored 8.5/10 based on 3271 votes. Directed by Edward Allen Bernero and written by Simon Mirren, it aired on 9/24/2008. This episode is rated 0.8 points higher than the second-best, "The Angel Maker".