The Best Episodes of Criminal Minds Season 5
Every episode of Criminal Minds Season 5 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Criminal Minds Season 5!
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 most experienced agent is David Rossi, a founding member of the BAU who returns to help the team solve new cases.
Season 5 Ratings Summary
The best episode of "Criminal Minds" season 5 is "Nameless, Faceless", rated 7.9/10 from 2373 user votes. It was directed by Charles S. Carroll and written by Chris Mundy. "Nameless, Faceless" aired on 9/23/2009 and is rated 0.3 point(s) higher than the second highest rated, "Haunted".
7.9/10 2,373 votes#1 - Nameless, Faceless
Season 5 Episode 1 - Aired 9/23/2009
As Rossi, Morgan and JJ profile a killer who is targeting an emergency room doctor, Prentiss realizes that Hotch is missing.
Director: Charles S. Carroll
Writer: Chris Mundy
7.6/10 2,758 votes#2 - Haunted
Season 5 Episode 2 - Aired 9/30/2009
The BAU must determine what caused a disturbed man to murder several people at a pharmacy before he harms anyone else.
Director: Jon Cassar
Writer: Erica Messer
7.4/10 2,663 votes#3 - Reckoner
Season 5 Episode 3 - Aired 10/7/2009
The BAU investigates a case in Rossi's hometown that involves both his personal and professional life.
Director: Karen Gaviola
Writer: Dan Dworkin, Jay Beattie
7.3/10 2,232 votes#4 - Hopeless
Season 5 Episode 4 - Aired 10/14/2009
A group of suspects with a pack mentality who kill for the thrill of it are the subjects of a BAU manhunt.
Director: Félix Enríquez Alcalá
Writer: Chris Mundy
7.6/10 1,934 votes#5 - Cradle to Grave
Season 5 Episode 5 - Aired 10/21/2009
The team hunts a suspect who impregnates young women and has them give birth before murdering them.
Director: Rob Spera
Writer: Breen Frazier
7.2/10 1,982 votes#6 - The Eyes Have It
Season 5 Episode 6 - Aired 11/4/2009
The BAU team tracks a serial killer who keeps the eyes of his victims as souvenirs.
Director: Glenn Kershaw
Writer: Oanh Ly
7.4/10 2,231 votes#7 - The Performer
Season 5 Episode 7 - Aired 11/11/2009
The BAU team investigates the mystery behind a trail of murders that all seem to align with the tour schedule of a rock star.
Director: John Badham
Writer: Holly Harold
7.7/10 1,926 votes#8 - Outfoxed
Season 5 Episode 8 - Aired 11/18/2009
The BAU team is tracking down a family annihilator, but needs to take a break from the case to get advice from "The Fox", who is an horrific killer from the team's past. "The Fox" surprises the team with a ominous message for Agent Hotchner.
Director: John Gallagher
Writer: Simon Mirren
9.2/10 4,184 votes#9 - 100
Season 5 Episode 9 - Aired 11/25/2009
The BAU team races to help Hotchner find The Reaper and save his family before it's too late.
Director: Edward Allen Bernero
Writer: Erica Messer, Edward Allen Bernero, Simon Mirren, Rick Dunkle, Chris Mundy, Breen Frazier, Oanh Ly
7.7/10 1,943 votes#10 - The Slave of Duty
Season 5 Episode 10 - Aired 12/9/2009
The team needs to reunite in order to solve a home invasion case, while Agent Hotchner may have to leave the team.
Director: Charles Haid
Writer: Rick Dunkle
7.3/10 1,928 votes#11 - Retaliation
Season 5 Episode 11 - Aired 12/16/2009
The BAU is called upon to profile the past of an ex-convict and help stop him after he escapes from custody and embarks on a violent killing spree.
Director: Félix Enríquez Alcalá
Writer: Erica Messer
8.4/10 3,081 votes#12 - The Uncanny Valley
Season 5 Episode 12 - Aired 1/13/2010
An unusual personal obsession is at the center of a BAU abduction case. Meanwhile, Hotch struggles with his return to work.
Director: Anna Foerster
Writer: Breen Frazier
7.7/10 2,745 votes#13 - Risky Business
Season 5 Episode 13 - Aired 1/20/2010
A rash of startling teen suicides in a small Wyoming town is the focus of a BAU investigation.
Director: Rob Spera
Writer: Jim Clemente
7.4/10 1,881 votes#14 - Parasite
Season 5 Episode 14 - Aired 2/3/2010
The BAU follows the mental decline of a con artist whose schemes have become so complicated that he begins to eliminate the people involved in them.
Director: Charles S. Carroll
Writer: Oanh Ly
7.6/10 1,846 votes#15 - Public Enemy
Season 5 Episode 15 - Aired 2/10/2010
A serial killer who targets random victims in highly visible places to create a sense of public fear is the subject of a BAU investigation.
Director: Nelson McCormick
Writer: Jess Prosser
8.9/10 3,867 votes#16 - Mosley Lane
Season 5 Episode 16 - Aired 3/3/2010
The BAU is called by local authorities in Ashburn, Virginia, to profile a predator who may have been abducting children for at least eight years.
Director: Matthew Gray Gubler
Writer: Erica Messer, Simon Mirren
7.5/10 1,819 votes#17 - Solitary Man
Season 5 Episode 17 - Aired 3/10/2010
A truck driver is kidnapping women and disposing of them in random locations and the BAU must find out his motive in order to catch him.
Director: Rob Hardy
Writer: Kimberly A. Harrison
7.3/10 2,146 votes#18 - The Fight
Season 5 Episode 18 - Aired 4/7/2010
The BAU team travels to San Francisco to investigate the murders of several homeless men and teams up with a separate group of BAU operatives who are working another case they think is connected.
Director: Richard Shepard
Writer: Edward Allen Bernero
7.3/10 2,004 votes#19 - Rite of Passage
Season 5 Episode 19 - Aired 4/14/2010
The BAU team heads to Texas to track a serial killer targeting illegal immigrants attempting to make safe passage into the U.S.
Director: John Gallagher
Writer: Victor De Jesus
7.9/10 2,361 votes#20 - ...A Thousand Words
Season 5 Episode 20 - Aired 5/5/2010
The BAU team must profile a serial killer covered in tattoos who commits suicide, but leaves clues to the whereabouts of his last victim.
Director: Rosemary Rodriguez
Writer: Edward Allen Bernero
7.5/10 2,653 votes#21 - Exit Wounds
Season 5 Episode 21 - Aired 5/12/2010
Garcia plays a crucial role in a case when she travels to Alaska with the BAU team to investigate the murders of several members of a small town.
Director: Charles S. Carroll
Writer: Rick Dunkle
7.7/10 2,231 votes#22 - The Internet Is Forever
Season 5 Episode 22 - Aired 5/19/2010
The BAU team profiles a serial killer who uses the Internet as his hunting ground, bringing a whole meaning to the term "social networking".
Director: Glenn Kershaw
Writer: Breen Frazier
7.9/10 2,121 votes#23 - Our Darkest Hour
Season 5 Episode 23 - Aired 5/26/2010
A series of rolling blackouts in the city of Los Angeles lures a serial killer out of hiding, giving him renewed opportunities to continue his killing spree.
Director: Edward Allen Bernero
Writer: Erica Messer