The Best Episodes of Criminal Minds Season 8
Every episode of Criminal Minds Season 8 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Criminal Minds Season 8!
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 8 Ratings Summary
The best episode of "Criminal Minds" season 8 is "The Silencer", rated 7.4/10 from 1897 user votes. It was directed by Glenn Kershaw and written by Erica Messer. "The Silencer" aired on 9/26/2012 and is rated 0.0 point(s) higher than the second highest rated, "The Pact".
7.4/10 1,897 votes#1 - The Silencer
Season 8 Episode 1 - Aired 9/26/2012
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 Silencer." While they investigate who he was and who he's become, the BAU also gets to know the newest member of the team.
Director: Glenn Kershaw
Writer: Erica Messer
7.4/10 1,832 votes#2 - The Pact
Season 8 Episode 2 - Aired 10/10/2012
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 working together to commit these murders.
Director: Karen Gaviola
Writer: Janine Sherman Barrois
7.5/10 1,728 votes#3 - Through the Looking Glass
Season 8 Episode 3 - Aired 10/17/2012
An UNSUB who kidnaps families with the intention of making them admit to and pay for their indiscretions.
Director: Dermott Downs
Writer: Sharon Lee Watson
7.7/10 2,562 votes#4 - God Complex
Season 8 Episode 4 - Aired 10/24/2012
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 his next reluctant victim. Also, Reid's phone calls to a mystery woman have the team intrigued.
Director: Larry Teng
Writer: Breen Frazier
7.4/10 2,287 votes#5 - The Good Earth
Season 8 Episode 5 - Aired 10/31/2012
The team heads to Oregon as four men have gone missing.
Director: John Terlesky
Writer: Bruce Zimmerman
7.6/10 2,006 votes#6 - The Apprenticeship
Season 8 Episode 6 - Aired 11/7/2012
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 escalating. Also, Morgan tries to increase Reid's athletic skills by convincing him to join the bureau's softball team.
Director: Rob Bailey
Writer: Virgil Williams
7.7/10 1,733 votes#7 - The Fallen
Season 8 Episode 7 - Aired 11/14/2012
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.
Director: Douglas Aarniokoski
Writer: Rick Dunkle
7.3/10 2,591 votes#8 - The Wheels on the Bus...
Season 8 Episode 8 - Aired 11/21/2012
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.
Director: Rob Hardy
Writer: Kimberly A. Harrison
7.1/10 2,254 votes#9 - Magnificent Light
Season 8 Episode 9 - Aired 11/28/2012
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 refuses to attend a dinner honoring an old family friend.
Director: John T. Kretchmer
Writer: Sharon Lee Watson
8.1/10 2,829 votes#10 - The Lesson
Season 8 Episode 10 - Aired 12/5/2012
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.
Director: Matthew Gray Gubler
Writer: Janine Sherman Barrois
7.3/10 1,806 votes#11 - Perennials
Season 8 Episode 11 - Aired 12/12/2012
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 and replicating crimes the BAU is solving.
Director: Michael Lange
Writer: Bruce Zimmerman
8.6/10 3,270 votes#12 - Zugzwang
Season 8 Episode 12 - Aired 1/16/2013
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.
Director: Jesse Warn
Writer: Breen Frazier
7.7/10 2,494 votes#13 - Magnum Opus
Season 8 Episode 13 - Aired 1/23/2013
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.
Director: Glenn Kershaw
Writer: Jason Bernero
7.9/10 1,769 votes#14 - All That Remains
Season 8 Episode 14 - Aired 2/6/2013
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.
Director: Thomas Gibson
Writer: Erica Messer
7.5/10 1,847 votes#15 - Broken
Season 8 Episode 15 - Aired 2/20/2013
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 closer in his pursuit of the team.
Director: Larry Teng
Writer: Rick Dunkle
7.8/10 1,739 votes#16 - Carbon Copy
Season 8 Episode 16 - Aired 2/27/2013
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 break they need to try and apprehend him.
Director: Rob Hardy
Writer: Virgil Williams
7.3/10 2,255 votes#17 - The Gathering
Season 8 Episode 17 - Aired 3/20/2013
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 new love interest.
Director: Michael Lange
Writer: Kimberly A. Harrison
7.7/10 1,810 votes#18 - Restoration
Season 8 Episode 18 - Aired 4/3/2013
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 to the man who molested him as a child.
Director: Félix Enríquez Alcalá
Writer: Janine Sherman Barrois, Jim Clemente
7.3/10 1,807 votes#19 - Pay It Forward
Season 8 Episode 19 - Aired 4/10/2013
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 death of a local police officer.
Director: John Terlesky
Writer: Bruce Zimmerman
7.6/10 2,453 votes#20 - Alchemy
Season 8 Episode 20 - Aired 5/1/2013
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.
Director: Matthew Gray Gubler
Writer: Sharon Lee Watson
7.7/10 2,133 votes#21 - Nanny Dearest
Season 8 Episode 21 - Aired 5/8/2013
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.
Director: Douglas Aarniokoski
Writer: Virgil Williams
7.4/10 1,887 votes#22 - Number Six
Season 8 Episode 22 - Aired 5/15/2013
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.
Director: Karen Gaviola
Writer: Breen Frazier
7.7/10 1,733 votes#23 - Brothers Hotchner (1)
Season 8 Episode 23 - Aired 5/22/2013
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 apparent ecstasy overdoses, and Hotch discovers that his estranged brother, Sean, is caught in the middle.
Director: Rob Bailey
Writer: Rick Dunkle
8.2/10 2,082 votes#24 - The Replicator (2)
Season 8 Episode 24 - Aired 5/22/2013
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 apparent ecstasy overdoses, and Hotch discovers that his estranged brother, Sean, is caught in the middle.
Director: Glenn Kershaw
Writer: Erica Messer