The Worst Episodes of Criminal Minds
Every episode of Criminal Minds ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Criminal Minds!
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.
Lowest Rated Episodes Summary
The worst episode of "Criminal Minds" is "Future Perfect", rated 6.6/10 from 2165 user votes. It was directed by Laura Belsey and written by Bruce Zimmerman. "Future Perfect" aired on 12/9/2015 and is rated 0.1 point(s) lower than the second lowest rated, "Awake".
6.6/10 2,165 votes#1 - Future Perfect
Season 11 Episode 10 - Aired 12/9/2015
The BAU searches for an UnSub who may be fascinated with medical experimentation.
Director: Laura Belsey
Writer: Bruce Zimmerman
6.7/10 2,249 votes#2 - Awake
Season 11 Episode 8 - Aired 11/18/2015
Victims are kidnapped in Phoenix and forced to endure sleep deprivation. Meanwhile, JJ copes with exhaustion from juggling work and caring for her newborn son; and Hotch and Garcia deal with threats from the "Dirty Dozen," an underground hit man group.
Director: Christoph Schrewe
Writer: Kimberly A. Harrison
6.7/10 2,061 votes#3 - A Good Husband
Season 12 Episode 12 - Aired 2/8/2017
The BAU team is called in to investigate when male victims are found with no way to identify them.
Director: Laura Belsey
Writer: Jeff Davis, Erik Stiller, Jim Clemente
6.9/10 2,180 votes#4 - Internal Affairs
Season 11 Episode 9 - Aired 12/2/2015
After two undercover DEA agents are murdered and a third goes missing, the BAU joins the NSA to investigate whether an underground Internet drug syndicate is involved. Also, Hotch hopes the team’s work with the NSA brings them closer to finding the “Dirty Dozen” hitmen ring.
Director: Diana Valentine
Writer: Sharon Lee Watson
6.9/10 1,104 votes#5 - Submerged
Season 13 Episode 10 - Aired 1/3/2018
When a series of backyard pool homicides are reported in California, the BAU team searches for an UnSub with a puzzling past.
Director: Rob Bailey
Writer: Bruce Zimmerman
6.9/10 1,097 votes#6 - All You Can Eat
Season 13 Episode 20 - Aired 4/11/2018
The BAU is called to investigate a series of deaths in Virginia suspected by the Center for Disease Control to be caused by bio-terrorism; Garcia visits her stepbrother to take care of a family issue.
Director: Diana Valentine
Writer: Karen Maser
7.0/10 2,658 votes#7 - 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
7.0/10 2,340 votes#8 - Beyond Borders
Season 10 Episode 19 - Aired 4/8/2015
When a family of four is abducted while on vacation in Barbados, the BAU is called to assist Unit Chief Jack Garrett and his International Unit on their investigation. Garrett and his unit, the FBI's top division for handling cases involving Americans abroad, work jointly with Hotch and his team when they discover that this case matches one the BAU investigated last year in Florida.
Director: Glenn Kershaw
Writer: Erica Messer
7.0/10 1,766 votes#9 - 'Til Death Do Us Part
Season 11 Episode 3 - Aired 10/14/2015
When brides-to-be in Savannah are killed on the eve of their nuptials, the BAU suspects a jilted UnSub is at work.
Director: Joe Mantegna
Writer: Karen Maser
7.0/10 1,883 votes#10 - Inner Beauty
Season 11 Episode 20 - Aired 4/13/2016
The BAU searches for an UnSub who is purposely disfiguring victims. Also, Rossi has an awkward reunion with his ex-wife, Hayden Montgomery, who kept his daughter, Joy, a secret from him for nearly 30 years.
Director: Alec Smight
Writer: Haben Merker
7.0/10 1,202 votes#11 - Neon Terror
Season 13 Episode 8 - Aired 11/22/2017
When an UnSub in Miami sensationalizes his crimes by giving the local media exclusive footage, the BAU is called in to investigate.
Director: Bethany Rooney
Writer: Erik Stiller
7.0/10 1,025 votes#12 - Mixed Signals
Season 13 Episode 21 - Aired 4/18/2018
The BAU is called to Taos, N.M. to investigate an UnSub who is targeting his victims' temporal lobes.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.0/10 733 votes#13 - Rusty
Season 15 Episode 7 - Aired 2/5/2020
When the BAU team travels to Denver to investigate several murders, Prentiss is forced to evaluate her relationship with Special Agent Andrew Mendoza.
Director: Rachel Feldman
Writer: Erik Stiller, Erica Meredith
7.1/10 3,150 votes#14 - Blood Hungry
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 12/14/2005
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
7.1/10 2,751 votes#15 - Honor Among Thieves
Season 2 Episode 20 - Aired 4/11/2007
Elizabeth Prentiss, a foreign ambassador and SSA Emily Prentiss' mother, seeks the aid of the BAU when a Russian immigrant is kidnapped and held for ransom.
Director: Jesús Salvador Treviño
Writer: Aaron Zelman
7.1/10 2,254 votes#16 - 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
7.1/10 2,069 votes#17 - Breath Play
Season 10 Episode 17 - Aired 3/11/2015
The BAU is called to Wisconsin in search of a serial killer, and the team looks for a connection among the victims for clues to the UnSub. Also, Kate has trouble dealing with her niece, Meg, when she begins acting out.
Director: Hanelle M. Culpepper
Writer: Erik Stiller
7.1/10 1,820 votes#18 - Drive
Season 11 Episode 12 - Aired 1/20/2016
When bodies are discovered in public places throughout Boston, the BAU investigates whether a taxi or ride-share service the victims used before their deaths could lead the team to the UnSub.
Director: Tawnia McKiernan
Writer: Karen Maser
7.1/10 1,797 votes#19 - The Bond
Season 11 Episode 13 - Aired 1/27/2016
The BAU searches for a motive and an UnSub when victims are found in truck stop restrooms along highways throughout the South.
Director: Hanelle M. Culpepper
Writer: Kimberly A. Harrison
7.1/10 1,779 votes#20 - Keeper
Season 12 Episode 4 - Aired 10/26/2016
The BAU team searches for a serial killer along the Appalachian Trail in rural Virginia.
Director: Sharat Raju
Writer: Bruce Zimmerman
7.1/10 1,689 votes#21 - The Anti-Terrorism Squad
Season 12 Episode 5 - Aired 11/9/2016
The BAU investigates if bullying may be the link between two high school students who are the sole survivors after both of their families are killed.
Director: Tawnia McKiernan
Writer: Stephanie Sengupta
7.1/10 1,850 votes#22 - Seek and Destroy
Season 12 Episode 10 - Aired 1/11/2017
BAU team investigates a series of home invasions in upscale neighborhoods in San Diego involving casualties.
Director: Diana Valentine
Writer: Erik Stiller
7.1/10 971 votes#23 - Innocence
Season 14 Episode 4 - Aired 10/24/2018
The BAU steps in to help local law enforcement isolate a prime suspect for a ritualistic murder in Tallahassee, Fla., and soon after a second person who is related to the first victim is killed under similar circumstances. Prentiss is concerned about Garcia’s behavior in the aftermath of her abduction and has an idea of how to help with the healing process.
Director: Lily Mariye
Writer: Stephanie Sengupta
7.1/10 823 votes#24 - Sick and Evil
Season 14 Episode 14 - Aired 1/30/2019
The BAU investigates a string of murders taking place in supposedly haunted houses in Lewiston, Maine.
Director: Rob Bailey
Writer: Erik Stiller
7.2/10 2,537 votes#25 - Machismo
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 4/12/2006
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