A vigilante's series of murders leads the team to an eccentric cartoonist, whose work has influenced the killer. Sam receives an award from the American Association of Women in Law Enforcement.

Cycle of Violence

Ally Walker

Robert Davi

Julian McMahon

Roma Maffia

Peter Frechette

Erica Gimpel

Caitlin Wachs

Heather McComb

Shiek Mahmud-Bey

Die Beautiful

Lethal Obsession

AKA The Protean Man    As Bailey (Robert Davi) clings to life in an Atlanta hospital, Sam and the team are forced to take on a high profile case involving an international serial killer. The murderer, named Ashok Dupree, has escaped from an Indian prison and come to the U.S. for the purpose of killing a celebrity, so that he too can become world renown. While working to bring the killer to justice, Sam (Ally Walker) must convince herself and the Atlanta PD that she is innocent of the murder that Jack actually committed in the finale of last season. Also, John (Julian McMahon) decides to return to the VCTF, and Bailey's daughter, Frances (Heather McComb), now on the run, contacts John to check on her father's condition.

Ambition in the Blood

Four people have been brutally beaten to death in Atlanta. The VCTF is called in to investigate the seemingly random murders. Though there are no eyewitnesses, people near the crime scenes recall hearing an eerie wailing sound right around the time of the murder. Sam (Ally Walker) soon discovers another connection, all the murders happened in the rain. The team consults with a psychologist who specializes in seasonal disorders. He informs them of a syndrome where people become extremely violent in response to certain types of weather. Meanwhile, Jack waits at a prison gate for Sharon Lesher (Traci Lords), a violent felon, who is being released on parole. Later, he takes her back to his lair and it becomes clear this is the beginning of an ""unholy alliance."" Back in Atlanta, Bailey (Robert Davi) laments the fact that the police plan to charge his daughter Frances (Heather McComb) with attempted murder once they determine her whereabouts. Sam and the team interrogate suspects prone to fi

Primal Scream

Jack's back and he's wreaking havoc with his new lethal protÃ©gÃ©, Sharon Lesher (Traci Lords). The VCTF is summoned to New Orleans when the murder of a research librarian has the earmarkings of a Jack kill. Once on the scene, Sam (Ally Walker) is perplexed by what appears to be inconsistencies with Jack's prior modus operandi. Though certain Jack is responsible for the murder, she considers rethinking her profile of him. To that end, she consults one of her old professors to get a fresh perspective on the case. Sam and the professor agree that Jack is beginning a new chapter in his obsession with Sam. Two more murders occur in rapid succession and it becomes clear Jack is sending clues as to what this new chapter will entail. Bailey (Robert Davi) receives a call from his fugitive daughter, Francis (Heather McComb), who refuses to heed her father's pleas to return to Atlanta. George (Peter Frechette) is confronted by his past misdeeds when a corrupt attorney asks him to use his computer

It Cuts Both Ways

When a hospital is the target of a bombing attack, the VCTF is called in to investigate. It's clear once the team arrives that this is no random attack. They are dealing with a highly skilled explosives expert who obviously has an agenda in mind. Bailey (Robert Davi) summons Coop (A Martinez) to Atlanta to assist with the case. His return is awkward for he and Sam (Ally Walker) as they have previously ended their romantic relationship. The bomber continues his lethal campaign by killing seemingly unrelated individuals. Sam and the team race to establish a relationship between the victims. Meanwhile, Bailey must deal with Frances's (Heather McComb) legal problems. The DA sees her case as a stepping stone for political office and is bound and determined to see her do time for shooting her father and fleeing prosecution. George (Peter Frechette) also faces difficulties as he continues to be pressured by an old acquaintance to embezzle funds from a local bank. This ""pressure"" becomes threa

Second Best

The VCTF team is on the trail of a serial killer who seems to be taking aim at people he deems corrupt. Three Chicago murders happen in quick succession: a former President of the Federal Reserve Board, a high class call-girl, and a Chicago policeman. Jim Henegar, the Chicago detective who is investigating the murders, is reluctant to relinquish control of the case, and becomes a hindrance to Sam and the team. The evidence leads to a Judge, whose son was corrupted in one way or another by the three victims. Their influence eventually led the son to be arrested and subsequently results in his murder while serving a year sentence in jail. After Henegar kills MacGruder in 'self-defense' Sam and Bailey testify before a panel of judges to try and prove that the Detective had committed murder in order to cover up his own history of corruption. However, they fail; it seems that corruption runs deep. Meanwhile Bailey, who is still healing from the shotgun wound inflicted by his daughter, Franc

Power Corrupts

Coop's death takes its toll on Sam and the rest of the VCTF team. Hoping it will help Sam to regroup emotionally, Bailey and Angel persuade her to join some of her old friends at a college reunion. There, she and Angel reunite with friends Colleen, Drew, Greg, Monica, Tracy, and Roy. An enjoyable holiday gathering quickly becomes a nightmare when Colleen is murdered. Angel and Monica urge Sam to investigate the case and bring their friend's killer to justice. All the evidence points to Colleen's husband Drew, whom Sam never liked. Soon another friend, Roy, who may have been a witness to the crime, is murdered. Sam sets out to prove Drew guilty of both crimes. Just when she finds the evidence she needs, Drew is found dead - the victim of an apparent suicide. Back in Atlanta, Sharon strikes out on her own and murders a shop clerk. The team investigates and starts to make headway in their search for Jack and his lethal accomplice. At Jack's lair, Sharon learns of Jack's obsession with Sam

Old Acquaintance

Once the prime suspect in the 'Old Acquaintance' murder mystery is found dead, Sam (Ally Walker) determines that one of her friends, Greg or Monica , is the likely killer. With the VCTF hot on his trail, a mortally wounded Jack escapes to his lair to recuperate from being shot by Sam. In attempting to pursue Jack, as well as the killer of her friends, Sam begins to wonder if it's all becoming a bit too overwhelming. Frances (Heather McComb) attempts to give herself a birthday 'present' by seducing John (Julian McMahon). The plan fails and John calls Sam to take the ever rebellious teen home to her father. This leads to Sam and Frances having a heart to heart in which the young woman shares a painful memory from her early upbringing. Bailey (Robert Davi) asks Marcus Peyton (Shiek Mahmud-Bey) to join the VCTF team and he accepts, to John's dismay. Sam uncovers evidence that points to Greg as the 'old Acquaintance' killer and she and Bailey apprehend him just as he tries to leave town. Ba

Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Quick

AKA Sense of Completion    When a murder occurs that bears all the markings of an unsolved serial case from the 1950's, Sam and the VCTF team are called in to investigate. Analysis of the case's forty year old evidence yields a fingerprint not previously detected. This enables the team to finally I.D. the killer, who turns out to have committed suicide prior to the most recent murder. Sam talks to a writer who researched the original case and learns of a young boy who claimed to have witnessed one of the crimes. That boy, whose story was not believed at the time, is later revealed to be the copycat killer. Jack recuperates from his gun shot would at the home of his extremely wealthy, extremely deranged mother, Miriam. Meanwhile, Sharon (aka Jill) decides to redecorate Jack's lair by eliminating all traces of Sam. When a now healthy Jack returns to the lair, he is enraged by the changes Sharon has made. Sam's in-laws come to town to see Chloe perform in a school play and are angered whe

Victims of Victims

A killer's belief he was switched at birth leads him to kill those he feels stole his identity. Two men, born at the same time and in the same hospital as the killer, are brutally murdered. The VCTF is called in once the link between the two victims is established. Evidence leads the team to an insane woman who believes her baby was switched at birth. The woman swears the badly deformed baby she was given in the hospital, was actually the child of someone else. She was never able to prove that charge, and unfortunately for the baby given to her, she was a cruel and abusive parent. Sam quickly determines the killer is the product of this abuse. When the team and, accidentally, the killer learn that the mother's claim was proven invalid, Sam profiles the murderer will go after the one living health worker responsible for giving him over to a life of cruelty. Meanwhile, Jack kills his mother's butler once he learns the man has been following him at his mother's behest. Sam is concerned ab

Birthright

Two men are killed, and in both instances, their organs are mysteriously delivered to hospitals minutes before they are needed for transplant surgery. Sam and the team profile the murders and determine their suspect is someone who was probably an organ recipient in the past. Now he is returning the favor by providing organs for people with his same rare blood type. Eventually, the team sets up a sting that draws out the killer and culminates in the man committing suicide so that one last time, he can pass on the gift of life. Art Behar, Bailey's boss, sets him up to take a fall in a witness tampering scandal. John, Marcus, and George find the evidence that clears Bailey and nails Behar once and for all. Jack is displeased when he learns Sharon has struck up a friendship with the proprietor of a local newsstand. He ultimately kills the man to assert to Sharon that he is her one and ONLY friend. Chloe is followed by a man who continues to take her photograph. By episode end, it is learne

Dying to Live

Ritualized murders are occurring in Atlanta and in neighboring states. The victims are stabbed and their homes are vandalized with gang-like graffiti. The VCTF is called in and their investigation soon focuses on the son of two of the victims. His calm, dispassionate demeanor suggests to Sam that the man may be a suspect in his own parents' murder. Further investigation reveals that the son is under the influence of a ""Heaven's Gate""-like cult. Sam goes undercover to infiltrate the cult, but is deemed her unworthy for their collective. Sam theorizes that the cult's leader is making his disciples kill their families in order to prove their loyalty to him. The team sets up a sting to capture the leader, but are foiled when the cult's member, aware the VCTF is closing in, commit mass suicide by blowing up their compound. Frances causes discord between John and Bailey.

Ties That Bind

AKA Textbook    Ohio's cities are being terrorized by a seemingly random sniper. Everyday citizens as well as police officers are being attacked. The state's governor summons the VCTF. Once on the scene, Sam, Bailey and the rest of the team are perplexed by the sniper's ability to shoot from increasingly longer distances. This ability reminds Bailey of an elite task force he encountered while serving in Vietnam. Bailey obtains from Casper, his intelligence source, the names of the task force members. Meanwhile, Sam uses clues left at the crime scenes to put together a profile that suggests the sniper is trying to create his own mythology, much like the Archer in Greek literature. George comes up with a suspect once he merges Casper's list and Sam's profile. Bailey, haunted by memories of the atrocities committed by the sniper task force, sets out to take down the killer and does so in the episode's exciting climax.    John, George and Bailey look into Lou Handleman who has tried to dis

Shoot to Kill

The bodies of badly beaten men are being found in the Boston metropolitan area. Sam and the team quickly surmise these men were involved in some sort of deadly ultimate fighting match. Searching local hospitals, they find a participant in one of the fights. Though he reveals little, Sam is able to put together from talking to him and researching the backgrounds of the victims, that all were desperate men in need of money. All the men have a bookie in common and the team eventually gets this man to confess his role in the murders. It turns out he supplies the names of these desperate men to a man who then manipulates them to fight for money. He then coerces them with drugs to fight to the death so that he can satisfy his own demented bloodlust. To catch the fight's mastermind in the act, John goes undercover as one of the fighters. The episode concludes with Sam and the team racing to find John before he too becomes a victim of this lethal bloodsport.

Bloodlust

A serial rapist is terrorizing women in the Florida Panhandle. Sam and the VCTF are called in to investigate. The victims are able to provide the team with a number of clues which Sam uses to form her profile of the assailant. In the midst of the investigation, Sam butts heads with a local female sheriff. The woman continuously criticizes the VCTF's handling of the case and more importantly, their handling of the victims. In an emotional scene, Sam confronts the deputy and eventually learns the woman was once a rape victim herself. The two bond when they realize they both know what it is like to be the object of a deranged man's obsession. Meanwhile back in Atlanta, John and Marcus get a hot tip on the fugitive, Sharon Lesher. Desperate for cash, she has made it know on the street that she is looking for one of her old partners in crime. The episode concludes with the team springing a trap for Jack's ""Jill."" Sam corners Sharon as she tries to escape and momentarily wrestles with the id

Every Five Minutes

A desperate father kidnaps Sam's roommate Angel in a last ditch effort to save his son from the electric chair. The man's son has recently been convicted of murder committed during a robbery. The father believes his son to be an innocent bystander and wants Sam and the VCTF to prove it. To save Angel, Sam and the VCTF investigate the case and find little, at first, to prove the man correct. The father gives them the names of two potential suspects and Sam interrogates both. She also talks with the incarcerated son. Her discussions, along with forensic evidence, lead Sam to determine the son is in fact innocent of the murder, but is unfortunately an accomplice in the robbery. Once she knows the truth, Sam is faced with the difficult task of telling the father what he least wants to hear, that his son is indeed guilty of a crime.

Breaking Point

Sam and the VCTF investigate the ""prime time kidnapper,"" a madman who has a pathological need for media attention and projects his mania onto an attractive but terrified local TV anchorwoman (guest star Anna Galvin) whom he wants to exclusively cover the prisoner exchanges. Elsewhere, Sam worries about what's really behind her daughter Chloe's reluctance to perform in the children's ballet, and the murderous Jack of All Trades makes plans for his imprisoned Jill.

VCTF is invited to an on-going investigation on the murder of a teen beauty. She was killed a year ago, and no arrests have been made so far. They find a killer on death row with matching breaking and entering technique, but Sam thinks the convict didn't kill his victims.

The team tries to catch a diabolical killer determined to take revenge on people who are so blinded by their love of money that they can't see the repercussions their actions have on the other side of the world, starting the with the setting off of incendiary car bombs outside a wealthy business office.  The game between Jack and VCTF begins with Sharon as bait to lure Jack to the prison so they can catch him.  But Jack has other plans.  Meanwhile, Sam pays a visit to her long estranged father for the first time in 10 years. As she struggles to both deal with her father and the elusive avenging killer still committing bombings across the country, she soon makes the final connection to the killer in order to catch him.

The Root of All Evil (1)

The Root of All Evil (2)

Rachel Burke is a criminal profiler, one of the best, actually.

She, along with a sophisticated team of specialists on the FBI's Violent Crimes Task Force in Atlanta, investigates crimes throughout the country.

Together, they solve the toughest of cases while trying to live their lives as best they can.

Cycle of Violence

Seasons4

Season 2 Episodes20

Cast9

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Episode Summary