Criminal Minds: Season 1

2005 · 22 episodes · ★ 7.6

What Season 1 of Criminal Minds

The FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit works out of Quantico, Virginia, building psychological profiles of killers and the crime scenes they leave behind. When the perpetrator is unidentified, they call him "Unsub" or "Unknown Subject." Jason Gideon, the supervisor and lead profiler, heads the team alongside Aaron Hotchner. They're joined by Spencer Reid, a genius with a photographic memory and an expert in geographic profiling; Derek Morgan, the tactical trainer; Elle Greenaway, a specialist in sex crimes; Penelope Garcia, the technical analyst; and JJ Jareau, the media liaison. Each case pits them against predators they must stop before they strike again, and the agents study their emotional triggers to stay one step ahead.

22episodes

Sep 22, 2005premiered

May 10, 2006latest episode

15.2 hrtotal runtime

Season 1 Episodes

1x01 Extreme Aggressor
Sep 22, 2005 · 40 min · ★ 7.4
After a fourth woman goes missing in as many months, the team is brought in to track down the guy before he kidnaps again. Hotch is asked to secretly evaluate Gideon to see if he is ready to work full time again.
Directing: Richard Shepard · Writing: Jeff Davis · Starring: Joanne Whalley, DJ Qualls, Alonso Oyarzun, Lukas Haas
1x02 Compulsion
Sep 28, 2005 · 43 min · ★ 7.6
The team of investigators tries to capture a serial arsonist who has been terrorizing a college campus.
Directing: Charles Haid · Writing: Jeff Davis · Starring: Jennifer Hall, Evan Lee Dahl, Lukas Haas, Kristen Caldwell
1x03 Won't Get Fooled Again
Oct 5, 2005 · 41 min · ★ 7.4
Gideon and his team track down a copycat bomber terrorizing a quiet community.
Directing: Kevin Bray · Writing: Aaron Zelman · Starring: Joan Blair, Tom Virtue, Aria Wallace, Jay Acovone
1x04 Plain Sight
Oct 12, 2005 · 40 min · ★ 7.6
The BAU team travels to San Diego to stop a rapist and murderer who commits his crimes in the middle of the day.
Directing: Matt Earl Beesley · Writing: Edward Allen Bernero · Starring: Ron Roggé, Daniel Zacapa, Sunkrish Bala, Kirk B.R. Woller
1x05 Broken Mirror
Oct 19, 2005 · 42 min · ★ 7.7
The BAU investigates the kidnapping of a U.S. District Attorney's daughter and determines the kidnapper isn't seeking money -- he's after her twin sister.
Directing: Guy Norman Bee · Writing: Judith McCreary · Starring: Elisabeth Harnois, Matt Letscher, Meredith Monroe
1x06 L.D.S.K.
Nov 2, 2005 · 40 min · ★ 8.2
The BAU is asked to identify a killer who is shooting at victims in broad daylight, and the team works with local law enforcement officers to recreate one of the shootings.
Directing: Ernest R. Dickerson · Writing: Andrew Wilder · Starring: Marcus Giamatti, Tony Denison, Timothy Omundson
1x07 The Fox
Nov 9, 2005 · 42 min · ★ 7.9
The BAU profiles a serial killer who takes families hostage and lives with them as a father figure during what is supposed to be their family vacations.
Directing: Guy Norman Bee · Writing: Simon Mirren · Starring: Abraham Benrubi, Tony Todd, Colton Shires, Dameon Clarke
1x08 Natural Born Killer
Nov 16, 2005 · 42 min · ★ 7.5
When an undercover cop in Baltimore involved in a mob investigation goes missing, the BAU believes a serial killer rather than organized crime has something to do with his disappearance. The probe leads to several unsolved missing persons cases.
Directing: Peter Ellis · Writing: Erica Messer, Debra J. Fisher · Starring: Deborah Geffner, Francesco Quinn, Joseph Sikora, Gonzalo Menendez
1x09 Derailed
Nov 23, 2005 · 41 min · ★ 7.7
Elle, along with many others, is held hostage on a train in Texas by a paranoid schizophrenic who is convinced that the U.S. government is monitoring him. Hotchner and Gideon are forced to play into the man's fantasy to save the people he has taken hostage.
Directing: Félix Alcalá · Writing: Jeff Davis · Starring: Chris Bauer, Susan Gibney, M.C. Gainey, Jeff Kober
1x10 The Popular Kids
Nov 30, 2005 · 41 min · ★ 7.6
The team investigates the death of one teen, and the disappearance of another , which may be linked to a satanic ritual.
Directing: Andy Wolk · Writing: Edward Allen Bernero · Starring: Will Rothhaar, Aaron Paul, Chris Butler
1x11 Blood Hungry Mid-Season Finale
Dec 14, 2005 · 43 min · ★ 7.3
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.
Directing: Charles Haid · Writing: Edward Napier · Starring: Penelope Windust, Lindsay Crouse, Mark Rolston, Kris Lemche
1x12 What Fresh Hell?
Jan 11, 2006 · 43 min · ★ 7.5
When a young girl is abducted in broad daylight from a playground in a seemingly safe neighborhood, the BAU team initially believes her father is responsible. When he is able to provide an alibi, the team is forced to look for clues where the girl lives to determine who is really responsible.
Directing: Adam Davidson · Writing: Judith McCreary · Starring: Ned Vaughn, Tracey Needham, Dwier Brown, Judith Scott
1x13 Poison
Jan 18, 2006 · 40 min · ★ 7.3
The team travels to New Jersey where several people have been poisoned, one of them fatally with LSD, ten times more potent than the street version.
Directing: Thomas J. Wright · Writing: Aaron Zelman · Starring: Peter MacKenzie, Braeden Lemasters
1x14 Riding the Lightning
Jan 25, 2006 · 43 min · ★ 7.8
After interviewing a couple on death row for serial murders, Gideon suspects that the woman is actually innocent. But since she's set to be executed in two days, it's a race against time to prove it.
Directing: Chris Long · Writing: Simon Mirren · Starring: Jeannetta Arnette, Roger Aaron Brown, Constance Towers, Michael B. Silver
1x15 Unfinished Business
Mar 1, 2006 · 41 min · ★ 7.9
A serial killer reappears after 20 years of silence and contacts the BAU with the promise he will kill another victim in the next five days.
Directing: J. Miller Tobin · Writing: Erica Messer, Debra J. Fisher · Starring: Geoff Pierson, Aaron Lustig, Marc Gomes
1x16 The Tribe
Mar 8, 2006 · 43 min · ★ 7.6
The BAU team believes a dangerous cult may be responsible for the mass murders of five college students in an empty house.
Directing: Matt Earl Beesley · Writing: Andrew Wilder · Starring: Chris Ellis, Skyler Shaye, Chad Allen, Robert Curtis Brown
1x17 A Real Rain
Mar 22, 2006 · 42 min · ★ 7.5
The BAU unit travels to NYC to investigate a series of murders that appears to have been committed by a vigilante conducting revenge on former criminals who have been released by the justice system.
Directing: Gloria Muzio · Writing: Chris Mundy · Starring: Mike Muscat, Ethan Phillips, Tonya Pinkins, Dennis Boutsikaris
1x18 Somebody's Watching
Mar 29, 2006 · 42 min · ★ 7.7
Reid finds himself in danger when he falls for a starlet whose stalker has turned into a killer.
Directing: Paul Shapiro · Writing: Edward Napier · Starring: Andrew St. John, Amber Heard, Melanie Mayron, Ian Anthony Dale
1x19 Machismo
Apr 12, 2006 · 41 min · ★ 7.5
The BAU team travels to Mexico to aid in the capture of a serial killer who is targeting elderly women.
Directing: Guy Norman Bee · Writing: Aaron Zelman · Starring: Margarita Cordova, Norma Maldonado, Carlos Gómez, Carlos Sanz
1x20 Charm and Harm
Apr 19, 2006 · 41 min · ★ 7.7
The BAU works to capture a serial killer who has evaded capture by altering his appearance.
Directing: Félix Alcalá · Writing: Erica Messer, Debra J. Fisher · Starring: Robert Pine, Mark Totty, Andy Comeau, Michael Catlin
1x21 Secrets and Lies
May 3, 2006 · 42 min · ★ 7.5
The BAU works with the CIA to identify a mole within that organization, whose leaks are putting operatives at risk.
Directing: Matt Earl Beesley · Writing: Simon Mirren · Starring: Devika Parikh, Navid Negahban, Andrea Gabriel, Brett Arthur
1x22 The Fisher King (1) Season Finale
May 10, 2006 · 41 min · ★ 8.0
While on their vacations, each of the team receives a clue from a psychopathic killer challenging them to save his next victim.
Directing: Edward Allen Bernero · Writing: Edward Allen Bernero · Starring: Gina Garcia, Jane Lynch, Meredith Monroe, Brian Appel