Ashes and Dust (21 Mar. 2007)

The team tries to identify a serial arsonist who has escalated to murder.

Director:

John E. Gallagher

Writers:

Jeff Davis (creator), Andrew Wilder

Stars:

Mandy Patinkin, Thomas Gibson, Paget Brewster

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Mandy Patinkin	...	Jason Gideon
Thomas Gibson	...	Aaron Hotchner
Paget Brewster	...	Emily Prentiss
Shemar Moore	...	Derek Morgan
Matthew Gray Gubler	...	Dr. Spencer Reid
A.J. Cook	...	Jennifer Jareau
Kirsten Vangsness	...	Penelope Garcia
Tom Schanley	...	Evan Abby
Anthony Ruivivar	...	Lt. Ricardo Vega
Sean O'Bryan	...	Vincent Stiles
Stacy Edwards	...	Charlotte Cutler
Jordan Garrett	...	Paul Cutler
John Nielsen	...	Dennis Cutler
Mercedes Colon	...	Det. Leah Castro (as Mercedes Colón)
Reed Rudy	...	Tom Dunleivy

Storyline

An arsonist has been at work in San Francisco, setting so far two house fires in three weeks. The two sets of residents - both families - all perished, except for one person. Unlike the work of most serial arsonists, these fires were meant to kill their inhabitants. Before she dies, the sole survivor of the those two initial fires tells Hotch and Prentiss of irregularities from that evening before and during the fire: that someone had turned off the water, that the smoke alarms did not work during the fire, that someone had locked the front door in such a way that they could not escape, and that she noticed a fireman inside the house just before she passed out. That fireman they know to be the unsub. Beyond general characteristics, Garcia finds one connection between the two families: the father figures both worked for different companies accused of LUST (leaking underground storage tanks) by an environmental activist/eco-terrorist (depending on one's viewpoint) group called the Earth...

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Plot Keywords:

house fire | arson | car explosion | stakeout | immolation | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 March 2007 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mark Gordon Company, The, CBS Paramount Network Television, Touchstone Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 42 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

No federal agent wears their weapon exposed in public, unless they're on the HRT or SWAT team. The weapons are kept covered at all times in public.

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Quotes

Aaron 'Hotch' Hotchner: [closing quote, voiceover] Gandhi said "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."

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Soundtracks

"Grey Room"
Written by Damien Rice
Performed by Damien Rice

User Reviews

Music in opening scenes

The music in the opening scenes of Ashes and Dust is Boadicea by Enya. Considering the history of Boadicea, especially the fact that she burned 3 Roman cities in Britain to the ground, it is quite an apt selection for this episode.

The episode is quite disturbing. Arsonists are not usually shown so up close and personal with their victims. The haunting music being played while the killer calmly watches his victims burn is chilling.

I found the episode interesting but the opening scenes were far more dramatic than the rest of the programme.

I think the editor was actually cutting to pictures of the 'happy' family rather than the books on the bookcase, showing the contrast between what had been and what was now. Perhaps I'm wrong but I didn't see it as an homage to "Fahrenheit 451".