The Thirteenth Step (26 Jan. 2011)

While the BAU chases a pair of young lovers on an interstate killing spree, Prentiss is contacted by an old friend with some bad news.

Director:

Douglas Aarniokoski

Writers:

Jeff Davis (creator), Janine Sherman Barrois,

Stars:

Joe Mantegna, Paget Brewster, Shemar Moore

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Joe Mantegna	...	David Rossi
Paget Brewster	...	Emily Prentiss
Shemar Moore	...	Derek Morgan
Matthew Gray Gubler	...	Dr. Spencer Reid
Kirsten Vangsness	...	Penelope Garcia
Thomas Gibson	...	Aaron Hotchner
Adrianne Palicki	...	Sydney Manning
Jonathan Tucker	...	Ray Donovan
Angus Macfadyen	...	Sean McAllister
Deirdre Lovejoy	...	Agent Bates
Gary Hudson	...	Tim
Kevin McCorkle	...	Gary Manning
Colleen McDonnell	...	Karen Manning
Harley Graham	...	Heather Manning
Robert F. Lyons	...	Mr. Donovan

Storyline

The BAU travel to Montana to investigate a mass murder shooting at a gas station. By witness accounts, a young male/female couple were the shooters. Evidence at the scene suggests that the couple are newlyweds, that the shooting was not planned, but that the shooters' primary need is to please each other. The BAU know that they will kill again. When the unsubs end up having another killing spree at an alcoholics support group meeting, the BAU believe that the unsubs are recovering alcoholics themselves who met at a support group meeting, but who have violated what is known as the thirteenth step of getting involved with another in the program. Piecing together the clues, the team are able to identify the male of the couple as Ray Donovan, and ultimately the female as Sydney Manning. Knowing their identities leads to knowing their next intended hit. That results in a standoff with innocent hostages involved. The team use the knowledge of Ray being a sociopath and Sydney being a ...

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Plot Keywords:

drug addict | convenience store | father daughter relationship | father daughter incest | pair of killers | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 January 2011 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mark Gordon Company, The, CBS Television Studios, ABC Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

42 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Goofs

The Montana Record pulled up by Garcia shows that the female unsub was born in Oct. 1985 and was taken from her parents home by family services due to abuse in Aug. 2006 and placed in foster care the following day. (She would have been a 20 year old adult at the time, just 2 months shy of her 21st birthday.)

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Quotes

Emily Prentiss: [voiceover] William Glasser wrote, "What happened in the past that was painful has a great deal to do with what we are today."

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Connections

References The Simpsons (1989)

User Reviews

Oh Great, Natural Born Killers Now

I guess the pull of the cheap, worn out plot-line won out on this episode. There's nothing less interesting than watching two crazy kids in love killing their way through the wasteland because their daddies either loved them too much or too little. As I have no pity for anyone who crosses the line into violent uselessness I could muster no pity for their situations as I only wanted them dead (and now).

Siena Goines is a better actress than the prototype of Juliette Lewis so the episode had that going for it. I'd normally compliment the rest of the cast but everyone else stood there stunned by the headlights of the Natural Born Killers cliché.