Supervisory Special Agent Jason Gideon, who has been on a six-month medical leave from his job as lead profiler of the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) of the FBI, is called back to work. Gideon was on leave due to stress related to the case in Boston of bomber Adrian Bale, the case where Gideon's decision left six agents dead. Unknown to Gideon, who is the best profiler on the team, Unit head Aaron Hotchner is asked to assess Gideon's mental fitness as they work through the first case to see whether Gideon is really ready to return to work full-time. Gideon's first case is that of the Seattle Strangler, who has been kidnapping women and holding them prisoner for no longer than a week before strangling them to death. This case brings Hotch to his old stomping grounds. Also working on the case is Seattle based agent Elle Greenaway, who aspires to join the BAU. The Seattle Strangler's latest kidnap victim is Heather Woodland, in whose email Inbox the Seattle Strangler left an email virus. After Gideon puts together a profile, they believe the unsub is Richard Slessman, a convicted serial rapist. When they pick up Slessman, the pieces do not all fit together, but they do believe Slessman at least knows what is going on. They have to work fast to get the information from Slessman.
—Huggo