The Big Wheel 

The team tracks down a highly obsessive-compulsive killer who targets blonde women and leaves messages to the police asking them to stop him.

Director:

Rob Hardy

Writers:

Jeff Davis (created by), Simon Mirren

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
A.J. Cook	...	Jennifer Jareau
Kirsten Vangsness	...	Penelope Garcia
Thomas Gibson	...	Aaron Hotchner
Alex O'Loughlin	...	Vincent
Erika Alexander	...	Det. Lynne Henderson
Jake Cherry	...	Stanley Wolcott
Martha Madison	...	Kate (as Martha Anne Madison)
Giselle Jones	...	Alice
Jill Klopp	...	Michelle Watson
Terrence Edwards	...	Jay
Quentin Prescott Price	...	Carl

Storyline

Michelle Watson, a Buffalo, New York based real estate agent, is found murdered inside a house at which she was showing. A week later, the Buffalo Police Department receive an audio-less and edited video recording from the murderer's viewpoint of the lead-up to the killing, including shots within the murderer's home, as well as the actual murder itself. From the video, it looks as if it was taken by a hidden camera located somewhere on the upper half of the murderer's body. From the actions on the video, the BAU can also tell that the murderer suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Reviewing past cases in the Buffalo area within the past ten years and another video visible in the background of the video sent makes them suspect that this murder was done by a serial killer. Two other key pieces of information on the video are the number "29", circled by the murderer on Michelle's day planner, and the murderer scrawling the words "HELP ME". The BAU have a race for time as they ...

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Plot Keywords:

overhead camera shot | murder of mother | murder | obsessive compulsive | buffalo new york | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 April 2009 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

CBS Paramount Network Television

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Vincent's pea coat is a standard Navy issued pea coat.

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Goofs

Garcia points out that the footage of Vincent's mother's death is analog and has been digitized. She also says that the footage is seriously degraded. Whenever we see the tape being played (or the ripped version of it), we occasionally see a few horizontal degradation lines appear on the screen for a few frames and they are completely still. The only consumer camcorder formats available at the time were Betamax and VHS-C (and 1983 was the first year they were introduced). For analog tape formats like this, degradation lines would be moving downward. What is shown on the TV looks more like the loss of part of a signal from a TV broadcast.

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Quotes

Penelope Garcia: [about a serial killer] He sure likes his blondes. Not a good date, though - too stabby.

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Connections

References Flashdance (1983)

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Soundtracks

Criminal Minds Theme
Composed by Mark Mancina

User Reviews

Outstanding performance by Alex O'Loughlin!

In this very moving episode of Criminal Minds, we see another outstanding performance by the charismatic and mega-talented Alex O'Loughlin. With the brilliant portrayal of UNSUB Vincent, he shows his unique ability to make his audience feel a connection with the "bad guy" and see his humanity. We can't help but feel pity for Vincent, but we also see his strength and dignity with which he tries to break out of the terrible repetitive cycles he's locked in. We witness a marvelous character transformation that opens our eyes to how extraordinarily precious life is. O'Loughlin's finely nuanced acting and Simon Mirren's brilliant writing created one of the most memorable episodes of any crime series ever.