Because of his work on their last case, Prentiss puts in motion Alvez's reinstatement to full SSA status, which won't be processed until after their next case which means he will be staying behind at Quantico with a less than happy Garcia on that case. That case brings the rest of the team to Plymouth, New Hampshire where parents Kellen and Grace Butler were murdered in their bedroom, and their eight year old daughter, Ruby Butler, abducted in what looks to be a home invasion. Their initial thought, from precedent in such cases, that the unsub is someone who was within the Butlers' social circle changes as the case proceeds. They begin to understand that the unsub's motivation is abducting specific types of eight year old girls, he who doesn't believe the girls' parents are worthy of their daughter, ultimately reassigning the abducted girl to who he considers a more worthy parent or set of parents already within her social realm. To stay ahead of the unsub, the team has to keep the nature of what's going on from the media, which may not be the easiest thing to do, media exposure which could risk the lives of the abducted girls instead. The team has to figure out how the unsub has been monitoring his targets within the narrow scope available to him. They may not yet realize that the unsub has a specific end play to resolve an outstanding issue in his life. Through this case, Rossi ponders a negative response to an indirect question asked before heading to Plymouth, he instead wanting a positive response on the matter.
—Huggo