Criminal Minds 2.15 - Spencer Reid



Show: Criminal Minds

Episode: S2E15, "Revelations"

Character: Spencer Reid

Whump Factor: 4

"Revelations" finds BAU Special Supervisory Agent Spencer Reid abducted by serial killer Tobias Hankel, whose identity as the unsub was only discovered by the team at the end of the previous episode.

After being separated from fellow BAU agent J.J. Jareau, Reid is subdued and abducted by Tobias. Held captive in a caretaker's hut in a estate graveyard, Reid is beaten and drugged by several of Tobias' multiple personalities, while the rest of his team watches, helpless, on an internet live feed. In the course of the episode, Reid has a seizure and dies for a short period of time before being rescusitated by Tobias.

Tobias also toys with Reid by forcing him to make life-or-death choices about apparently innocent people Tobias deems "sinners;" at one point in the episode, Reid is forced to choose one of his BAU teammates to be killed. Under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs, Reid recalls painful memories about his mother's descent into paranoid schizophrenia.

The episode ends with Reid's rescue by his teammates. Reid's addiction to the painkiller Tobias administered to him out of mercy (Dilaudid) continues covertly for approximately four episodes, to the distress of his teammates. Reid brings up his time with Hankel several times when discussing victimology and near-death experiences in later episodes.