Many elements of the original Criminal Minds had disturbing unsubs (unknown subjects) who committed atrocious crimes but always ended up apprehended by a team of FBI profilers, led by Thomas Gibson’s Hotch. After 12 years, however, Gibson left Criminal Minds, leaving Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster) to rise up the ranks.
With Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3 steadily approaching, it’s safe to say Chief Prentiss will return. Paget Brewster has done great work in the Paramount+ reboot, but the modern BAU feels incomplete, especially considering half of the original aren’t there. While Shemar Moore’s Derek Morgan and Matthew Gray Gubler’s Spencer Reid could be easy additions, Hotch can’t return in Criminal Minds: Evolution without a significant narrative overhaul.
9 Hotch Cleans The Blood Off Of Elle’s Wall
Season 2, Episode 1
There were many terrifying unsubs in Criminal Minds, but the two-part event following "The Fisher King" introduced the first big antagonist in the series. While his riddled messages and wild goose chases alone set him apart, the Fisher King also attacked a BAU member. In the Criminal Minds season 1 finale, Elle Greenaway (Lola Glaudini) is nearly killed in her own home.
The scene is simple and, all things considered, as stoic as any other scene involving the stone-faced Unit Chief.
After the BAU foils the unsub’s plans in the season 2 premiere, Hotch cleans Elle’s blood off of her wall. The scene is simple and, all things considered, as stoic as any other scene involving the stone-faced Unit Chief. However, Hotch cleaning up Elle’s blood signified the way he was prepared to do anything for his team, even something as traumatic as tidying up the location of their near-death experience.
8 Hotch Describes His Team To Strauss
Season 2, Episode 23
In Criminal Minds’ Behavioral Analysis Unit, the chain of command dictated that Hotch report to the Section Chief, Erin Strauss (Jayne Atkinson). Strauss first appears in the Criminal Minds season 2 finale, immediately taking issue with Hotch’s leadership and assuming the team needs to be uprooted. When Strauss asks Hotch about the group— Reid, Morgan, Prentiss, Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness), and Jennifer “JJ” Jareau (A.J. Cook)— he says:
Agent Morgan fought to protect his identity from the very people who could save him. Why? Because trust has to be earned[.] Reid's intellect is a shield which protects him from his emotions, and at the moment his shield is under repair. Prentiss overcompensates because she doesn't yet feel she is part of the team. She needn't worry. Everyday, Agent Jareau fields dozens of requests for our team, and every night she goes home hoping she's made the right choices. Garcia fills her office with figurines and color to remind herself to smile as the horror fills her screens.
The way Hotch intimately comprehends his team’s greatest fears is a testament to how much he cares about the BAU, beyond a professional capacity. He can easily chart each member’s strengths and weaknesses because Hotch understands his team implicitly. It’s one thing to know your coworkers, it’s another to be able to perfectly explain who they fundamentally are.
7 Hotch Profiles A Defense Attorney In Court
Season 3, Episode 19
Arguably the most interesting part of Criminal Minds is when the federal profilers do what they do best: profile. Analyzing suspects is such a collaborative process throughout the series, but every person in the FBI comes equipped with their own unique skill set. After a defense attorney questions the legitimacy of behavioral analysis, Hotch gives him (and the rest of the courtroom) a free demonstration.
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The attorney jokingly asks if he can tell what color socks he’s wearing, and, in one of Criminal Minds’ best quotes, Hotch simply says “charcoal gray.” The Unit Chief continues dissecting the lawyer, exposing his betting problem and calmly proving that the BAU exists for a reason. While most of the team would have been able to profile the attorney, nobody else could have done it with such an amazing, deadpan delivery.
6 Hotch Stands His Ground During The Hostage Crisis
Season 4, Episode 3
Criminal Minds season 4, episode 3 is one of the most memorable episodes in the entire series, due in no small part to the danger Reid and Prentiss were in after being taken hostage by a cult community. “Minimal Loss” is a episode based on a real case, which made the unsub even more unsettling. Yet, Prentiss and Reid were only compromised because of an undisclosed raid by the state police.
When the Attorney General of the state tries to confront Hotch, the Unit Chief minces no words as he ignores the AG’s attempts at intimidating him, replying with his own “Get off my crime scene!”
The iconic scene gave away just how invested Hotch was in the hostage crisis, to the point where he could no longer maintain his professionalism and apathy. Hotch’s dedication to his team’s safety revealed an often-hidden fire within him.
5 Hotch Agrees To Investigate The Death Of Emily’s Friend
Season 4, Episode 17
Throughout the original 15 seasons of Criminal Minds, Emily Prentiss had some of the most dramatic storylines, including faking her death and living a double life. Emily is at the forefront of “Demonology” and its central murder, but she’s too invested because the inciting victim was her friend. Although Hotch could have written off the case and forced Emily to let it go, he agrees to investigate and loops in the team.
At certain points throughout the episode, Emily’s personal connection to the case poses a threat to the BAU, and Hotch has to rein her in on more than one occasion. Yet, despite it all, it’s clear that Hotch and the team worked harder knowing that one of their own needed answers. Whether Hotch should have given the investigation the greenlight is up for debate, but he was never going to leave his team hanging.
4 Hotch Kills Foyet
Season 5, Episode 9
George Foyet, also known as "The Reaper" (C. Thomas Howell), is undoubtedly the most memorable unsub in Criminal Minds. Drawing inspiration from real murderers like The Zodiac, The Reaper was a chilling character who took a vested interest in Hotch. Hotch and Foyet became nemeses of sorts, with Hotch’s family— his wife, Haley (Meredith Monroe) and son, Jack (Cade Owens)— becoming mere pieces in Foyet’s game.
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In the 100th episode of Criminal Minds, the feud comes to a head after Foyet kills Haley and tells Hotch he plans to kill Jack, too. The two men battle, but rage overtakes Hotch when Foyet attempts to surrender, and he beats The Reaper to death. The rest of the BAU appear to drag Hotch away and comfort him as the strong, resilient Unit Chief breaks down in tears. It was a moment of pure humanity and added real depth to Hotch’s character.
3 Jack Dresses Up As Hotch For Halloween
Season 6, Episode 6
After Haley’s death, Hotch’s fatherhood became an underlying storyline in Criminal Minds. Guilt over his wife’s ing festered in Hotch, but Jack never blamed him for the atrocious crimes of Foyet. In Criminal Minds season 6, Jack even dresses up as his father for Halloween because, unlike his original costume (Spider-Man), Hotch is a “real” superhero to his son.
The traumatic and heartwarming moments alike gave invaluable insight into Hotch’s true self, as his son proved to be the most important person in the world to him.
While Prentiss and Hotch have many similarities, the relationship between Hotch and his son can’t be replicated. The traumatic and heartwarming moments alike gave invaluable insight into Hotch’s true self, as his son proved to be the most important person in the world to him. Any BAU member can crack a case or catch a killer, but Hotch’s fatherhood was just as principal as his FBI work.
2 Hotch Shoots An Unsub Underwater
Season 6, Episode 22
Nevertheless, a good action sequence still packs a punch. Criminal Minds often had standoffs with unsubs, and the BAU usually either talked the killer down or saved the final victim just in time. After the unsub drives his car into the water in Criminal Minds season 6, episode 22, Morgan immediately dives in to rescue the woman trapped in the enger seat. However, the unsub wakes and tries to stop him.
The brief struggle is interrupted by Hotch, suddenly underwater and in front of the car, who shoots through the windshield to kill the unsub point-blank. It’s hard to imagine anyone else making such a dramatic entrance and calmly taking care of business. Hotch was always calculated and cool, but he never failed to show up for the action-packed episodes of Criminal Minds.
1 Hotch Has Dinner With Garcia
Season 11, Episode 9
Hotch often seemed imive in Criminal Minds, but he wasn’t afraid to show his feelings through his actions. When Garcia has to live in the office while a case wraps up, she’s clearly shaken and upset by the ordeal. She offers to make a “vegetarian omelet” for Hotch, but it’s obvious she isn’t holding her breath. Instead of going home and leaving Garcia alone, Hotch simply asks if she has jalapeños and smiles.
Little moments like him grinning as he cuts peppers are what make Hotch so irreplaceable in Criminal Minds. His apathetic front makes his emotional moments even more powerful, and the quiet but fierce love he has for his team softens the edges of his character. Prentiss makes a great Section Chief in Criminal Minds: Evolution, but she’ll never be able to totally eclipse Hotch. The true version of Criminal Minds left with Hotch, and Evolution feels, at best, like a well-done spinoff.
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Criminal Minds
- Release Date
- September 22, 2005
- Network
- CBS, Paramount+
- Showrunner
- Erica Messer
Cast
Kirsten VangsnessPenelope Garcia
Matthew Gray GublerDr. Spencer Reid
WHERE TO WATCH
Criminal Minds follows an elite team of FBI profilers from the Behavioral Analysis Unit as they analyze the nation's most complex criminal minds, led by experienced agent David Rossi. The team works to anticipate and prevent crimes by understanding the behavior of these dangerous individuals.
- Directors
- Félix Enríquez Alcalá, Rob Bailey, Matthew Gray Gubler, Joe Mantegna, John Gallagher, Douglas Aarniokoski, Guy Norman Bee, Larry Teng, Nelson McCormick, Alec Smight, Charles S. Carroll, Rob Spera, Charles Haid, Diana Valentine, Rob Hardy, Tawnia McKiernan, Bethany Rooney, Karen Gaviola, Sharat Raju, Thomas Gibson, Aisha Tyler, Anna Foerster, Gloria Muzio, John Terlesky
- Writers
- Bruce Zimmerman, Virgil Williams, Edward Allen Bernero, Janine Sherman Barrois, Chris Mundy, Simon Mirren, Debra J. Fisher, Kimberly A. Harrison, Jay Beattie, Dan Dworkin, Karen Maser, Oanh Ly, Stephanie Sengupta, Aaron Zelman, Kirsten Vangsness, Erica Meredith, Andi Bushell, Holly Harold, Alicia Kirk, Jeff Davis, Randy Huggins, Edward Napier, Jayne A. Archer, Chikodili Agwuna
- Creator(s)
- Jeff Davis
- Main Genre
- Crime
- Seasons
- 18
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