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Season One, Episode Eleven - Blood Hungry Episode Wiki

"The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid, and deeds left undone."
- Harriet Beecher Stowe

Not a whole lot of Reid to talk about in this episode. Plenty of Hotch, Gideon and Garcia though, so for those of you that are more into either of those three it's a really good one.

Miscellaneous observations.

• Reid has a habit of bending the plastic bit on the cap of ballpoint pens and twirling it between his fingers.

• One more note on the increase in confidence - earlier episodes Reid was more of a tag-along, but this time he takes charge of the scene in a more assertive way, revealing his theory without first being asked.

• Hotch's mother is from Manassas, Virginia.

• Elle has at least once slipped Reid some of her paperwork.

• First time you hear about Gideon's son. Stephen. Also, Gideon has his number memorized. How many times has he tried to call before?

Season One, Episode Twelve - What Fresh Hell? Episode Wiki

"Evil is always unspectacular and always human, and shares our bed, and eats at our table."
- W.H. Auden

Another plot-centric episode. Very little to say about character interaction/development.

Miscellaneous observations.

• We get to see that Gideon not only keeps photos of successfully saved victims in his wallet, but also in his office. Refers to them as his "family".

• Reid mentions "Officer Friendly with Stranger Danger coloring books." Although he doesn't know it himself yet, it does give In Memoriam that much more impact.

• The team play poker on the plane. Reid explains his constant winning with "poker is mathematics, statistics..." to which Hotch interjects "He's from Vegas."

Season One, Episode Thirteen - Poison Episode Wiki

"What is food to one, is to others bitter poison."
- Lucretius

Yet another plot-centric episode.

Miscellaneous observations

• Reid offers to check the lab reports, showing off his chemistry degree.

• Only real point of BAU-family interest is the conversation between Hotch and JJ at the end of the episode. JJ asks him why he choose to work at the BAU out of all the departments, to which Hotch replies that while he worked as a lawyer he felt like there was so little he could do once the cases came to him. "I wanted to stop them before they got to my desk." He admits that he's still trying to figure out why he ended up in the BAU, but that this is the best explanation he can give.

• It's also worth pointing out that Thomas Gibson played a laywer (Greg Montgomery) on "Dharma&Greg" before he joined Criminal Minds. Towards the end of the series his character was starting to resemble Aaron Hotchner quite a bit.

Season One, Episode Fourteen - Riding the Lightning Episode Wiki

Aaaand another! Damn these plot-centric episodes and their derailing of my teal deer hoard!

"Who so sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed."
- Genesis 9:6

Miscellaneous observations

• Reid is kind of giddy over participating in this historical event - the first serial killer couple ever recorded for VICAP. It shows what kind of love he has for his work in a lot of ways.

• It's stated that Gideon wears his wedding ring despite being divorced. This could be why Reid was so quick to pick up on the wedding ring the suspect wore in "The Fox", while Elle and Hotch didn't - he's been around similar behavior for quite some time.

• We learn that Gideon's son Stephen is 25 years old.

Season One, Episode Fifteen - Unfinished Business Episode Wiki

"In the end, its not the years in your life that count. Its the life in your years."
- Abraham Lincoln

Miscellaneous observations

• Reid shows how enthusiastic he actually is over this job - he's practically starstruck from the idea that he's meeting Max Ryan and repeatedly says how much he thinks they'll be able to learn from him.

• "Repetative thinking is a death-mill for the brain. For complete brain usage, diverse stimulation is the key." - Reid regularly gives that massive brain of his a thorough work-out.

• Speaking of mental work-out, this is the first episode Reid's talent for ciphers come into play.

• The most interesting aspect of this episode is the difference between the old veteran profiler and the young team. I'm not going to go into any great depths with that, but just Elle's concern about becoming like Ryan and lose everything that isn't their job speaks volumes about what kind of life the BAU leads. They have no real life outside of work, their relationship with their families suffer greatly and the divorce rate is high. "This job will eat you up if you let it" applies to every single one of them at one point or another.