photo: cbs
Internal Affairs
Original Air Date: Dec 2, 2015
Caitlin- Senior Staff Writer
caitlin@thetwocentscorp.com
In the immediate aftermath of today’s terrible shootings in California, I’d like to extend my sympathies to the victims and their loved ones, and my gratitude to the law enforcement officials who have been working for hours to protect the public. Too often, real life is too like what we see on TV.
Tonight’s episode involves two plotlines: a case for the team and a separate investigation Hotch is asked to follow up on with a connection to the men after Garcia. Did I mention the team’s case involves a man who steals and switches his victims’ faces? I guess we’re all watching a slasher flick now.
The case starts with two women meeting in a bar- one who uses the alias “Benjamin Franklin” and gives the other some very odd personal advice before walking off. Meanwhile, Hotch is called to his own mysterious meeting by a man in a car who takes him to a higher-up in a lounge. That man asks him to investigate a possible DA mole named Bernard. It seems all this could have a connection to the Dirty Dozen, but for now, Hotch and Rossi agree to keep it between them.
Garcia knows something is going on, and she’s hopeful it means she’ll be released from witness protection soon, because she is going totally stir crazy. Still, she updates the team on the gory details of what they’ll be looking into. The victim who has turned up dead and two more- currently trapped in what looks like a barn- are all agents investigating the drug cartel on the Texas/Mexico border. As the team (minus Hotch) flies out, Sarah and John appear to be tortured by a mysterious figure.
Hotch approaches Bernard directly. He’s already dealing with people being killed mysteriously, one of whom is a friend of an informant of is. Bernard seems just as suspicious of Hotch as Hotch is of him. They’re both trying to play each other, and soon, Bernard starts asking questions about the Dirty Dozen. Soon after that, his informant turns up dead from a car bomb. Hotch is very cautious entering his own car on his way to a meeting with Bernard, but it’s Bernard who is killed by a round of gunfire.
Meanwhile, JJ and Lewis’s efforts following up on a pyramid of potential suspects take them to a bar where Sarah met a mysterious figure. Only when faced with tax investigation does the bartender admit that figure was a “soccer mom” type- a woman who looks innocent and knows it. She stays calm and smug when she’s taken in- right until the ladies threaten to spill her drug connections to her husband. Apparently, she set up meetings between the victims and a man who goes by “George Washington”.
Soon, John turns up dead, having been dragged away by the unsub in front of a horrified Sarah. With her being the only one left alive, the team must race against time to save her. They give the profile while our suspect, who we will soon come to know as Jacob, sits watching some surgery show on television. That’s creepy, but it’s hardly the worst part. The worst part is where Jacob goes back after Sarah wearing John’s face as a mask. I really, really need a drink after that one.
Back to Hotch. Several folks who clearly don’t watch enough crime drama are trying to say Barnard’s death was a suicide. This is obviously not true, and his co-worker knows it. She has a flash drive that Bernard gave her for safekeeping that shows there is indeed a mole- likely within the NSA. He was set up, seemingly by the guys who put Hotch on him in the first place. Indeed, mysterious higher-up is arrested, but investigations stall, which, unfortunately, means Garcia is still stuck where she is.
While Hotch was following this trail back the way it came, Lewis and Morgan were following Garcia’s tip out to Jacob’s place of business. Unfortunately, as her cell phone signal cuts out, she’s not able to warn them that Jacob (who starts watching through a camera installed in a pay phone) actually is the unsub until Morgan drives out to be able to reach her, leaving Lewis on location alone. Jacob finds her and attacks her with a taser before Morgan can get back to the scene.
Thankfully, he does get back in time and winds up in a shootout with Jacob, eventually fatally wounding him. Lewis recovers and tracks down an understandably distraught Sarah. The team heads home and so does Hotch, meeting up with a Garcia who is having a very hard timing putting up her usual cheery front. But she is still our Garcia, and she and Hotch enjoy some vegetarian omelets together. Still don’t think it will get the image of Jacob wearing John’s face out my head, but at least it’s sweet.
Next Week: Future Perfect