This recap and review contains spoilers for S14E12 Hamelin.
The Pied Piper of Hamelin is a legend from the town of Hamelin, Germany. The legend dates back to the Middle Ages, referencing a piper, dressed in multicolored (“pied”) clothing, who was a rat-catcher hired by the town to lure rats away with his magic pipe. When the citizens refuse to pay for this service, he retaliates by using his instrument’s magical power on their children, leading them away like he did the rats.
Yea, so who knew the Pied Piper tale originated from a town called Hamelin? An episode about luring in children is pretty timely considering some of the stories in the headlines these days. Unlike Law & Order I don’t believe Criminal Minds episodes are ripped from the headlines.
This creepy episode starts out with three children making their way to a park in the middle of the night, appearing to be in some sort of trance. The BAU heads into town and the mayor is immediately in their face. Their only lead is the video from the park. The team brings in a known pedophile who has a van that matches the description of the van the children jumped into.
Unfortunately, this unsub (unknown subject of the investigation) seems very sophisticated, the suspect does not. Another child is taken, this time climbing out of her bedroom window. The BAU warns the community to not take their eyes off of the children, locking doors isn’t enough to keep them safe.
The Mayor’s house is the next target! His son hears a knock at the door. While his mother is preoccupied, the child opens the door, he is taken, and his mother is killed. I knew the Mayor was going to be in the storyline some kind of way. He tells the BAU they took away his son’s computer a few days earlier. When the BAU inspects the computer they find encrypted emails. The sounds and visuals in the videos attached to the emails are meant to evoke euphoria in children and young adults, making them more susceptible to suggestion, thus easier to kidnap.
Garcia uncovers some subliminal messages in the videos, “how does it feel.” All of the children have an extracurricular program in common. One of the teachers at the school had been teaching the children after class without the parents’ permission and was accused of child abuse due to the behavior. This was likely just community gossip, there were no real accusations, but the teacher still lost his job and was the talk of the town.
The teacher has a fifteen-year-old son so the BAU team go in search of the boy to get a lead on where his father may be. The team arrives at the home only to find a noose and a fresh grave in the backyard. The assumption is the boy killed himself because of the bullying, and his father buried him.
The teacher blames the parents in the town for the rumors, leading to his son’s death. Before the team can continue their search for the unsub, he shows up in a park and takes a woman hostage. He waits for the FBI to arrive then kills himself. The children are found using some mud found on the bottom of his shoe, leading the team to an old meat tenderizing plant.
This episode was not nearly as gruesome as others. The mayor’s wife’s head being bashed in and the children being in the trance were creepy but light work for the BAU. Next week Rossi is the star of the show. I like when we get to see how the jobs affects the team or a case creeps into their life.
Criminal Minds airs Wednesday nights on CBS.