Criminal Minds (TV Series)

Limelight (2008)

Joe Mantegna: David Rossi

Quotes 

• David Rossi : When I interviewed Bundy, he had a theory about pornography. He said "If you wanna stop people from becoming like me, don't burn 'Catcher in the Rye'."

  Aaron Hotchner : "Burn 'Hustler'." I read your books, too, Dave.

• Aaron Hotchner : It's unacceptable behavior. Why do you keep defending her?

  David Rossi : Because I know what she is. She is me, twenty years ago.

  Aaron Hotchner : She is nothing like you, Dave.

  David Rossi : Come on Hotch, I know what people think. I took serial killer's mass market. Now everyone knows their names, but not the victims, right? Somewhere along the line, I put myself first. I admit it. I can't go back and change it. But it's not too late for her.

• David Rossi : [closing quote, voiceover]  "For we pay a price for everything we get or take in this world, and although ambitions are well worth having, they are not to be cheaply won." - Lucille Maud Montgomery.

• David Rossi : [opening quote, voiceover]  "I know indeed what evil I intend to do. But stronger than all my afterthoughts is my fury. Fury that brings upon mortals the greatest evils." - Euripides.

• Dr. Spencer Reid : [entering the Philly field office with Rossi]  How do you get used to the staring? I feel like I perpetually have something stuck in my teeth.

  David Rossi : You learn to ignore it.

• Jill Morris : David Rossi in my office. Somebody pinch me.

  David Rossi : You must be Agent Morris.

  Jill Morris : Jill, please. Can I take you anything? Coffee?

  David Rossi : Actually, if you don't mind, I'd like for Dr. Reid and I to get to this.

  Jill Morris : Dr. Reid. Thank you both for coming. You won't be disappointed.

• Jill Morris : So you've come to say goodbye.

  David Rossi : I'm afraid so. We've got real cases in Quantico. Cases with bodies.

  Jill Morris : But if I am right about this thing, there will be plenty of those.

  David Rossi : It was nice meeting you.

  Jill Morris : [Rossi turns to leave]  There was something else in the boxes. In "Eyes of the Predator", you wrote that collection of integumentary items is definite precursor: skin, nails... hair. This guy is for real.

  [she puts an evidence baggie with a clump of hair in it on the table] 

  David Rossi : I'll call my team. We've got work to do.

  Jill Morris : Great.

• Aaron Hotchner : With four known victims, we should start by re-interviewing friends and family. We're looking for a white male in his thirties to forties. And with his knowledge of circuitry and wiring, we think that he's either an electrician or an electrical engineer.

  David Rossi : It's a job that may give him access to a victim's home or workplace, the opportunity to observe his targets.

  Emily Prentiss : They're attractive, professional women. He sees them as strong, righteous, unobtainable. So he seeks to tear them down, to reduce them to base sexual creatures and punish them.

  Aaron Hotchner : He's a true sexual sadist. A typology we refer to as anger-excitation, meaning he becomes sexually aroused by the suffering of his victims.

  David Rossi : Killing these women is an afterthought. Their pain is what he's after. And he takes his time, to exact maximum stimulation.

  Philly Agent : What about his trophies? He keeps their clothes, right?

  Emily Prentiss : Yes. We believe he's using them for rehearsal fantasies. By dressing as his victims, he can relive the torture. It's during this time that he most likely pleasures himself in order to reinforce his association between suffering and gratification.

  Aaron Hotchner : And when he becomes dissatisfied with this, he seeks out a new victim.

  David Rossi : Keep in mind he's been this for a long time, and he's been thinking about doing it most of his life. He'll continue to evolve, finding new ways of challenging himself, increasing his stimulation threshold. There are no boundaries for this man.

• Aaron Hotchner : You got something?

  David Rossi : Not sure. An old storage unit; case agent from the Philly field office sent it to me.

  Aaron Hotchner : Somebody you know?

  David Rossi : She knows me. You know.

  Aaron Hotchner : Ah, a fan. Your world is a very crowded place, isn't it?

  David Rossi : You'd be surprised.

  Aaron Hotchner : This is detailed.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : Future tense. They're fantasies.

  David Rossi : That agent thinks it could more than that.

  Aaron Hotchner : There's more of this?

  David Rossi : A few boxes in the field office. I'd like to drive up there, look at the rest of the material. Make a judgment from that.