Criminal Minds (TV Series)

Elephant's Memory (2008)

Matthew Gray Gubler: Dr. Spencer Reid

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Quotes 

• Derek Morgan : You said I was a high school jock. I was, but not at first. My freshman year, I was five foot three. I weighed a buck twenty soaking wet, so trust me when I tell you I got my ass kicked every day. So the following summer, I hit the weights. And I got lucky, I grew six inches. But it was never about vanity, Reid. It was about survival.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : I was in the library and, um... Harper Hillman comes up to me, and she tells me that, uh... Alexa Lisbon wants to meet me behind the field house. Alexa Lisbon's like, easily, the prettiest girl in school.

  Derek Morgan : So what happened? Alexa wasn't there?

  Dr. Spencer Reid : No, she was there. So was the entire football team. They... stripped me naked and tied me to a goalpost. So many kids were there, you know, just watching.

  Derek Morgan : Nobody tried to stop it?

  Dr. Spencer Reid : I begged... I begged them to, but they just... just watched. And... finally, they got bored and they left. It was like midnight when I finally got home. And my mom had... mom was having one of her episodes, so she didn't even realize I was late.

  Derek Morgan : You never told her what happened?

  Dr. Spencer Reid : I never told anybody. I thought... it was one of those things that I thought if I didn't talk about it, I'd just forget. But I remember it like it was yesterday.

  Derek Morgan : [sighs]  Oh, Reid, you don't need an eidetic memory for that. You know, we forget half of what they teach us in school, but when it comes to the torment and the people who inflicted it, we've all got an elephant's memory.

• Dr. Spencer Reid : [opening quote, voiceover]  "A sad soul can kill you quicker, far quicker than a germ." - John Steinbeck.

• Dr. Spencer Reid : [closing quote, voiceover]  "We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except the memory of the smell of smoke and a presumption that once our eyes watered." - Tom Stoppard.

• Sheriff Britt Hallum : [referring to high-school bullying]  Oh, boys have a way of working these things out for themselves.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : I'll say: Owen's out there right now working things out with an assault rifle.

• Dr. Spencer Reid : [rushing into the briefing room]  Sorry I'm late.

  David Rossi : I hope she was worth it.

  Derek Morgan : [turning to look at Reid with a grin]  I hope it was a she.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : Sorry, I was at the movies.

  David Rossi : Oh, really. Why don't you tell us what it was about?

  Dr. Spencer Reid : Uh, I had to leave early, so I can't really...

  [stops because of Rossi's look] 

• Derek Morgan : So Owen identifies with being a misunderstood loner. You know, I wish all of our unsubs would just tack their profiles on their walls like this for us.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : [looks at him]  That doesn't mean anything. What, you grew up in Chicago, a high school jock, and you have pictures of Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan on your walls and trophies everywhere?

  Derek Morgan : Yeah. But you forgot Walter Payton. Not to mention the sexy ladies of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

• Dr. Spencer Reid : His life was one torment after another. His teachers gave up on him, his classmates bullied him and his father blamed him while giving him access to guns. Given these conditions you're actually quite fortunate

  Deputy Bart Lawford : It sounds like you're saying these victims deserved this.

  Aaron Hotchner : We're not. Nobody deserves this.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : But you could have prevented it.

  Aaron Hotchner : Reid, can I talk to you?

  [They walk out into another room] 

  Dr. Spencer Reid : It's the truth! They could have done something! They work with his father, they knew Owen.

  Aaron Hotchner : So what? All adolescents profile like sociopaths. There's a reason you can't diagnose them until they're 18.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : Yeah, they could have seen the signs!

  Aaron Hotchner : Nobody sees the signs, Reid. You know that. And making it their fault is not only unfair, it's dangerous. I want you to go back to the Savages' house and I want you go through Owen's room.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : Morgan is already doing that.

  Aaron Hotchner : Yeah, and you're going to join him.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : Oh? You're punishing me?

  Aaron Hotchner : No, I'm using you! You know this kid better than anybody. Go find us something we can use!

• Derek Morgan : [searching Owen Savage's room]  All his clothes are black.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : [looking in Owen's closet]  Same here.

  Derek Morgan : [seeing a poster of Johnny Cash]  Just like his friend Johnny Cash. So Owen identifies as being a misunderstood loner. You know, I wish all our unsubs would just tack their profiles on their walls like this for us.

• John : You know who I am?

  Dr. Spencer Reid : Of... of course I do, sir. I... I just... I didn't, um... expect to see a man of your position... here.

  John : Here, there's no "sirs." I'm just John. This is not something you talk about at the office, especially our office.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : [his phone buzzes]  I'm sorry, I really do have to go.

  John : Here. Here, take this. That's my one year medallion. Took me six years to get it. For the past thirteen years, I've never left home without it. Because I know if I forget that, I'll lose my gun, my credentials, my home. Everything. Hold onto it.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : I only have ten months.

  John : I know.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : It's your most prized possession.

  John : It is.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : You're just giving it to me?

  John : No. A couple of months, when you get your year, you give it back to me.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : I really don't understand.

  John : You will.

• Derek Morgan : [walking the crime scene]  Hit pattern says they were fired on full auto. Tight grouping for it. Single burst put 'em both down. That takes skill, and some serious training.

  Aaron Hotchner : Letts lands here, still alive. Savage falls there dead.

  Derek Morgan : But I walk past Letts, and I shoot Lou Savage in the face when I know he's already dead.

  Aaron Hotchner : This was personal.

  Sheriff Britt Hallum : They knew each other?

  Dr. Spencer Reid : Enough to know Rod Norris would enter through the back door while smoking.

  Derek Morgan : And that Lou Savage was on duty and would respond.

  Sheriff Britt Hallum : So what are we talking about here?

  Aaron Hotchner : This wasn't terrorism, domestic or otherwise. Terrorists rarely know their victims, at least not personally.

  Sheriff Britt Hallum : Because they knew Rod Norris was a smoker who used his back door?

  Derek Morgan : And shot Deputy Savage in the face at point-blank range.

  Sheriff Britt Hallum : They weren't being thorough?

  Derek Morgan : No. He walked past Letts, who was alive, shoots Savage in the face when he knows he's already dead. Responders were coming. That last shot was risky overkill.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : Overkill means rage. Rage means a close personal relationship.

• Aaron Hotchner : You knowingly jeopardized your life and the lives of others! I should fire you! You're the smartest kid in the room, but you're not the only one in that room. You pull something like this again, you will be! Am I clear?

  Dr. Spencer Reid : Yes sir. It won't happen again. Thank you.

  Aaron Hotchner : What were you thinking?

  Dr. Spencer Reid : I was thinking that would have been, ah, the second time a kid died in front of me.

  Aaron Hotchner : You're keeping score, just like Owen.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : It was my turn to save one.

  Aaron Hotchner : It doesn't work like that.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : It should.

  Aaron Hotchner : I know it's painful when the person you identify with is the bad guy.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : What does that make me?

  Aaron Hotchner : Good at the job! I know it's none of my business, but when we land I think you should go and catch the rest of that movie.

• Dr. Spencer Reid : Owen Savage fits the profile of a type of school shooter known as an injustice collector. He's trying to avenge perceived wrongs.

  Sheriff Britt Hallum : If he's a school shooter, why hasn't he hit the school yet?

  Emily Prentiss : Jordan. Most of these guys are so angry and hopeless, they just want to kill as many people as possible and commit suicide. But Jordan gives him a reason to live.

• Derek Morgan : You already checked his computer?

  Dr. Spencer Reid : It's password encrypted.

  Derek Morgan : Well, smart move if your dad is a cop.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : Eh, assuming he cares enough to snoop.

  Derek Morgan : Hey, Reid! Check yourself! That sheriff out there wanted to take your head off. I think Hotch might have let him.