Criminal Minds (TV Series)

Painless (2011)

Joe Mantegna: David Rossi

Quotes 

• Emily Prentiss : What else do we have to go on?

  Jennifer Jareau : Spence said the UnSub would have broken his hand beating Chelsea to death. Did you notice anyone with a cast on their hand, someone who seemed hurt?

  Emily Prentiss : No.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : I might know why. This UnSub doesn't feel pain. There's a medical condition called pain asymbolia, where patients register harmful stimuli without being bothered by it. They've been documented holding their hand over an open flame because their brain doesn't send pain signals to the central nervous system.

  David Rossi : Sounds pretty rare. You sure the UnSub has it?

  Dr. Spencer Reid : The crime scenes prove it. This UnSub displayed an unusual level of savagery towards his victims. And consider this, he smashed through a glass display case, but there were not cuts on Jerry. That means he most likely punched through it as a show of force. Now, the only way the human body could withstand that level of pain is if he couldn't feel it at all.

  David Rossi : It must take a major toll on someone's emotional development.

  Derek Morgan : A significant contributor to our sense of empathy is the way we personally experience pain.

  Aaron Hotchner : And the UnSub didn't develop his sense of empathy because it was cut off. Does every person with asymbolia have this?

  Dr. Spencer Reid : Actually, most feel empathy just fine, which makes me think the rest of our profile is still accurate. Loner, invisible, outcast, boiling rage...

• Penelope Garcia : Does anyone remember this picture?

  David Rossi : Hotch and I were there. That's Principal Doug Givens. We had to drag him to safety.

  Emily Prentiss : High school bombing in Boise, right?

  Jennifer Jareau : School shooter *and* school bomber. A kid named Randy Slade shot three students, and then set off an IED in the cafeteria via cell phone, killing himself and thirteen kids total, but not before posting all of his plans online. It was one of those "where were you?" events. My whole campus was glued to the TV.

• Aaron Hotchner : What causes asymbolia?

  Dr. Spencer Reid : Severe trauma produces lesions in the insular cortex, usually after a stroke, but this UNSUB is so young it's most likely caused by an external factor.

  David Rossi : Like a bomb going off next to him?

  Dr. Spencer Reid : [Looking toward Derek Morgan]  Yeah, like a bomb going off next to him.