Trama

Rossi determines that the case that haunts him has gone unsolved too long on its 20th anniversary, and the team horns in on his investigation despite his displeasure. Elsewhere, Reid and Hotchner interview a manipulative death-row convict.

Hotchner and Reid secure a pre-execution interview for research with death-row inmate, Chester Hardwick, who had a secret agenda. Unofficially, and unbeknown to his team, Rossi checks up on the surviving children of an Indianapolis couple who were victims of a still-unsolved, brutal, double-homicide exactly twenty years earlier, that he has never let go of, and to see if their are any new leads. Frustrated with his constant yearly gifts, a painful reminder of their parents' murder, the now-grown children beg Rossi to just leave them alone, but inadvertently provide him with a new lead. Concerned about his state of mind, Morgan, Prentiss, and J.J. join him, just in time to help make sense of the only new lead in twenty years, that may finally lead to the killer.—Lynne Boris Johnston

Twenty years ago, a killer brutally murdered the parents of a family, but left the children completely unharmed. Rossi was one of the first officers in the crime scene, and he has been trying to solve this case ever since. He has recurring nightmares about the children. On the murder's 20th anniversary, he insists on working alone to find new leads. Worried about his mental health, Prentiss, Jareau, Morgan, and Garcia offer to help with the investigation. The profilers have a better grasp of the killer's psychological profile than Rossi ever did, and Garcia connects the killer to several minor crimes across several states. Rossi had also omitted to interview the grown-up kids of the victims. They recall a creepy clown following them before the murders, and indicate that the killer has been sending them annual gifts for the last two decades. The team soon identifies and arrests the killer, a carnival clown with an intellectual disability. The only think that had kept the case unsolved for so long was Rossi's insistence on working alone, and his failure to ask for help.—Dimos I

It's the twentieth anniversary of the Galen case, one that still haunts Rossi and has brought him out of retirement from the BAU. The three Galen children - Connie, Georgie and Alicia - were the ones who found their murdered parents in their bedroom. The children were in the house at the time of the killings. Rossi promised twenty years ago that he would find their parents' killer. Although he has kept in touch with them all these years, they recently have cut off contact with him. The Galen children, now in their twenties, lead difficult lives, which were affected by that earlier event. When J.J., Morgan and Prentiss learn that Rossi is clandestinely working on this case, the three travel to Indianapolis - the crime scene - to assist him, which may not be of comfort to him. But they receive some information from the Galen children which makes them realize that the murderer is still alive and keeping tabs on them. This information also provides some more information on the unsub himself and possibly who assisted him in covering up the murders. Meanwhile, Hotch and Reid are interviewing a death row inmate, Chester Hardwick, as part of a research project on the mindset of serial killers about to be executed. Hardwick requested the interview. Near its end, Hotch and Reid understand the true reasons behind why he wanted the interview. Hotch also needed to decide what to do with the divorce papers issued to him, which Haley wants him to sign uncontested. And Rossi learns some personal information about Garcia which contravenes bureau policy. Garcia seems far more concerned about this discovery than Rossi.—Huggo