Trama

The BAU go to Detroit to catch a man who burns his victims alive during the pre-Halloween celebration Devil's Night.

The BAU travel to Detroit, Michigan, where the fire department has noticed a three year trend of the three days leading up to Halloween where a victim each day has been burned alive in an abandoned building located somewhere in the Rivertown district of town. The unsub used gasoline as an accelerant. The victims are seemingly unconnected. The BAU believe the first victim may provide some clues as to why the unsub is committing these violent murders. Using the visual memory technique, Rossi, in interviewing Kierston Torrell, the wife of the latest victim, discovers some clues as to the unsub's identity. Cross checking those that volunteer for a community organization called Detroit's Finest, which has been monitoring arsons in relation to the historic pre-Halloween fire rituals, with those that work with fire of sort sort comes up with the unsub's identity and the fact that his victims were not chosen at random. They also determine that he has an ultimate target whose identity they have to find out solely from photographs they have of her.—Huggo

The BAU goes to Detroit, Michigan to capture an arsonist who has targeted three victims within three days on Devil's Night. The unsub uses gasoline and fire as a method of his killings. Meanwhile, Hotch prepares to take his son out for Trick or Treating.—dawsonpersi

Welcome to Detroit, Michigan -- home of many boarded-up buildings and abandoned warehouses. Inside one such warehouse, a hooded figure drags an unconscious man. The victim is hung from the ceiling by chains, doused in gas and lit on fire.

CUT to the BAU office, where Reid explains the history of Halloween to Emily (we'll spare you). Emily says to Rossi and Derek that she just asked how his weekend was. Hotch then arrives with bad news: the team is going to Detroit. "This unsub is killing only these three days of the year," Hotch explains. On the jet, Reid explains Detroit's "Devil's Night," including masks, chaos and costumes -- a "cultural" phenomenon that includes burning things (like bodies, in this case?). "It's like his Christmas," Rossi notes.

The team arrives in Detroit and is greeted by Lt. Garner, who pledges to catch the unsub this year. A visit to the morgue reveals that the victim was struck on the back of the head. A blitz attack, Emily notes. He was wearing a mask or hood when burned. "He's covering their faces and setting them on fire -- it's an execution," Hotch notes. At the crime scene, Garner explains that budget cuts have forced the police to rely on a citizen watchdog group of 1,000 volunteers. Could the unsub be one of them?

Later, Reid notes that the first victim wasn't found for days and buried deep in a building. "That often tells us that they know each other," Hotch notes. Says Reid: "If he knew the first victim, chances are he knew them all." So the team brings in the latest victim's wife, Kierston Torell. The grieving woman explains that she and her husband went to Greek Town the previous night for a Halloween parade. They briefly separated to get food -- she wanted Greek and he wanted Mexican. Rossi helps her with a memory exercise and she recalls seeing a strange figure in a mask watching her husband. "It only covers one side of his face ... his ear is gone," Ms. Torell says. That's no mask. The man is burned. "A trauma like that would be devastating for him and for anyone in his life," Emily notes.

We see a man driving a minivan with a little girl in the back seat. They are singing a song together. When the father goes to unload the back of the van, he is hit on the head from behind. The girl notices that Daddy has stopped singing and looks in the rear-view mirror and sees the unsub. She screams.

Derek gets a call about the kidnapped father. His little girl claims a "monster" did it. Working on the theory that the unsub knows his victims, Garcia discovers that the kidnapped man is a contractor who worked with many subcontractors. She checks those names against volunteers for "Detroit's Finest" -- and gets a name: Kaman Scott. In 2005, Scott was hit by a car and badly burned. The driver of that car was the first victim. Tony Torell, the last victim, used to be the Kaman's landlord but had to kick him out. "It's a revenge list," Reid notes.

Emily and Derek arrive at Kaman's oddly impersonal flat. "He'd have a plan if he got cornered," Emily says. So now that the man likely knows the cops are onto him, where has he gone? In the meantime, the team gets more bad news: the kidnapped father has been killed. He tried to escape after being lit on fire and ended up hit by ac car and dying in the middle of the road. It was a sloppy kill. The unsub is apparently devolving.

Back at Kaman's flat, Derek discovers photos of a beautiful, young woman. Garcia examines the photo and notices that it was taken at a diner called Jay-Mo's. It appears to be the favorite haunt of the formerly happy couple. And wouldn't you know it? Kaman is at the diner, demanding to know where he can find Tracy. The proprietor refuses to tell ... and Kaman lights the place on fire. The BAU team arrives seconds later. Hotch bursts into the building and leads out the proprietor before the diner EXPLODES. Garcia then calls with news: the proprietor's daughter, Tracy, was adopted by her aunt, who lives just three miles away. The BAU team rushes to their SUVs.

Meanwhile, Kaman has arrived at the aunt's house. He bludgeons the woman's husband and demands to know where he can find Tracy. The aunt shakes in fear. He then bounds both parents and douses them in kerosene. "Tracy is going to medical school in Ohio!" the aunt screams. CUT to Hotch and Garner, who are the first to arrive at the house. They ask all the other units to stand down so as not to spook the unsub.

Inside, Kaman is about to light the couple on fire when Tracy walks into the room. She is apparently visiting. "You walked away from me when I needed you the most!" Kaman SCREAMS. "It took me two years to get back on my feet!" Just then, a little boy walks into the room. "Mommy!" he cries. "What's wrong?" It's Kaman's boy. "When you were in the coma, I found out I was pregnant," she explains. Hotch enters with gun drawn. "Kaman, you don't want to do this in front of you son," the agent says. Kaman lowers his blowtorch ... and the boy lovingly touches his father's burned face.

The family reunion is short lived, however. Kaman is cuffed and taken away. Case closed.

Back home, Hotch waits patiently for Jack to come out in his Halloween costume. Jack emerges wearing his suit and tie. "That's not Spiderman", Hotch says. "He's not a real superhero", says Jack. So what superhero costume is Jack wearing? "I'm you, Daddy!" They're off to trick-or-treat, Hotch calling Jack "my little g-man". Happy Halloween, everybody.