Criminal Minds (TV Series)

The Tall Man (2018)

Joe Mantegna: David Rossi

Photos 

Quotes 

• David Rossi : Go back to when she gave it to you. Go there right now.

  Roslyn Jareau : [flashback]  I want you to have it.

  Young Jennifer Jareau : But you love this necklace. Are you sure?

  Roslyn Jareau : I'm sure. Because no matter what happens, I'll always love you, JJ. And besides, this necklace will help ward off the Tall Man.

  Young Jennifer Jareau : That's a stupid made-up story.

  Roslyn Jareau : The story's made up, but some monsters are real. And if a real monster ever sees you wearing this, he'll know not to mess with Jennifer Jareau, 'cause she's a total badass.

  Young Jennifer Jareau : You think I'm a badass?

  Roslyn Jareau : I think you're the baddest of asses. And that came out wrong.

• David Rossi : You know, of all the profilers I've worked with, you've grown the most, from communications liaison to mother to profiler. It's been a privilege to watch.

  Jennifer Jareau : Thank you.

  David Rossi : Oh, I'm not done. Because now you have to do the hard work. If this unsub was in Roslyn's life, he was also in yours. And you're gonna have to dig into your memories to find him.

  Jennifer Jareau : Will you come with me?

  David Rossi : Every step of the way.

• Jennifer Jareau : She was trying to protect me.

  David Rossi : Yes, she was. Now imagine you're the unsub. Your victim has just killed herself, and you see her younger sister wearing your gift to her.

  Jennifer Jareau : He'd see it as a beacon. "That's my next victim."

  David Rossi : You say that as a profiler. But what else do you know about preferential sexual offenders?

  Jennifer Jareau : They, uh... they have an age-specific type. I-I'd be too young for him.

  David Rossi : Roslyn didn't know that, but she knew the unsub, and she knew you. She knew that deep down inside, you were stronger than her, and that the unsub would never come after you because it would be too risky. And you were too tough. Now, was that the best plan? No. But it was the best that Roslyn could do. And I think her plan worked. I think he was terrified of what she might have told you and how you would have looked at him. So, who looked at you like that growing up? It would have been a brief interaction, something probably in the immediate aftermath of her death.

  Jennifer Jareau : [flashing back to Roz's funeral, realization dawns on her]  Oh, my god.

• Matt Simmons : Let's go back to the victims for a second. Did they sneak out or did their parents know?

  Penelope Garcia : They told their parents that they were going to a party, and they actually did.

  Matt Simmons : Okay, so then off the bat, we have two theories about the unsub. One is that he knew they were planning this.

  David Rossi : Which puts him in the girls' inner circle.

  Matt Simmons : Exactly. Or two, he waited in the woods opportunistically. But that strategy only works if he plays the odds right. So, how far-reaching is this-this ghost story?

  Penelope Garcia : Maybe I can answer that. The story JJ grew up with, it's gone viral, and the Photoshop work is on fleek.

  Emily Prentiss : Tall Man is a story. What happened to these girls is real. The first 24 hours are crucial in an abduction case, and we are now down to 18. Let's move.

• Penelope Garcia : I'd like to direct your attention to two oddities. Oddity number one is Ally Macready's medical exam.

  Emily Prentiss : Give us the headline.

  Penelope Garcia : Despite outward appearances, Ally had a sum total of zero wounds on her. So whose blood is on her clothes, you ask? DNA report is not back yet, but typing and matching points to the other girls.

  Dr. Tara Lewis : She could have escaped before the unsub got to her. Holding three girls takes a lot of control.

  Emily Prentiss : What's oddity number two?

  Penelope Garcia : That would be a text exchange between Bethany and Chelsea. Bethany says to Chelsea "What if we do it in the woods tonight?", to which Chelsea responds "We'd have to do it fast. Ally can't see us coming."

  Dr. Spencer Reid : Vaguely threatening. Although Ally didn't say anything like that in her interview.

  David Rossi : Two of the girls had some agenda besides the Tall Man. We need to see if it played a part in their disappearance.

  Jennifer Jareau : Chelsea's dad, Tom, he dated my sister in high school, so I can talk to him.

  Emily Prentiss : Good. Do that. We will divide and conquer when we land. We will investigate this as if Bethany and Chelsea are still alive, and we will not sleep until we find them.

• Ethan Howard : What in the world is this? Seriously.

  Jennifer Jareau : Ethan, I am so sorry.

  Ethan Howard : This is ridiculous. They seem to think I've hurt those girls or something.

  Jennifer Jareau : I know. It's just we have a warrant for your house. And they've already pulled your computer.

  David Rossi : [watching outside]  Is that...?

  Emily Prentiss : No, she's bluffing.

  David Rossi : That's a hell of a bluff. Guys like him keep souvenirs, usually on computers.

  Ethan Howard : Did you see what was on it?

  Jennifer Jareau : I did.

• David Rossi : Did she ever let on that she was hurting?

  Jennifer Jareau : Yeah. It got really bad right before she was gone.

  Young Jennifer Jareau : [flashback]  It's dinnertime, mom says.

  Roslyn Jareau : JJ, not now.

  Young Jennifer Jareau : You have to come eat because you haven't eaten in three days.

  Roslyn Jareau : [throwing her necklace at her]  Get out!

  Young Jennifer Jareau : Why are you like this? Is it Tom?

  Roslyn Jareau : No. I broke up with Tom months ago. Will you just go away, please?

  Jennifer Jareau : [return to present]  No, that's not right. Weeks earlier, she and my father were fighting.

  [flashback to Roslyn and Mr. Jareau's argument] 

  Jennifer Jareau : If she had already broken up with Tom, who was she talking about?

  David Rossi : The unsub. He recognized a girl in pain, parents divorcing, vulnerable, so he took advantage of that.

  Jennifer Jareau : She was already in such a bad place. And now she's heartbroken. She thought there was only one way out.

  David Rossi : But there's that nagging question, isn't there?

  Jennifer Jareau : [fingering her necklace]  Why did you give this to me, Roz?

• Emily Prentiss : I'm starting to think Bethany or Chelsea might be pulling the strings here.

  David Rossi : Whoa, slow down. All three girls' phones were drugged, and Ally had the other girls' blood on her.

  Luke Alvez : I'm with Rossi. I mean, if one of the girls was staging this, she would have had to have knocked herself out and let herself get cut. That's one hell of a gaslight.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : But not an impossible one, especially with a partner.

  Matt Simmons : Well, if that's true, I think we're missing the bigger picture here. Chelsea and Bethany are best friends. Why would one recruit a partner to terrorize the other?

  Jennifer Jareau : Okay, it has something to do with this. "Where is it?". That's what Ally heard. So they're looking for something they lost, something they think the other girl can find.

  Emily Prentiss : I think we need to take another look at their high school, see what we can find.

  Jennifer Jareau : I know a guy over there that could help us.

• Matt Simmons : This is mislabeled. Unsub's older, predatory.

  Emily Prentiss : Yeah. Let's add it all up. The unsub gives the girls he grooms a necklace. But Chelsea stole Bethany's to figure out who he is.

  Dr. Tara Lewis : And it's the smoking gun of their affair, dangerous enough to ruin his life if discovered. So he and Bethany come up with a plan to get it back.

  David Rossi : This guy's been at it for a while. So who's in Bethany's life who also overlaps with JJ's sister?

  Matt Simmons : Well, there's one obvious suspect. It's Tom Davis. He's Chelsea's dad, and he was Roslyn's old boyfriend.

  Emily Prentiss : Matt, Luke, bring him in. He has an alibi, and I wanna stress test it.

• Jennifer Jareau : Emily send you in here?

  David Rossi : No. Well, I might have mentioned I was gonna check up on you.

• David Rossi : You're eleven. That's a fun age.

  Jennifer Jareau : Yeah.

  David Rossi : What was going on?

  Jennifer Jareau : My parents weren't doing well. There was a lot of fighting.

  David Rossi : Did that contribute to Roslyn's depression?

  Jennifer Jareau : It did. But she'd always make time for me.