Criminal Minds: 4.11 Normal- Recap
A man, Norman, gets ready for a party. His wife, Vanessa, tells him to change his tie then leaves without him. Norman takes a present and signs the card. He looks over his collection of die cast cars then takes a moment to clean them. He loads his gift into his SUV then drives off to the party. While he is driving, a woman cuts in front of him. Norman pulls up beside her at the stoplight and asks her to roll down her window. She looks at him, rolls down her window, continues to talk on her cell phone, rolls the window back up then drives away after the light turns green. Norman looks at his present then speeds up and catches up with the woman. Norman takes out the present from the box, which is a shotgun, then shoots her. The woman crashes into the exit ramp barrier then flips. Norman smiles then goes to the party. At the party Vanessa sees that Norman is unusually social and happy. After the party, the couple goes home and gets into bed. Later, Norman goes to the basement and saws off the barrel of the shotgun. He remembers the feeling that he got when he shot the woman.
The team flies to Orange County, California. Jordan says that there has been a recent string of shootings on the highway. She says that the first victim was a real estate agent who survived the attack. The team looks at the spread pattern of the shotgun blasts and see that it changed after the first attack. David says that he thinks that the man sawed off his shotgun.
The team meets with Salinas, the officer in charge of the investigation. Salinas says that she has set up a hotline to receive any information regarding the shootings. She says that there are officers watching out for the freeway killer all day.
The team sees that the second victim was killed at night and that the first one was attacked during the daytime. They wonder why the first victim was attacked and why the man had a gun in his car in the first place.
Hotch goes to the hospital and meets with Judy, the first victim. Emily talks to Judy’s son and tells him that his mother has a good chance of recovering. The son blames himself for his mother being hurt. Hotch asks Judy if she remembers what happened the day that she got hurt. Judy says that she was impatient and cut off a man while she was driving. She remembers insulting him after she cut him off. Emily asks Hotch what happened and he says that the woman made the killer’s attack personal.
Spencer tells Salinas that the killer might be targeting people who remind him of his wife. Spencer looks at a map and is told that the killer strikes around areas where there are alternate merges. Spencer tells the team and Hotch figures that the killer is targeting people that cut him off while driving.
Hotch says that the killer received a high after the first attack. He says that the killer looks to achieve the same high, but will never get the same feeling again. Hotch says that the killer will believe that he is not getting the high and is doing something wrong. The killer will hone his skills and weapon in an attempt to get that same high that he got the first time. Hotch says that the killer will never accept that the first high will never happen again and will never stop killing.
David, Jordan and Hotch meet with a construction worker and tell him that they are looking for a man that was driving extra slow like he dared someone to cut him off. The worker says that he has noticed a man dressed in sunglasses and a leather jacket. He says that the man acted as if he was talking to someone in the car but the man was alone. The team figures that the killer is a family man.
Hotch says the unsub is suffering from a masculine identity crisis. Derek says that something happened to the unsub’s life that triggered him to kill. He says that at home, the unsub feels that he is a failure as a husband and father. Derek says that he probably feels emasculated by his wife. They figure that because he has adopted a fantasy persona, represented by him wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket, he will bring his behavior home and will probably kill his family.
Meanwhile, Norman eats lunch at his desk. Norman is asked by a woman to do some work for her. Norman’s boss asks him for a report. Norman imagines the man making fun of him. The man says that he might lose his job if he doesn’t focus. Norman gives the man the report. Norman sees a news conference of Jordan who tells the press about the description of the killer and where he is suspected of living. Norman imagines his female co-worker questioning his masculinity.
Later, Norman drives and begins to beat the passenger seat. Two men pull up, see that he is angry, and ask him if he is okay. Norman imagines them laughing at him then pulls out his shotgun and repeatedly shoots them.
The team investigates the crime scene. They see that it was daytime and wonder why he has changed the time of attack. They see that the killer attacked the men 20 minutes after Jordan held a press conference. They figure that Jordan’s appearance triggered an attack. They learn from witnesses that the man was wearing a tie and glasses with a jacket hanging from the back. They figure that he works close to the scene. Derek calls Garcia and asks her to help out. Hotch asks Jordan to give another press conference. Later, Norman watches the conference at home. Jordan says that the killer is a family man and is probably compassionate. Jordan asks the killer to turn himself in. Norman walks in the living room and tells Vanessa that he is the Freeway shooter. His wife says that she is the Zodiac killer, then laughs. Norman imagines the face of his first victim as his wife talks. Vanessa tells her kids that their father is the killer. One of his daughters tells Norman that he is a dork.
Emily meets with Norman’s boss who says that he thought of Norman when Jordan described the killer during her press conference. He says that he remembered that Norman went through a tragedy. He says that Norman’s daughter was run over and killed by a car six months ago. The man says that Norman’s wife also works at the office. The team suspects that Norman is the Freeway Killer.
Norman tells his family to get in the car. He speeds through the neighborhood and his wife tells him to slow down. The family become frightened as Norman ignores stop signs and swerves through traffic. A police car sees Norman driving recklessly and chases after him. Norman says that they have to get out of town. His family asks Norman to stop the car, but Norman tells them to shut up.
The team is told about a man speeding through the city. They suspect that it is the Freeway Killer.
While driving, Norman tells Vanessa that he should have committed his crime spree a long time ago. Norman says that he knows that she blames him for the death of their daughter. Norman takes out his shotgun and shoots at the police car. The police radios that Norman is shooting at them.
Norman asks Vanessa how she could forget about their daughter so fast. Vanessa says that she cries everyday. Norman says that she is lying to him.
The team arrives at Norman’s house, knocks on the door and tries to call for Vanessa. They see that she is not home and go around back. They enter the house and see that Norman has a collection of toy cars. They enter the bedrooms and see bodies covered in blood.
Vanessa tells Norman that he let her baby die. She grabs the wheel and forces the car into the wall. Police cars crash into him and cause him to flip over.
Derek gets a call from Hotch. Norman crawls out of his car, reaches in, and says that his family is inside. Derek says that his family were never with him. Norman remembers that he killed his entire family with his shotgun. Norman begins to cry and asks himself what he did. The police then arrest him.
Jordan runs out of Norman’s house and asks David if she caused the death of the family. David says that they got the case after Norman hurt his family. Jordan says that she doesn’t think that she could do the job. David tells her that it is okay.
The team flies back home. Derek asks Jordan if she is okay and she says that she will be alright. Spencer sees someone in their office. They see that JJ has brought her baby to work. Derek takes the baby and feeds it. JJ sees that Hotch is happy. Hotch tells JJ that he misses her.
It’s nice to see X-File alum, Mitch Pileggi in this episode. He has recently been in Supernatural playing as Sam and Dean’s grandfather, but was killed off. It doesn’t seem like he will back in this series. This is too bad, his character was memorable, but I think he should have played an FBI agent or someone else who might have a chance of reoccuring.
Jordan looks like she is cracking under pressure, but I think David might help her stay. Jordan might have a serious breakdown, however, if this happens JJ will be able to step back into her role on the team.
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