Criminal Minds has had some truly strange and bizarre episodes over its 17 seasons, with disturbing unsubs and unsettling cases. Some of the best Criminal Minds episodes are also some of the strangest, highlighting the show’s originality, which helps keep the series fresh and viewers tuning in almost 20 years after it first premiered. This has also created Criminal Minds unsubs that stick with the viewers and the characters.
As a police procedural drama about serial killers, Criminal Minds has been allowed to dive into some incredibly weird storylines. Though some can be too much to handle, others are just strange enough to keep viewers on their toes while still entertaining them. Many Criminal Minds stories are based on real-life cases, which only makes the bizarre episodes even odder.
5
“Rabid”
Season 9, Episode 18
Criminal Minds has found seemingly endless ways to have unsubs torture their victims. This can be fascinating at best, disturbing at worst, and typically a mix of the two. In Criminal Minds season 9, episode 18, “Rabid,” unsub David Wade Cunningham infected his victims with rabies. This was awful enough, but his method of doing it made the torture even worse.
David would keep a previously abducted and infected victim and set them upon the newer victim. The victims were driven mad before eventually dying of cardiac arrest. Though the BAU was able to save one of his victims, she sadly later died in the hospital, as she’d already been infected.
4
“The Good Earth”
Season 8, Episode 5
Most unsubs in Criminal Minds are younger white men. The few female unsubs typically don’t work alone, and their crimes are usually sex-based, but Emma Kerrigan from “The Good Earth” was one of the exceptions. Emma was a hypochondriac with a severe skin disease who only ate food she grew herself.
Emma had spread her husband’s ashes in her garden and believed they cured her disease. To stay healthy, she force-fed men soil additives, animal feed, and natural sedatives. She then decapitated them, dismembered the bodies, and ground the parts with a wood chipper to use as fertilizer. This unique killing process made the episode interesting and strange.
3
“The Inspiration/The Inspired”
Season 9, Episodes 1 & 2
Criminal Minds season 9 had a two-part premiere, “The Inspiration” and “The Inspired.” The episodes follow the search for a killer in Arizona who turns out to be Wallace Hines. Wallace abducted girls who reminded him of a past love and tortured them before murdering them. What made this episode stomach-turning was the torture involving cannibalism.
Wallace had kept the decomposed head of his first victim and force-fed parts of it to every subsequent victim. This isn’t the only Criminal Minds episode to deal with cannibalism, but the two-parter was disturbingly graphic. Wallace’s method of killing came from his obsession with female praying mantises, which made it even more bizarre.
2
“The Lesson”
Season 8, Episode 10
“The Lesson” is one of multiple Criminal Minds episodes directed by Matthew Gray Gubler, who played Spencer Reid. When viewers see his name in the credits, they know they’re in for a weird and wild ride. The unsub in “The Lesson” is Adam Rain, who woke up from a coma with severe brain damage that made his mind childlike.
Adam tortures his victims by dislocating their limbs and then stuffing their bodies in custom-made boxes. As if this wasn’t disturbing enough, it’s then revealed that he’s turning his victims into marionettes to build a puppet show. The Criminal Minds episode is made even creepier by the children’s music to remind viewers that it was essentially a child’s mind that came up with this twisted, murderous plan.
1
“The Uncanny Valley”
Season 5, Episode 12
The most bizarre episode of Criminal Minds is season 5, episode 12, “The Uncanny Valley.” It’s one of those episodes that sticks with viewers years later because of how creepy and freakish it was. It’s another episode with a female unsub, Samantha Malcolm, who abducts and imprisons her victims before killing them.
Samantha’s dad had molested her when she was young and bought her dolls as an apology. To keep her from telling the truth, he punished her with electroshock therapy, which permanently warped her mind. In Criminal Minds, Samantha dresses up her victims like dolls. Her victims do look eerily doll-like, and her background makes Samantha a sympathetic unsub despite her strange methods.