Criminal Minds (TV Series)

The Uncanny Valley (2010)

Matthew Gray Gubler: Dr. Spencer Reid

Quotes 

• Dr. Spencer Reid : [voiceover]  Isaac Asimov wrote: "in life, unlike chess, the game continues after checkmate."

• Dr. Spencer Reid : [reminiscing about Gideon]  I realized why my friend quit. He was tired of repeating the exact same patterns and expecting a different outcome.

• Dr. Spencer Reid : [voiceover]  Mildred Lisette Norman wrote, "Anything you cannot relinquish when it has outlived its usefulness possesses you, and in this materialistic age a great many of us are possessed by our possessions."

• Aaron Hotchner : So, she has them paralyzed and she can do whatever she wants. Why is she killing them?

  Dr. Spencer Reid : Well, I don't think she mean to. Eh, the brain is a machine, designed to respond to stimuli. You keep the brain awake but the body immobile, it breaks down, loses its hair. After two months it eventually strokes out

  David Rossi : So, death isn't this unsub's goal, it's an unfortunately side effect

  Dr. Spencer Reid : Exactly

• David Rossi : Pretty public spot for a dump site

  Dr. Spencer Reid : You know, technically I think it would qualify more as a disposal site. You don't leave a body at a Merry Go Round out of convenience

• Aaron Hotchner : The unsub we're looking for is a woman. She's a collector. It's a psychopathology similar to hoarding.

  David Rossi : So when we say "collector", we're not talking about stamps or baseball cards. It's not what your kids, or even you, might pursue as a normal hobby.

  Aaron Hotchner : This is an attachment to objects that's become obsessive, by someone who is antisocial and extremely introverted.

  Emily Prentiss : These people attach a part of themselves to their collection. If you try to separate them from it or take it away from them, they will react violently, even psychotically.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : They've suffered damage to their prefrontal cortex. That's the part of the brain that regulates basic Freudian fantasy/reality. They can still function, like drive a car or go to work, even do their taxes.

  Derek Morgan : In fact, she excels at goal-oriented jobs, like the precision of sewing, or the details of abduction.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : But they've lost their ability to categorize the difference between living and dead, uh, belonging and loss. That has been irreparably destroyed.

  Detective Marty Cotrone : So what's she collecting, women?

  David Rossi : Actually, we think she's collecting dolls.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : Technically, replacing them. Uh, we believe that she lost the originals sometime within the last three months, and this is what served as her stressor.

  David Rossi : She searched for a replacement, and when she couldn't find them, she started abducting the closest possible surrogate.

  Emily Prentiss : Women of different ethnicities but a similar physicality.

  Derek Morgan : The drug-induced paralysis is part of the fantasy. She puts her victims in a position where they can't talk back so she can fetishize them like the objects she's lost.

  Detective Marty Cotrone : Um... look. I respect your analysis, but this woman kidnapped six women and killed three of them. And you're telling us this is about dolls?

  Emily Prentiss : This unsub stitched a wig onto the scalp of her latest victim. It's a technique used to attach hair to porcelain dolls.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : And keep in mind, collectors and serial killers do share certain traits. Uh... a lot of serial killers take trophies, attaching the same significance to them that this collector does to objects.

  David Rossi : But this unsub's intent isn't violence. She needs this collection to be complete so she can feel in control of her life, probably to overcome some trauma she experienced.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : She really only feels that control when the collection is complete, which is why she's repeating an abduction pattern with living victims. If she loses a doll, or in this case, if she loses a woman who represents a doll, she has to replace it.

  Aaron Hotchner : This woman works alone. We know she has medical training. Look for nurse's aides or orderlies who were fired for a lack of social graces. She can't fake a bedside manner.

  Emily Prentiss : We believe she's currently working as a tailor or a seamstress, and we're following those leads now. But do let us know if you notice any overlap in your suspect pools. Thank you.

• Eric : I see checkmate in 5. What do you see?

  Dr. Spencer Reid : [considers chess board]  I see it in 3.

  Eric : [Eric works out the 3 moves]  We've missed you out here.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : Oh, thank you. Thanks. I, uh, had to take a little break.

  Eric : How come?

  Dr. Spencer Reid : I used to play with a co-worker friend of mine. He's probably the best mind I ever went up against. One day, he just decided that he didn't want to play anymore.

  Eric : So you gave up, too?

  Dr. Spencer Reid : Just the opposite. I attempted to play through every permutation of moves on a chessboard.

  Eric : That's an infinite number of games.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : It's not infinite. It's just -- it's exponentially large.

  Eric : You couldn't have played through them all.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : There's an average of 40 moves per chess game, and I'll tell you something the more I played, the more I realized that every single match, every single chess game, is really just a simple variation on the exact same theme. You know? It's aggressive opening, patient mid-game, inevitable checkmate, and I realized why my friend quit. He was tired of repeating the exact same patterns and expecting a different outcome.

  Eric : So you have a lifetime of chess strategy in your head and you're just sitting on it.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : [reading message on cellphone]  I still use it. I just, uh, I apply it differently. I have to go. It was good seeing you.