Criminal Minds (TV Series)

The Storm (2016)

Thomas Gibson: Aaron Hotchner

Photos 

Quotes 

• Aaron Hotchner : Who gave you probable cause to put me under surveillance?

  Timothy Ritchie : A confidential source.

  Aaron Hotchner : Tell me now or I will invoke.

  Timothy Ritchie : You know who needs lawyers? Guilty people.

  Aaron Hotchner : Smart people. So lay out your entire case to me right now, or every attorney I know will drop everything and come help me.

• Aaron Hotchner : [closing quotation]  "The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being." - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

• Jennifer Jareau : [watching Jack and Henry with Reid]  I had a hard time putting both boys down last night.

  Aaron Hotchner : They couldn't sleep?

  Jennifer Jareau : Other way around. I didn't want to leave them. How are things on your end?

  Aaron Hotchner : You know, fortunately, Jack doesn't remember a lot about Haley's death. He knows the story, but he was young.

  Jennifer Jareau : That's a good thing.

  Aaron Hotchner : That's a very good thing. But he's not gonna forget seeing me at gunpoint. I just don't want this job to take anything else away from him.

  Jennifer Jareau : Well, maybe it gives him something, too. You're his hero. Not a pretend hero, a real hero.

  Aaron Hotchner : Well, he's growing up. He's not gonna feel that way for too much longer.

  Jennifer Jareau : Nah, you can worry about that later. Just be his dad. Enjoy that.

• Aaron Hotchner : [Mr. Scratch is the Inspector General's source against Hotch]  Why would you believe anything he says?

  Timothy Ritchie : We didn't. But it got us digging, into you.

  Aaron Hotchner : What about me?

  Timothy Ritchie : Was your wife killed because of your responsibilities with this job? Yes. Did you question your commitment to the BAU after her murder? Yes.

  Aaron Hotchner : And how does that connect to this?

  Timothy Ritchie : Because it was then that you started dismissing procedure.

  Aaron Hotchner : I did not.

  Timothy Ritchie : You faked Agent Prentiss' death. You rubber-stamped the unjustified shooting, by Agent Rossi, of the man who killed Jason Gideon, giving him a pass for the same crime you expelled Agent Greenaway for ten years ago.

  Aaron Hotchner : Each of those instances was a judgment call. And it's a waste of our time for me to justify each one. But I can.

• Timothy Ritchie : Who's Eric Rawdon?

  Aaron Hotchner : [realizing]  He's behind this.

  Timothy Ritchie : Maybe he's your partner.

  Aaron Hotchner : If that were true, you'd have evidence.

  Timothy Ritchie : I do. The storage locker in your name, the supplies.

  Aaron Hotchner : You're grasping. And I'll tell you why. You need me here as cover for missing a major terrorist incident.

  Timothy Ritchie : It's a prison break.

  Aaron Hotchner : Not to Rawdon. His dream has always been to set off a bomb in a major metropolitan area. Not for any political or ideological reason; he just wants to see a city burn. And you're letting it happen.

  Timothy Ritchie : Now you're grasping.

  Aaron Hotchner : Am I? Ask yourself one question: am I more helpful here mentally preparing a report to the subcommittee that's gonna haul you in, or out there catching Rawdon?

• Aaron Hotchner : The reason I didn't mention the drugging is I knew how it would be received. That someone at the DOJ would misinterpret, and someone else would use it to their advantage.

  Timothy Ritchie : That's one profile. Here's another.

  [opening a folder] 

  Timothy Ritchie : "The most common trait is an unyielding belief he is always right, often reinforced by traumatic loss. The suspect will purposefully separate himself from his co-workers and quietly keep score, cataloging every slight against him. He will then use those slights to justify his own self-interest. One final trigger, like a violent confrontation or a drug-induced episode, will push him over the edge." Sound familiar?

  Aaron Hotchner : Of course. That's my profile on workplace shooters.

  Timothy Ritchie : And now it fits you.

  Aaron Hotchner : "Today will change everything." What did you think, that I was going to blow up my team? Turn my son into an orphan? And then, and this is the part I argue against in the profile, I would call 911 and tell you what I was about to do?

  Timothy Ritchie : I want to believe you. But I can't.

• Aaron Hotchner : I need to let my son know that I'm all right.

  Timothy Ritchie : He's with Agent Jareau.

  Aaron Hotchner : I want my phone call.

  Timothy Ritchie : You haven't even asked why you're here.

  Aaron Hotchner : It doesn't matter. It's either a mistake or I'm being framed.

• Aaron Hotchner : Where's the bomb?

  Eric Rawdon : You'll never stop it in time. Boom.

  Aaron Hotchner : Last time you were gonna assemble in one of three locations, and you're too compulsive to deviate. Arlington, but they're looking for you there. Appomattox County's too far away. They're at the Ivory Tower.

• [last lines] 

  Dr. Tara Lewis : What is it now?

  Aaron Hotchner : Three more prison breaks in three different states, all organized by Rawdon's partners from his last bombing attempt.

  Penelope Garcia : The local field office got a head start because of what we did. They stopped the bomb threat, but...

  David Rossi : Who didn't they catch?

  Aaron Hotchner : All have serial killer wings just like VA Max.

  Dr. Tara Lewis : Let me guess; they were released first to cause maximum chaos and occupy law enforcement.

  Penelope Garcia : A lot of them were killed or recaptured, but not all of them.

  Jennifer Jareau : How many got away?

  Penelope Garcia : As of right now, thirteen serial killers, one of which is Peter Lewis.

  Dr. Spencer Reid : Mr. Scratch. That's why he testified against you. He was part of their plan all along.

  Aaron Hotchner : So we have to catch him again, along with twelve other murderers.