Jones (Season 2, Episode 18)
Premise: When a New Orleans killer believed lost in Hurricane Katrina resumes a string of Jack the Ripper–style murders, the BAU and Detective Will LaMontagne Jr. decode the one word his father left behind.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 2, Episode 18
- Unsub
- Sarah Danlin (Simone Kessell)
- Location
- New Orleans, Louisiana
- Starring
- Jason Gideon (Mandy Patinkin), Aaron “Hotch” Hotchner (Thomas Gibson), Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore), Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler), Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster), Jennifer “JJ” Jareau (A.J. Cook), Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness), William “Will” LaMontagne Jr. (Josh Stewart)
- Opening quote
- “Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which to live.” (Robert F. Kennedy, read by Gideon)
- Guest stars
- Edward Edwards as William LaMontagne, Sr., Randy Thompson as J.R. “Smitty” Smith, Rhys Coiro as Ethan, John Edward Lee as Ronnie Tibideaux, Dufflyn Lammers as Alice
- Director
- Steve Shill
- Writers
- Andi Bushell
Summary
The Case
“Jones” opens as Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans and Detective William LaMontagne Jr. begs his father, also a detective, to leave his house; the older man, absorbed in a serial murder case and a new letter from the killer, does not survive the storm. A year and a half later, a fourth man is found in the French Quarter with his throat cut and body eviscerated and a new letter arrives for the late detective. With the case files washed away, the BAU works with Will, who shows the team the word “Jones” that his father carved into a wall before he died. The surgical cuts suggest medical training, and the letters, signed “Yours truly” and addressed to “Boss”, mark the killer as a Jack the Ripper imitator.
Garcia finds a matching killing in Galveston, Texas, where the victim’s kidney was taken. Because the last two victims slipped away from groups of friends on nights out, the team realizes the unsub is a woman luring men into alleys. Will resists going public but is overruled. A victim with a missing earlobe signals a Ripper-style double killing, and a second body that day holds a note explaining why the man deserved to die. The team suspects the killer is a rape victim the elder LaMontagne once tried to help. Garcia links him to a 1998 Mardi Gras call to a bar called Jones. His former partner, J.R. “Smitty” Smith, admits he dismissed a young woman’s rape complaint there and protected one of the accused men, Ronnie Tibideaux, a stance that led to the elder LaMontagne’s transfer. Tibideaux claims to remember nothing, but the team identifies her as Sarah Danlin, a Tulane medical student who dropped out that February.
The Team
In New Orleans Reid looks up Ethan, a childhood rival who quit the FBI Academy on his first day and now plays jazz; Ethan tells him he looks unwell and that his friends will notice. Reid misses the flight to Galveston and offers excuses when pressed. JJ and Will flirt over drinks while working the case.
The ending
Spoiler: Sarah is not at her apartment, but a charge on her credit card leads the team to a nearby inn, where she is holding a knife on a man. Will tells her who he is, and when she learns his father is dead, he persuades her to trust him and she gives up; her victim survives. Will admits that closing the case leaves him feeling lost, and he and JJ part warmly. A senior colleague tracks Reid down, and Reid admits he missed the plane on purpose and is struggling. Hearing that even decades in the job bring doubt, Reid vows never to miss another flight.
Why it stands out
- Josh Stewart makes his first appearance as Will LaMontagne Jr.
- Simone Kessell guest-stars as Sarah Danlin, who imitates Jack the Ripper and was once helped by Will’s father, years before she began killing.
- Will’s father’s old partner, J.R. Smith, shares his name with an NBA player who was with the New Orleans Hornets from 2004 to 2006.