Hopeless (Season 5, Episode 4)
Premise: A trio of construction workers kills strangers for the thrill of it in a gentrifying D.C. neighborhood, while Morgan’s bond with a victim’s sister worries Garcia.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 5, Episode 4
- Unsub
- J. Turner (Travis Aaron Wade), C. Vincent (Clayne Crawford), J.R. Baker (Blake Shields)
- Location
- Washington, D.C.
- Starring
- David Rossi (Joe Mantegna), 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)
- Opening quote
- “There is no lasting hope in violence, only temporary relief from hopelessness.” (Kingman Brewster Jr., read by Morgan)
- Closing quote
- “These violent delights have violent ends.” (William Shakespeare, read by Morgan)
- Guest stars
- Salli Richardson-Whitfield as Tamara Barnes, Wade Williams as Detective Andrews, Jeronimo Spinx as William, Nellie Barnett as Jessica, Nate Witty as Doug
- Director
- Félix Enríquez Alcalá
- Writers
- Chris Mundy
Summary
The Case
“Hopeless” opens with a home invasion in southeast Washington, D.C., where intruders beat two couples to death and film it. Nothing is taken. The BAU links the killings to a month of vandalism against new upscale businesses and a renovated townhouse in the gentrifying neighborhood. Working with Detective Andrews, the team reads the scene as the work of at least three strong, practiced adult men acting as a pack, not juveniles. Among the families who come in is Tamara Barnes, whose brother, William, was one of the dead.
Next, a waitress, Jessica Miller, and Doug Taylor are beaten to death in a restaurant parking lot, and the killers stay to drink beer. With no symbolism left, the team sees violence for its own sake and warns Andrews, whose officers want payback, not to sink to the killers’ level. After the profile goes out, Garcia spots a viral text calling for vandalism at Dupont Circle. It turns into a teenage riot, and Andrews, blaming the profile for wasting his men’s time, asks the BAU to step aside. The team stays on anyway, expecting the killers to resent sharing the spotlight. Two men are killed at a southeast bar, the bartender’s hands fixed to the counter with what looks like a nail gun, and the agents start thinking of construction workers.
Morgan notes that the last vandalism target was a construction site, where every room was smashed except the nursery. The owners reluctantly let the agents open a wall there, and inside is the body of contractor James Morris. Morris’s electrical, brickwork and drywall subcontractors share a house near Anacostia. Police and agents raid it and arrest one man, who calls the killings fun; the other two are traced by their station wagon to a job site. Hotch leaves the standoff to the police, and the two men come out holding something as if it were a gun, into a burst of gunfire.
The Team
Morgan is drawn to Tamara and drives her home after she breaks down confronting the young rioters. Garcia, who volunteers counseling victims’ families, urges him to cut contact: his involvement could sink the case in court, and unless he can stay for her whole grieving process, he will only deepen her distrust. He insists he is not involved, and they later make up over the phone.
The ending
Spoiler: In the last scene, Tamara is told that it is over and the killers have been caught.
Why it stands out
- Clayne Crawford plays C. Vincent and Blake Shields plays J.R. Baker, two of the thrill killers known as “Turner’s Group.”
- The case file for the vandalized townhouse is numbered 504-61, following the show’s habit of numbering files after the season and episode.
- Travis Aaron Wade, who plays one of the killers, has a great-grandfather originally named Wade Williams, the name of the actor playing Detective Andrews.