In the premiere epsiode, an elite team of FBI profilers that specialize in anticipating the future moves of the country's most twisted criminal minds are called in to track down a serial killer who has already struck four times and stop him before he chooses another victim.
Gideon and the team use psychological analysis to run down a serial arsonist who has been terrorizing a college campus.
Gideon comes to believe that a serial bomber his team is tracking is the protege of his nemesis, Adrian Bale, the bomber responsible for the deaths of Gideon's first team.
The team's next case takes them to San Diego where they must profile and then catch a rapist and murderer who strikes in the daytime.
While on the trail of a kidnapper who abducted the daughter of a US District Attorney, the team comes to the conclusion that the criminal's original target was the victim's twin sister.
The hunt is on for a shooter who targets their victims in the middle of the day and shoots them in the abdomen.
The team's latest quarry is a serial killer who preys on families while they are supposed to be on vacation.
The team begins to suspect that a serial killer may be behind the disappearance of a police officer who was undercover while investigating the mob.
Hotchner and Gideon must find a way of dealing with a paranoid schizophrenic man who has taken a group of train passengers, including Elle, hostage.
The murders of two high school students in a small town leads the team to suspect that the killings were linked to a satanic ritual.
The teams' latest quarry is a psychotic killer whose fantasies have been leading him to commit a series of erratic murders.
The team searches for a young girl who was kidnapped in broad daylight from a supposedly safe neighborhood.
The team travels to New Jersey to try and determine who is poisoning the residents of a small town.
After interviewing husband and wife serial killers just days before their execution, Gideon becomes convinced that the wife is innocent of the crimes she has been charged with.
The team attempts to capture a serial killer who has resurfaced and attacked someone for the first time in 20 years.
The team examine the circumstances surrounding the mass murder of five college students killed in an empty house.
What are thought to be random killings are later suspected to be a pattern of murders by a "Son of Sam" copycat serial killer.
A Hollywood starlet is at the core of a murder investigation, matters grow more intense when Dr. Reid develops a close relationship with the actress, putting himself in danger.
A serial killer in Mexico is on the loose, Gideon, Hotcher and the rest of the team take a trip there to assist in the investigation.
A serial killer eludes Gideon and his team by changing his appearance like a chameleon. They track the killer across the south but have to look beyond his multiple appearances and profile the man underneath in order to locate him, before he take his next victim.
A CIA mole is sharing important top secret information, putting the lives of several operatives in danger. In order to stop any further information leaks, the CIA take over the Behavioral Analysis Unit and their computers, while the team works swiftly to expose the infiltrator.
A psychopathic killer involves the team in his own fantasy game; he defies them to unscramble clues and riddles in order to rescue his next victim. Gideon and Hotcher both receive mysterious items while on their vacations. They reconvene with the rest of the team at BAU offices in order to gather all connecting clues in an effort to attempt to solve the case.