There are many reasons why Criminal Minds was and continues to be a hit television series. The Behavior Analysis Unit is a specialized team of FBI agents who travel the country to lend their expertise to the tracking and capture of extreme criminals using a combination of patterns and human psychology to identify the unknown subjects, or "unsubs." The actual team is made up of well-loved characters who help to make the series a success.
It's also the unsubs themselves that keep audiences coming back. There are so many truly memorable unsubs who have populated the long-running series and elevated the series beyond a generic crime drama. One of the most memorable of those unsubs is The Reaper. He, above all others, changed the series and the BAU for many reasons, but especially his role in the 100th episode of the series, "100." The Reaper is a unique and memorable unsub who inspires nothing but horror and revulsion as a result of his sadism.
criminal minds unsub the reaper in his black mask
There's no denying the impact that The Reaper had on the series overall as well as on the entire BAU and their loved ones. He was a unique unsub for the way he specifically would target not only the BAU team but all law enforcement who were tasked with the investigation into his murders. His sadism extended beyond his crimes and into the realm of psychological torture. He convinced the first detective who ever hunted him to strike a deal with him, and so when that officer died, The Reaper's crimes recommenced, but he also needed to find a new target. He picked the BAU, specifically Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner.
The Reaper's real name was George Foyet, his last name came from the family who adopted him after he murdered both of his parents and staged it to look like a car accident. The physical abuse he suffered at the hands of his father and the perceived weakness of a mother unable to protect him helped to shape him into the psychopathic killer her became. His serial killer signature was to keep a trophy from his victim and leave it at his next crime scene. He inserted himself into the investigation of his own killings by pretending to be a victim of The Reaper, draining a significant amount of his own blood to do so.
How The Reaper Changed the BAU, Especially Hotch
the reaper lurks behind hayley just before he kills her on Criminal Minds
The Reaper's entrenchment into the lives of the investigators who hunted him made the BAU's work more deeply personal than ever before. Despite being previously targeted by unsubs, like when Penelope Garcia was nearly killed, never had the team's personal life been so thoroughly torn apart so systematically and sadistically as the way The Reaper destroyed and changed Hotch. Garcia was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time so the unsub felt he needed to protect himself by harming her. The Reaper killed Hotch's ex-wife Hayley as part of a far more advanced type of psychological torture that was beyond anything else the BAU had ever faced on a personal level.
Though they were divorced, Hotch still loved her very much, and The Reaper's murder of her and the attempted murder of their son, Jack, stayed with Hotch forever. The entire BAU were unable to help as they watched their leader fail to protect the woman he loved. The team had to listen in on the phone conversation where The Reaper played out his sick games against Hotch and actually killed Hayley so that Hotch could hear her die. Every member of the BAU had their own relationship with Hayley, and this extremely personal attack created a whole new approach and dynamic to their work that they'd been previously shielded from.
Part of the reason Hayley and Hotch got divorced was because of how dedicated Hotch was to his job. As a result, his role as a husband and a father suffered. The silver lining to his interaction with The Reaper is that Hotch became a much more attentive and present father for Jack after Hayley's murder. As Jack's only living parent, their relationship was forced to change, and ironically it actually helped Hotch to become the man that Hayley so desperately wanted him to be. So while The Reaper's actions were horrific, and he changed the BAU agents forever, not all the changes were bad.
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