The Plot
The fourteenth episode of the first season of Criminal Minds is titled ???Riding the Lightning???. The episode follows the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) as they investigate a couple who are on death row for murdering thirteen women. The couple, who have been dubbed ???The Prince of Darkness and The Queen of Hearts???, claim to have killed more women than they have been convicted for.
The Investigation
The BAU team travels to Florida to interview the couple, who are awaiting their execution. The team members take turns interviewing the couple, trying to get them to reveal any information about their other victims. The couple, however, are playing a game with the team, making it difficult for them to get any information out of them.
At the same time, Gideon, one of the team members, is dealing with his own personal demons. He is haunted by the memory of a case he worked on years ago, where a young girl was kidnapped and killed. The case still haunts him and affects his ability to focus on the current case.
The Flashbacks
The episode features several flashbacks to the past, showing how the couple met, fell in love, and started killing together. The flashbacks also reveal that the woman was abused as a child, which may have contributed to her becoming a killer.
The Conclusion
The BAU team eventually gets a break in the case when they discover that the woman had given birth to a child while in prison. They track down the child and use him as leverage to get the couple to reveal information about their other victims. The couple eventually confess to killing over thirty women.
In the end, the couple is executed and Gideon is finally able to let go of his past and move on.
