The BEST episodes of Criminal Minds season 3

Every episode of Criminal Minds season 3, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Criminal Minds season 3!

Special Agents Jason Gideon and Aaron Hotchner head up the FBI's most elite profiling team, the Behavioral Analysis Unit, the experts in analyzing criminal psychology. With each mind-blowing case, they put their lives on the line as they travel the country, matching wits with the most ruthless criminals on Earth.

Last Updated: 11/15/2024Network: Paramount+Status: Continuing
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Penelope
star
8.11
1770 votes

#1 - Penelope

Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/21/2007

As a team member fights for life, the BAU continues the search for an attacker that leads the unit to believe the assailant could be someone close to the investigation.

Writer: Chris Mundy
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Lucky
star
7.87
1703 votes

#2 - Lucky

Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/14/2007

A team member's life is put in jeopardy when the BAU investigates serial killings in Florida that appear to involve the occult and satanic worship. Garcia believes she has met her dream man, but her first date with him doesn't go exactly as she had expected.

Directors: Steve Boyum
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Seven Seconds
star
7.81
1618 votes

#3 - Seven Seconds

Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/24/2007

The investigation turns to the family as the BAU and local authorities race against time to locate a young girl who has disappeared from a local shopping mall.

Directors: John Gallagher
Writer: Andi Bushell
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Lo-Fi
star
7.80
1743 votes

#4 - Lo-Fi

Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired 5/21/2008

The BAU faces one of its toughest cases when the team is called to New York City to determine if a series of random shootings is the work of one serial killer or a team of killers working together.

Directors: Glenn Kershaw
Writer: Chris Mundy
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
3rd Life
star
7.79
1480 votes

#5 - 3rd Life

Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/9/2008

When one teenager is found murdered and her best friend is abducted in Chula Vista, California, the BAU assists local authorities in determining whether the Witness Protection Program is involved.

Writer: Simon Mirren
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Children of the Dark
star
7.79
1604 votes

#6 - Children of the Dark

Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/17/2007

When home invasions involve the murder of entire families, the BAU is called to Denver to identify the killers who possibly have been abused while in foster care.

Directors: Guy Norman Bee
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
True Night
star
7.78
1581 votes

#7 - True Night

Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/28/2007

The BAU and local authorities in Los Angeles investigate gang-related serial killings that might possibly involve a famous comic book artist.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Limelight
star
7.73
1607 votes

#8 - Limelight

Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/23/2008

After the contents of a self-storage unit purchased at an auction take the BAU to Philadelphia to investigate a series of murders, the local agent becomes the center of the case. To catch the killer, the team must profile the items inside the unit.

Directors: Glenn Kershaw
Watch Now:Apple TV
Birthright
star
7.72
1728 votes

#9 - Birthright

Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/12/2007

The new sheriff in Fredericksburg, Virginia, requests the BAU's assistance in the investigation of a series of mutilation murders that appear to mimic similar crimes that had occurred over two decades earlier.

Directors: John Gallagher
Watch Now:Apple TV
Damaged
star
7.70
1634 votes

#10 - Damaged

Season 3 - Episode 14 - Aired 4/2/2008

Rossi travels to Indianapolis to continue his investigation into the two unsolved murders that have plagued him for 20 years.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Scared to Death
star
7.69
1676 votes

#11 - Scared to Death

Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/10/2007

The BAU travels to Portland to assist local authorities in investigating the disappearances of people who are new to the city and have no strong social ties.

Watch Now:Apple TV
In Name and Blood
star
7.67
1718 votes

#12 - In Name and Blood

Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/3/2007

In Milwaukee, a series of women have been found murdered with their hearts crudely removed. The BAU is assigned to the case, but they are short three members: Gideon, who is missing, Hotch, who is on suspension and Prentiss, who resigns her commission to join the Foreign Service. Supervisor Strauss steps in as lead, but she doesn't handle herself well in the field.

Writer: Chris Mundy
Watch Now:Apple TV
Doubt
star
7.66
1834 votes

#13 - Doubt

Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/26/2007

The team investigates a serial killer who is targeting women at a small college in Flagstaff, Arizona. The BAU shuts down the campus, creates a detailed profile of the unsub, and arrests a suspect. However, the team members begin to have doubts about themselves when another woman is killed while the suspect is in custody.

Directors: Gloria Muzio
Writer: Chris Mundy
Watch Now:Apple TV
In Heat
star
7.65
1554 votes

#14 - In Heat

Season 3 - Episode 17 - Aired 4/30/2008

The BAU is called to Miami to investigate a serial killer who appears to have a conflicted sexual identity.

Directors: John Gallagher
Writer: Andi Bushell
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Crossing
star
7.64
1505 votes

#15 - The Crossing

Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 5/7/2008

The team members try to identify a stalker before he can attack a woman who is being stalked in Silver Spring, Maryland. Meanwhile, Hotch and Rossi are called as consultants on a possible battered woman syndrome murder case in Boston.

Directors: Guy Norman Bee
Watch Now:Apple TV
About Face
star
7.57
1634 votes

#16 - About Face

Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/31/2007

Halloween provides the scenario when the BAU is called to Dallas to assist in the investigation of women who became victims of a man they'd met through a dating service and then rejected him.

Directors: Skipp Sudduth
Watch Now:Apple TV
Elephant's Memory
star
7.56
1699 votes

#17 - Elephant's Memory

Season 3 - Episode 16 - Aired 4/16/2008

The BAU is called to West Bune, a small town in Texas, to investigate what appears to be spree killings that involve a teenaged boy and his girlfriend.

Directors: Bobby Roth
Watch Now:Apple TV
Identity
star
7.55
1749 votes

#18 - Identity

Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/7/2007

SSA David Rossi returns to the BAU from retirement as the team is called to Montana to investigate the case of four kidnapped and murdered women. When another woman disappears, the search leads to a man who apparently has assumed the identity of his dead partner.

Writer: Oanh Ly
Watch Now:Apple TV
A Higher Power
star
7.47
1631 votes

#19 - A Higher Power

Season 3 - Episode 15 - Aired 4/9/2008

The BAU is called to Pittsburgh after an unusually high suicide rate appears to be the work of an Angel of Death.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Tabula Rasa
star
7.46
1714 votes

#20 - Tabula Rasa

Season 3 - Episode 19 - Aired 5/14/2008

After a suspected serial killer wakes up from a coma, the BAU reopens the case and uses brain fingerprinting to determine if he really doesn't remember the crimes that had been committed four years earlier in Roanoke, Virginia.

Directors: Steve Boyum
Watch Now:Apple TV