The BEST episodes of Criminal Minds season 5

Every episode of Criminal Minds season 5, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Criminal Minds season 5!

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: 12/20/2024Network: Paramount+Status: Continuing
100
star
8.15
2163 votes

#1 - 100

Season 5 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/25/2009

The BAU team races to help Hotchner find The Reaper and save his family before it's too late.

Writer: Bo Crese
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Mosley Lane
star
7.82
2175 votes

#2 - Mosley Lane

Season 5 - Episode 16 - Aired 3/3/2010

The BAU is called by local authorities in Ashburn, Virginia, to profile a predator who may have been abducting children for at least eight years.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Our Darkest Hour
star
7.75
2366 votes

#3 - Our Darkest Hour

Season 5 - Episode 23 - Aired 5/26/2010

A series of rolling blackouts in the city of Los Angeles lures a serial killer out of hiding, giving him renewed opportunities to continue his killing spree.

Writer: Erica Messer
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Uncanny Valley
star
7.71
1901 votes

#4 - The Uncanny Valley

Season 5 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/13/2010

An unusual personal obsession is at the center of a BAU abduction case. Meanwhile, Hotch struggles with his return to work.

Directors: Anna Foerster
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Slave of Duty
star
7.68
1797 votes

#5 - The Slave of Duty

Season 5 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/9/2009

The team needs to reunite in order to solve a home invasion case, while Agent Hotchner may have to leave the team.

Directors: Charles Haid
Writer: Rick Dunkle
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Fight
star
7.67
2256 votes

#6 - The Fight

Season 5 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/7/2010

The BAU team travels to San Francisco to investigate the murders of several homeless men and teams up with a separate group of BAU operatives who are working another case they think is connected.

Directors: Richard Shepard
Watch Now:Apple TV
Risky Business
star
7.67
1987 votes

#7 - Risky Business

Season 5 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/20/2010

A rash of startling teen suicides in a small Wyoming town is the focus of a BAU investigation.

Directors: Rob Spera
Watch Now:Apple TV
Outfoxed
star
7.60
1973 votes

#8 - Outfoxed

Season 5 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/18/2009

The BAU team is tracking down a family annihilator, but needs to take a break from the case to get advice from "The Fox", who is an horrific killer from the team's past. "The Fox" surprises the team with a ominous message for Agent Hotchner.

Directors: John Gallagher
Writer: Simon Mirren
Watch Now:Apple TV
Solitary Man
star
7.54
2138 votes

#9 - Solitary Man

Season 5 - Episode 17 - Aired 3/10/2010

A truck driver is kidnapping women and disposing of them in random locations and the BAU must find out his motive in order to catch him.

Directors: Rob Hardy
Watch Now:Apple TV
Cradle to Grave
star
7.53
1979 votes

#10 - Cradle to Grave

Season 5 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/21/2009

The team hunts a suspect who impregnates young women and has them give birth before murdering them.

Directors: Rob Spera
Watch Now:Apple TV
Haunted
star
7.51
2107 votes

#11 - Haunted

Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/30/2009

The BAU must determine what caused a disturbed man to murder several people at a pharmacy before he harms anyone else.

Directors: Jon Cassar
Writer: Erica Messer
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Eyes Have It
star
7.50
2041 votes

#12 - The Eyes Have It

Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/4/2009

The BAU team tracks a serial killer who keeps the eyes of his victims as souvenirs.

Directors: Glenn Kershaw
Writer: Oanh Ly
Watch Now:Apple TV
Hopeless
star
7.49
2023 votes

#13 - Hopeless

Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/14/2009

A group of suspects with a pack mentality who kill for the thrill of it are the subjects of a BAU manhunt.

Writer: Chris Mundy
Watch Now:Apple TV
A Thousand Words
star
7.49
2408 votes

#14 - A Thousand Words

Season 5 - Episode 20 - Aired 5/5/2010

The BAU team must profile a serial killer covered in tattoos who commits suicide, but leaves clues to the whereabouts of his last victim.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Retaliation
star
7.49
1958 votes

#15 - Retaliation

Season 5 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/16/2009

The BAU is called upon to profile the past of an ex-convict and help stop him after he escapes from custody and embarks on a violent killing spree.

Writer: Erica Messer
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Performer
star
7.49
2031 votes

#16 - The Performer

Season 5 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/11/2009

The BAU team investigates the mystery behind a trail of murders that all seem to align with the tour schedule of a rock star.

Directors: John Badham
Writer: Holly Harold
Watch Now:Apple TV
Reckoner
star
7.48
2243 votes

#17 - Reckoner

Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/7/2009

The BAU investigates a case in Rossi's hometown that involves both his personal and professional life.

Directors: Karen Gaviola
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Internet Is Forever
star
7.48
2416 votes

#18 - The Internet Is Forever

Season 5 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/19/2010

The BAU team profiles a serial killer who uses the Internet as his hunting ground, bringing a whole meaning to the term "social networking".

Directors: Glenn Kershaw
Watch Now:Apple TV
Exit Wounds
star
7.48
2419 votes

#19 - Exit Wounds

Season 5 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/12/2010

Garcia plays a crucial role in a case when she travels to Alaska with the BAU team to investigate the murders of several members of a small town.

Writer: Rick Dunkle
Watch Now:Apple TV
Public Enemy
star
7.47
2067 votes

#20 - Public Enemy

Season 5 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/10/2010

A serial killer who targets random victims in highly visible places to create a sense of public fear is the subject of a BAU investigation.

Directors: Nelson McCormick
Watch Now:Apple TV
Rite of Passage
star
7.45
2303 votes

#21 - Rite of Passage

Season 5 - Episode 19 - Aired 4/14/2010

The BAU team heads to Texas to track a serial killer targeting illegal immigrants attempting to make safe passage into the U.S.

Directors: John Gallagher
Watch Now:Apple TV
Nameless, Faceless
star
7.42
2289 votes

#22 - Nameless, Faceless

Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/23/2009

As Rossi, Morgan and JJ profile a killer who is targeting an emergency room doctor, Prentiss realizes that Hotch is missing.

Writer: Chris Mundy
Watch Now:Apple TV
Parasite
star
7.39
1967 votes

#23 - Parasite

Season 5 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/3/2010

The BAU follows the mental decline of a con artist whose schemes have become so complicated that he begins to eliminate the people involved in them.

Writer: Oanh Ly
Watch Now:Apple TV