"False Flag" is the ninth episode of Season Thirteen and the 286th overall of Criminal Minds.
Summary[]
The BAU travels to Roswell, New Mexico to find an unsub who killed two people belonging to the same conspiracy group.
Guest Cast[]
- TJ Alvarado - Gary Hiles
- Matt Baker - Carl Lee
- David Elson - Bryan Behar
- Richard Gilliland - Bob Orci
- Amanda Howell - Medical Examiner Leslie Jackson
- Antonio Robles - Doug Downey
- Darrett Sanders - Sheriff Mike Bowman
- Zelda Williams - Melissa Miller
Referenced Criminals[]
- The September 11 Hijackers
- Lee Harvey Oswald
- The Chicago Outfit
- James Holmes
- Omar Mateen
- Adam Lanza
- Charles Manson
- Mark David Chapman
- John Hinckley, Jr.
- Howard Unruh
- Robert John Bardo
- Adolf Hitler
- Stephen Paddock
- Patrick Sherrill
- Devin Patrick Kelley (possibly)
- Christopher Harper-Mercer (possibly)
- Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik (possibly)
- Aaron Alexis (possibly)
- Thomas Hamilton
Music[]
- "Truth" by Angus Powell
Bookend Quotes[]
- Penelope Garcia: "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- Tara Lewis: "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts." – Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Trivia[]
- The title of the episode comes from the term "false flag," which describes a covert operation in which the activities of that operation are made to appear to have been planned and executed by a group, nation or individual other than the ones who actually carried them out.
- Despite being credited in the opening sequence, Matthew Gray Gubler, who portrays Reid, doesn't appear in the episode. This is actually the 23rd of 29 episodes in which characters are credited despite not appearing in the episodes. The others are:
- Season One
- "Broken Mirror" - A.J. Cook is credited even though JJ doesn't appear. Penelope Garcia, portrayed by Kirsten Vangsness, also doesn't appear.
- Season Four
- "Masterpiece" - A.J. Cook is credited even though JJ doesn't appear.
- "52 Pickup"- A.J. Cook is credited even though JJ doesn't appear.
- "Brothers in Arms" - A.J. Cook is credited even though JJ doesn't appear.
- "Soul Mates" - A.J. Cook is credited even though JJ doesn't appear.
- "Bloodline"- A.J. Cook is credited even though JJ doesn't appear.
- Season Six
- "25 to Life" - Thomas Gibson is credited even though Hotch doesn't appear.
- Season Eleven
- "The Witness" - A.J. Cook is credited even though JJ doesn't appear.
- "'Til Death Do Us Part" - A.J. Cook is credited even though JJ doesn't appear.
- "Outlaw"- A.J. Cook is credited even though JJ doesn't appear.
- "The Night Watch"- A.J. Cook is credited even though JJ doesn't appear.
- "Pariahville"- A.J. Cook is credited even though JJ doesn't appear.
- "Awake" - Matthew Gray Gubler is credited even though Reid doesn't appear.
- "Internal Affairs" - Matthew Gray Gubler is credited even though Reid doesn't appear.
- "Future Perfect" - Matthew Gray Gubler is credited even though Reid doesn't appear.
- Season Twelve
- "Taboo" - Aisha Tyler is credited even though Lewis doesn't appear.
- "The Anti-Terrorism Squad" - Aisha Tyler is credited even though Lewis doesn't appear.
- "Profiling 202" - Matthew Gray Gubler is credited even though Reid doesn't appear.
- "Seek and Destroy" - Matthew Gray Gubler and Aisha Tyler are credited even though Reid and Lewis don't appear.
- "Hell's Kitchen" Aisha Tyler is credited even though Lewis doesn't appear.
- Season Thirteen
- "Dust and Bones" - Aisha Tyler is credited even though Lewis doesn't appear.
- "Neon Terror" - Matthew Gray Gubler and Aisha Tyler are credited even though Reid and Lewis don't appear.
- "Submerged" - Matthew Gray Gubler is credited even though Reid doesn't appear.
- "All You Can Eat" - Matthew Gray Gubler is credited even though Reid doesn't appear.
- "Mixed Signals" - Matthew Gray Gubler is credited even though Reid doesn't appear.
- Season Fourteen
- "Broken Wing" - Matthew Gray Gubler is credited even though Reid doesn't appear.
- "Flesh and Blood" - Matthew Gray Gubler is credited even though Reid doesn't appear in present day and is only shown in flashbacks.
- "Sick and Evil" - Matthew Gray Gubler is credited even though Reid doesn't appear.
- Season One