The Fight

The Fight
Airdate	April 7, 2010
Written by	Chris Mundy Edward Allen Bernero
Directed by	Richard Shepard
EPISODE GUIDE
Previous:	"Solitary Man"
Next:	"A Rite of Passage"

"The Fight" is the eighteenth episode of Season Five of Criminal Minds.

Summary

The BAU investigates the murders of several homeless men in San Francisco and coordinate their efforts with another team of BAU agents who are working on a series of murders of father-daughter duos that appears to be connected.

Guest Cast

• Jayne Atkinson - FBI Section Chief Director Erin Strauss
• Jason Brooks - John Vincent Bell
• Scott Allan Campbell - Detective Ganz
• Lesley Fera - Leslie McBride
• Beau Garrett - SSA Gina LaSalle
• Eric B. Gerlemen - Suspect
• Michael Kelly - SSA Jonathan "Prophet" Simms
• Howard S. Miller - Coroner
• Alexa Nikolas - Jane McBride
• Matt Ryan - SSA Mick Rawson
• Felix Solis - Nelson G.
• Forest Whitaker - SSA Sam Cooper
• Jason Wiles - Ben McBride
• Kelvin Han Yee - Detective Ekler

Referenced Criminals

• Charles Manson

Bookend Quotes

• Aaron Hotchner: Mother Teresa said, "I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love."

Trivia

• This episode is the backdoor pilot for the short-lived spin-off series, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, created by Chris Mundy and Edward Allen Bernero (the writers of this episode).
  • Coincidentally, Richard Shepard, the director of this episode, also directed "Extreme Aggressor", the pilot episode of Criminal Minds.
• Jason Wiles, the actor who portrays Ben McBride, previously appeared on an earlier episode of Criminal Minds, appearing in the Season Two episode "Psychodrama", in which he portrayed bank robber and budding spree killer Caleb Dale Sheppard.

Criminal Minds Episodes

Season One Extreme Aggressor • Compulsion • Won't Get Fooled Again • Plain Sight • Broken Mirror • L.D.S.K. • The Fox • Natural Born Killer • Derailed • The Popular Kids • Blood Hungry • What Fresh Hell? • Poison • Riding the Lightning • Unfinished Business • The Tribe • A Real Rain • Somebody's Watching • Machismo • Charm and Harm • Secrets and Lies • The Fisher King, Part 1 Season Two The Fisher King, Part 2 • P911 • The Perfect Storm • Psychodrama • Aftermath • The Boogeyman • North Mammon • Empty Planet • The Last Word • Lessons Learned • Sex, Birth, Death • Profiler, Profiled • No Way Out • The Big Game • Revelations • Fear and Loathing • Distress • Jones • Ashes and Dust • Honor Among Thieves • Open Season • Legacy • No Way Out II: The Evilution of Frank Season Three Doubt • In Name and Blood • Scared to Death • Children of the Dark • Seven Seconds • About Face • Identity • Lucky • Penelope • True Night • Birthright • 3rd Life • Limelight • Damaged • A Higher Power • Elephant's Memory • In Heat • The Crossing • Tabula Rasa • Lo-Fi Season Four Mayhem • The Angel Maker • Minimal Loss • Paradise • Catching Out • The Instincts • Memoriam • Masterpiece • 52 Pickup • Brothers in Arms • Normal • Soul Mates • Bloodline • Cold Comfort • Zoe's Reprise • Pleasure Is My Business • Demonology • Omnivore • House on Fire • Conflicted • A Shade of Gray • The Big Wheel • Roadkill • Amplification • To Hell and Back, Part 1 • To Hell and Back, Part 2 Season Five Nameless, Faceless • Haunted • Reckoner • Hopeless • Cradle to Grave • The Eyes Have It • The Performer • Outfoxed • 100 • The Slave of Duty • Retaliation • The Uncanny Valley • Risky Business • Parasite • Public Enemy • Mosley Lane • Solitary Man • The Fight • A Rite of Passage • ...A Thousand Words • Exit Wounds • The Internet Is Forever • Our Darkest Hour Season Six The Longest Night • J.J. • Remembrance of Things Past • Compromising Positions • Safe Haven • Devil's Night • Middle Man • Reflection of Desire • Into the Woods • What Happens at Home • 25 to Life • Corazón • The Thirteenth Step • Sense Memory • Today I Do • Coda • Valhalla • Lauren • With Friends Like These... • Hanley Waters • The Stranger • Out of the Light • Big Sea • Supply and Demand Season Seven It Takes a Village • Proof • Dorado Falls • Painless • From Childhood's Hour • Epilogue • There's No Place Like Home • Hope • Self-Fulfilling Prophecy • The Bittersweet Science • True Genius • Unknown Subject • Snake Eyes • Closing Time • A Thin Line • A Family Affair • I Love You, Tommy Brown • Foundation • Heathridge Manor • The Company • Divining Rod • Profiling 101 • Hit • Run Season Eight The Silencer • The Pact • Through the Looking Glass • God Complex • The Good Earth • The Apprenticeship • The Fallen • The Wheels on the Bus • Magnificent Light • The Lesson • Perennials • Zugzwang • Magnum Opus • All That Remains • Broken • Carbon Copy • The Gathering • Restoration • Pay It Forward • Alchemy • Nanny Dearest • #6 • Brothers Hotchner • The Replicator Season Nine The Inspiration • The Inspired • Final Shot • To Bear Witness • Route 66 • In The Blood • Gatekeeper • The Return • Strange Fruit • The Caller • Bully • The Black Queen • The Road Home • 200 • Mr. & Mrs. Anderson • Gabby • Persuasion • Rabid • The Edge of Winter • Blood Relations • What Happens in Mecklinburg • Fatal • Angels • Demons Season Ten X • Burn • A Thousand Suns • The Itch • If the Shoe Fits • Boxed In • Hashtag • The Boys of Sudworth Place • Fate • Amelia Porter • The Forever People • Anonymous • Nelson's Sparrow • Hero Worship • Scream • Lockdown • Breath Play • Rock Creek Park • Beyond Borders • A Place at the Table • Mr. Scratch • Protection • The Hunt Season Eleven The Job • The Witness • 'Til Death Do Us Part • Outlaw • The Night Watch • Pariahville • Target Rich • Awake • Internal Affairs • Future Perfect • Entropy • Drive • The Bond • Hostage • A Badge and a Gun • Derek • The Sandman • A Beautiful Disaster • Tribute • Inner Beauty • Devil's Backbone • The Storm Season Twelve The Crimson King • Sick Day • Taboo • Keeper • The Anti-Terrorism Squad • Elliott's Pond • Mirror Image • Scarecrow • Profiling 202 • Seek and Destroy • Surface Tension • A Good Husband • Spencer • Collision Course • Alpha Male • Assistance Is Futile • In the Dark • Hell's Kitchen • True North • Unforgettable • Green Light • Red Light Season Thirteen Wheels Up • To A Better Place • Blue Angel • Killer App • Lucky Strikes • The Bunker • Dust and Bones • Neon Terror • False Flag • Submerged • Full-Tilt Boogie • Bad Moon on the Rise • Cure • Miasma • Annihilator • Last Gasp • The Capilanos • The Dance of Love • Ex Parte • All You Can Eat • Mixed Signals • Believer Season Fourteen 300 • Starter Home • Rule 34 • The Tall Man • Innocence • Luke • Twenty Seven • Ashley • Broken Wing • Flesh and Blood • Night Lights • Hamelin • Chameleon • Sick and Evil • Truth or Dare Season Fifteen Under the Skin • Awakenings • Spectator Slowing • Saturday • Date Night • Ghost • Rusty • Family Tree • Face Off • And in the End...