Cast of Criminal Minds Image via CBS By Amanda M. Castro Published Sep 16, 2026, 11:52 PM EDT Amanda M. Castro is a Network TV writer at Collider and a New York–based journalist whose work has appeared in Newsweek, where she is an Associate Editor, and The U.S. Sun, where she previously served as a Senior Consumer Reporter.
She specializes in network television coverage, delivering sharp, thoughtful analysis of long-running procedural hits and ambitious new dramas across broadcast TV. At Collider, Amanda explores character arcs, storytelling trends, and the cultural impact of network series that keep audiences tuning in week after week.
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Amanda is bilingual and holds a degree in Communication, Film, and Media Studies from the University of New Haven.
on Google Preferred Source Google News Summary Generate a summary of this story Like Like follow Follow followed Followed Listen Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap Many Criminal Minds episodes are difficult to watch. Some are gruesome, some are genuinely frightening, and others leave viewers staring at the credits in stunned silence, but Season 5, Episode 9, “100,” manages something far more painful: It makes the people hunting monsters feel completely helpless.
The episode, which aired in November 2009 as the series’ 100th installment , concludes the Reaper storyline that had been building since Season 4’s “Omnivore.” George Foyet ( C. Thomas Howell ) has spent months turning Aaron Hotchner’s ( Thomas Gibson ) life into a personal nightmare, and by the time “100” begins, the FBI agent has done everything he can to protect his family, but it still isn’t enough. Sixteen years later, “100” remains one of Criminal Minds ’ most effective episodes because its violence is almost secondary. The real horror is watching Hotch realize he can do nothing.
Still from Criminal Minds episode 100 Image via CBS “100” wastes very little time establishing that the BAU is already behind. The episode opens with the team sitting through an internal investigation into Hotch, immediately revealing that something has gone terribly wrong. From there, the story rewinds to show how Foyet found Sam Kassmeyer, the U.S. Marshal responsible for protecting Hotch’s ex-wife Haley ( Meredith Monroe ) and their son, Jack.
Foyet has always understood that control matters more to him than simply killing people. In “Omnivore,” he manipulated Detective Tom Shaunessy into abandoning the Reaper investigation by offering him a deal. Hotch refuses to play along when Foyet offers the same bargain, making him the Reaper’s new obsession. By “100,” that obsession has become brutally personal.
After attacking Kassmeyer and stealing his phone, Foyet tricks Haley into believing that the people protecting her have been killed. He poses as the replacement marshal and convinces her to let him in. Hotch and the BAU are racing to find her, but Foyet has already anticipated their moves .
Still from Criminal Minds episode 100 Image via CBS Hotch’s relationship with Haley had never been simple. His dedication to the FBI repeatedly strained their marriage, and Haley spent years feeling as though she was raising Jack alone while her husband chased other people’s monsters. Their divorce was painful, but it never erased the fact that these two people loved each other.
As Hotch races toward t…