Criminal Minds backdrop
Crime•Drama•Mystery

The Best Episodes of Criminal Minds

Every episode of Criminal Minds ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Criminal Minds!

Binge this in 10d 11h•Peaking at 9.2/10

An elite team of FBI profilers analyze the country's most twisted criminal minds, anticipating their next moves before they strike again. The Behavioral Analysis Unit's most experienced agent is David Rossi, a founding member of

Airs on
CBSParamount+
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons19

All12345678910111213141516171819

Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Click to reveal
    Criminal Minds Season 5 Episode 9 - 100
    9.2/10(4599 votes)

    #1 - 100

    S5:E9

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

    Director:Edward Allen Bernero
    Writers:Erica Messer, Simon Mirren, Edward Allen Bernero, Rick Dunkle, Chris Mundy, Breen Frazier, Oanh Ly

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  2. Criminal Minds Season 11 Episode 11 - Entropy
    9.2/10(3826 votes)

    #2 - Entropy

    S11:E11

    The BAU implements an elaborate strategy to try and take down the “Dirty Dozen” hitmen ring, with Reid playing a central role.

    Director:Heather Cappiello
    Writer:Breen Frazier

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  3. Criminal Minds Season 2 Episode 15 - Revelations (2)
    8.9/10(4199 votes)

    #3 - Revelations (2)

    S2:E15

    In this conclusion of a special two-part episode, finding the serial killer becomes critical to the BAU when the team realizes Reid is being held captive and a live feed of him being tortured is shown on the internet. Meanwhile, Reid's troubled childhood is revealed in flashback sequences as he drifts in and out of consciousness.

    Director:Guy Norman Bee
    Writer:Chris Mundy

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  4. Criminal Minds Season 5 Episode 16 - Mosley Lane
    8.9/10(4208 votes)

    #4 - Mosley Lane

    S5:E16

    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.

    Director:Matthew Gray Gubler
    Writers:Erica Messer, Simon Mirren

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  5. Criminal Minds Season 1 Episode 14 - Riding the Lightning
    8.7/10(4924 votes)

    #5 - Riding the Lightning

    S1:E14

    After interviewing a couple on death row for serial murders, Gideon suspects that the woman is actually innocent. But since she's set to be executed in two days, it's a race against time to prove it.

    Director:Chris Long
    Writer:Simon Mirren

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  6. Criminal Minds Season 2 Episode 1 - The Fisher King (2)
    8.7/10(3424 votes)

    #6 - The Fisher King (2)

    S2:E1

    The BAU team continues to unravel the clues given to each of them by a psychopath in order to save his most recent victim. Gideon decides not to focus on the personal aspects of the case. Rather, he tells the team to profile the killer as they would in any other investigation. Reid stays behind to work on a personal connection that could solve the case as one member of the team fights for life.

    Director:Gloria Muzio
    Writer:Edward Allen Bernero

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 WORST Episodes of Criminal Minds

    READ
  7. Criminal Minds Season 3 Episode 9 - Penelope
    8.7/10(3661 votes)

    #7 - Penelope

    S3:E9

    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.

    Director:Félix Alcalá
    Writer:Chris Mundy

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  8. Criminal Minds Season 4 Episode 26 - ...And Back (2)
    8.7/10(515 votes)

    #8 - ...And Back (2)

    S4:E26

    The BAU tracks a serial killer who chooses junkies, prostitutes and the homeless off the streets of Detroit as his victims and takes them across the border into Canada, and an agent's life is in peril.

    Director:Edward Allen Bernero
    Writer:Edward Allen Bernero

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  9. Criminal Minds Season 6 Episode 18 - Lauren
    8.7/10(3220 votes)

    #9 - Lauren

    S6:E18

    As Prentiss faces off against Ian Doyle, JJ receives a call and returns to help them find Prentiss and capture Doyle before it's too late.

    Director:Matthew Gray Gubler
    Writer:Breen Frazier

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  10. Criminal Minds Season 9 Episode 24 - Demons (2)
    8.7/10(2831 votes)

    #10 - Demons (2)

    S9:E24

    The investigation in Texas reveals a deep web of corruption; Garcia must save a friend.

    Director:Glenn Kershaw
    Writer:Erica Messer

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  11. Criminal Minds Season 10 Episode 21 - Mr. Scratch
    8.7/10(3257 votes)

    #11 - Mr. Scratch

    S10:E21

    When three people implicated in murders claim they were attacked by a “clawed shadow monster” at the moment each crime occurred, the BAU searches for an UnSub who is controlling their minds. Also, the search for the culprit puts one of the team in jeopardy.

    Director:Matthew Gray Gubler
    Writer:Breen Frazier

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  12. Criminal Minds Season 4 Episode 1 - Mayhem
    8.6/10(3501 votes)

    #12 - Mayhem

    S4:E1

    When an SUV carrying members of the team explodes, the rest of the team fights to save them and catch the terrorists responsible for the bombing.

    Director:Edward Allen Bernero
    Writer:Simon Mirren

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  13. Criminal Minds Season 4 Episode 18 - Omnivore
    8.6/10(2792 votes)

    #13 - Omnivore

    S4:E18

    Agent Hotchner revisits the first case he worked at the BAU when details come forth that one of the deadliest serial killers in New England's history has struck again after a 10-year hiatus.

    Director:Nelson McCormick
    Writer:Andrew Wilder

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  14. Criminal Minds Season 8 Episode 12 - Zugzwang
    8.6/10(3491 votes)

    #14 - Zugzwang

    S8:E12

    When Reid discovers that his girlfriend has been kidnapped by her stalker, he and the BAU team band together to find her before it's too late.

    Director:Jesse Warn
    Writer:Breen Frazier

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  15. Criminal Minds Season 15 Episode 6 - Date Night
    8.6/10(1284 votes)

    #15 - Date Night

    S15:E6

    After a father and daughter get kidnapped, a former foe of the BAU returns with very specific demands for Dr. Reid that give a whole new meaning to the phrase “wheels up".

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  16. Criminal Minds Season 1 Episode 22 - The Fisher King (1)
    8.5/10(3617 votes)

    #16 - The Fisher King (1)

    S1:E22

    While on their vacations, each of the team receives a clue from a psychopathic killer challenging them to save his next victim.

    Director:Edward Allen Bernero
    Writer:Edward Allen Bernero

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  17. Criminal Minds Season 2 Episode 11 - Sex, Birth, Death
    8.5/10(3720 votes)

    #17 - Sex, Birth, Death

    S2:E11

    The BAU is called to investigate a series of murders of prostitutes in Washington D.C. and Reid suspects a teenager he met asking for his help is guilty of the crimes. The case becomes complicated when a congresswoman, who about to make a speech to praise the city's lower crime rate, threatens to take away the case if Hotchner calls a press conference to discuss it.

    Director:Gwyneth Horder-Payton
    Writer:Chris Mundy

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  18. Criminal Minds Season 3 Episode 20 - Lo-Fi
    8.5/10(3261 votes)

    #18 - Lo-Fi

    S3:E20

    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.

    Director:Glenn Kershaw
    Writer:Chris Mundy

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  19. Criminal Minds Season 4 Episode 25 - To Hell... (1)
    8.5/10(2759 votes)

    #19 - To Hell... (1)

    S4:E25

    The BAU tracks a serial killer who chooses junkies, prostitutes and the homeless off the streets of Detroit as his victims and takes them across the border into Canada, and an agent's life is in peril.

    Director:Charles Haid
    Writer:Chris Mundy

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  20. Criminal Minds Season 7 Episode 24 - Run (2)
    8.5/10(2487 votes)

    #20 - Run (2)

    S7:E24

    As the BAU team continues to pursue the bank-robbing serial killers, the team determines that the suspects have a bigger target in the Nation's capital, and with one of the team still a hostage, they must work quickly to diffuse an explosive situation. Also, wedding bells ring for one of the BAU, and Prentiss ponders her future.

    Director:Glenn Kershaw
    Writer:Erica Messer

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  21. Criminal Minds Season 13 Episode 22 - Believer
    8.5/10(1633 votes)

    #21 - Believer

    S13:E22

    When Reid discovers former FBI Special Agent Owen Quinn locked inside a storage unit, the BAU questions the credibility of Quinn's bizarre accounts of searching for an UnSub that he named "The Strangler".

    Director:Glenn Kershaw
    Writer:Breen Frazier

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  22. Criminal Minds Season 2 Episode 13 - No Way Out (1)
    8.4/10(2807 votes)

    #22 - No Way Out (1)

    S2:E13

    Gideon is pitted against the scariest and most evil murderer in his entire career. When the BAU confronts the sadistic killer in a remote diner in the Nevada desert, the local authorities want to move quickly and make an arrest. But Gideon bides his time as he attempts to persuade the man, who has sworn not be captured, to reveal the whereabouts of a woman he is holding hostage.

    Director:John Gallagher
    Writer:Simon Mirren

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  23. Criminal Minds Season 4 Episode 7 - Memoriam
    8.4/10(3270 votes)

    #23 - Memoriam

    S4:E7

    As Reid's investigation of a young boy's murder in Las Vegas continues, he discovers possible connections to his own past.

    Director:Guy Norman Bee
    Writers:Dan Dworkin, Jay Beattie

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  24. Criminal Minds Season 4 Episode 20 - Conflicted
    8.4/10(3543 votes)

    #24 - Conflicted

    S4:E20

    The team travels to Fort Lauderdale during spring break to find a serial killer who is targeting co-eds on vacation.

    Director:Jason Alexander
    Writer:Rick Dunkle

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  25. Criminal Minds Season 4 Episode 24 - Amplification
    8.4/10(3235 votes)

    #25 - Amplification

    S4:E24

    When a new type of chemical warfare is released into the open air, the BAU must act quickly to find the source before any more innocent people are exposed.

    Director:John Gallagher
    Writer:Oanh Ly

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

Best Episodes Summary

"100" is the best rated episode of "Criminal Minds". It scored 9.2/10 based on 4599 votes. Directed by Edward Allen Bernero and written by Erica Messer, Simon Mirren, Edward Allen Bernero, Rick Dunkle, Chris Mundy, Breen Frazier, Oanh Ly, it aired on 11/25/2009. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "Entropy".