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The Best Episodes of Criminal Minds Season 3

Every episode of Criminal Minds Season 3 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Criminal Minds Season 3!

Binge this in 13h 47m•Peaking at 8.7/10

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

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Criminal Minds Season 3 Episode 9 - Penelope
    8.7/10(3814 votes)

    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

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  2. Criminal Minds Season 3 Episode 20 - Lo-Fi
    8.5/10(3376 votes)

    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

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  3. Criminal Minds Season 3 Episode 5 - Seven Seconds
    8.3/10(2889 votes)

    S3:E5

    The investigation turns to the family as the BAU and local authorities race against time to locate a young girl who has disappeared from a local shopping mall.

    Director:John Gallagher
    Writer:Andi Bushell

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  4. Criminal Minds Season 3 Episode 16 - Elephant's Memory
    8.3/10(3411 votes)

    S3:E16

    The BAU is called to West Bune, a small town in Texas, to investigate what appears to be spree killings that involve a teenaged boy and his girlfriend.

    Director:Bobby Roth
    Writer:Andrew Wilder

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  5. Criminal Minds Season 3 Episode 8 - Lucky
    8.2/10(3495 votes)

    S3:E8

    A team member's life is put in jeopardy when the BAU investigates serial killings in Florida that appear to involve the occult and satanic worship. Garcia believes she has met her dream man, but her first date with him doesn't go exactly as she had expected.

    Director:Steve Boyum
    Writer:Andrew Wilder

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  6. Criminal Minds Season 3 Episode 19 - Tabula Rasa
    8.1/10(3162 votes)

    S3:E19

    After a suspected serial killer wakes up from a coma, the BAU reopens the case and uses brain fingerprinting to determine if he really doesn't remember the crimes that had been committed four years earlier in Roanoke, Virginia.

    Director:Steve Boyum
    Writers:Jay Beattie, Dan Dworkin

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  7. Criminal Minds Season 3 Episode 12 - 3rd Life
    8.0/10(2710 votes)

    S3:E12

    When one teenager is found murdered and her best friend is abducted in Chula Vista, California, the BAU assists local authorities in determining whether the Witness Protection Program is involved.

    Director:Anthony Hemingway
    Writer:Simon Mirren

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  8. Criminal Minds Season 3 Episode 14 - Damaged
    8.0/10(3234 votes)

    S3:E14

    Rossi travels to Indianapolis to continue his investigation into the two unsolved murders that have plagued him for 20 years.

    Director:Edward Allen Bernero
    Writer:Edward Allen Bernero

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  9. Criminal Minds Season 3 Episode 2 - In Name and Blood
    7.9/10(2580 votes)

    S3:E2

    In Milwaukee, a series of women have been found murdered with their hearts crudely removed. The BAU is assigned to the case, but they are short three members: Gideon, who is missing, Hotch, who is on suspension and Prentiss, who resigns her commission to join the Foreign Service. Supervisor Strauss steps in as lead, but she doesn't handle herself well in the field.

    Director:Edward Allen Bernero
    Writer:Chris Mundy

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  10. Criminal Minds Season 3 Episode 4 - Children of the Dark
    7.9/10(2499 votes)

    S3:E4

    When home invasions involve the murder of entire families, the BAU is called to Denver to identify the killers who possibly have been abused while in foster care.

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

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  11. Criminal Minds Season 3 Episode 10 - True Night
    7.8/10(2876 votes)

    S3:E10

    The BAU and local authorities in Los Angeles investigate gang-related serial killings that might possibly involve a famous comic book artist.

    Director:Edward Allen Bernero
    Writer:Edward Allen Bernero

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  12. Criminal Minds Season 3 Episode 11 - Birthright
    7.7/10(2515 votes)

    S3:E11

    The new sheriff in Fredericksburg, Virginia, requests the BAU's assistance in the investigation of a series of mutilation murders that appear to mimic similar crimes that had occurred over two decades earlier.

    Director:John Gallagher
    Writers:Erica Messer, Debra J. Fisher

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  13. Criminal Minds Season 3 Episode 1 - Doubt
    7.6/10(2491 votes)

    S3:E1

    The team investigates a serial killer who is targeting women at a small college in Flagstaff, Arizona. The BAU shuts down the campus, creates a detailed profile of the unsub, and arrests a suspect. However, the team members begin to have doubts about themselves when another woman is killed while the suspect is in custody.

    Director:Gloria Muzio
    Writer:Chris Mundy

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  14. Criminal Minds Season 3 Episode 17 - In Heat
    7.6/10(2615 votes)

    S3:E17

    The BAU is called to Miami to investigate a serial killer who appears to have a conflicted sexual identity.

    Director:John Gallagher
    Writer:Andi Bushell

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  15. Criminal Minds Season 3 Episode 18 - The Crossing
    7.6/10(2437 votes)

    S3:E18

    The team members try to identify a stalker before he can attack a woman who is being stalked in Silver Spring, Maryland. Meanwhile, Hotch and Rossi are called as consultants on a possible battered woman syndrome murder case in Boston.

    Director:Guy Norman Bee
    Writers:Erica Messer, Debra J. Fisher

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  16. Criminal Minds Season 3 Episode 3 - Scared to Death
    7.5/10(2552 votes)

    S3:E3

    The BAU travels to Portland to assist local authorities in investigating the disappearances of people who are new to the city and have no strong social ties.

    Director:Félix Alcalá
    Writers:Erica Messer, Debra J. Fisher

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  17. Criminal Minds Season 3 Episode 6 - About Face
    7.5/10(2453 votes)

    S3:E6

    The team gains a new, familiar member and some growing pains while trying to find the latest victim of a killer who puts up wanted posters of his victims before he abducts them.

    Director:Skipp Sudduth
    Writer:Charles Murray

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  18. Criminal Minds Season 3 Episode 13 - Limelight
    7.5/10(2488 votes)

    S3:E13

    After the contents of a self-storage unit purchased at an auction take the BAU to Philadelphia to investigate a series of murders, the local agent becomes the center of the case. To catch the killer, the team must profile the items inside the unit.

    Director:Glenn Kershaw
    Writers:Jay Beattie, Dan Dworkin

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  19. Criminal Minds Season 3 Episode 7 - Identity
    7.4/10(2422 votes)

    S3:E7

    The team is called to Montana to investigate the case of four kidnapped and murdered women. When another woman disappears, the search leads to a man who apparently has assumed the identity of his dead partner.

    Director:Gwyneth Horder-Payton
    Writer:Oanh Ly

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  20. Criminal Minds Season 3 Episode 15 - A Higher Power
    7.4/10(2526 votes)

    S3:E15

    The BAU is called to Pittsburgh after an unusually high suicide rate appears to be the work of an Angel of Death.

    Director:Félix Alcalá
    Writer:Michael Udesky

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Season 3 Ratings Summary

"Penelope" is the best rated episode of "Criminal Minds" season 3. It scored 8.7/10 based on 3814 votes. Directed by Félix Alcalá and written by Chris Mundy, it aired on 11/21/2007. This episode is rated 0.2 points higher than the second-best, "Lo-Fi".