What is Unsub short for?

Unknown subject.

They were really putting Reid in harm's way as much as possible, weren't they?

Reid is CM's Willow.

I also liked the small development of Reid and Morgan's big bro/little bro relationship with the whistle. At first I thought "Morgan's being a dick", but then realized that, while that is true, it is true to the nature of their relationship.

I couldn't believe Hotch was being such a bastard even though I knew he had to be planning something.

Is it wrong that I find bastard!Hotch kinda hot? Especially because he had a plan. And the moment that he draws down on the unsub at the beginning of the standoff in the emergency room pushes all the right buttons. ita has the thigh holster; I have the quick-draw with intensity.

It's an extension of him staying with the victim in...Ashes and Dust, right?

Yep. Do we ever find out the backstory on that one? Through his conversations with Gideon, I got the feeling that fire (arson/burn victim) is very personal to him.

We don't ever get more. The only hints to his backstory that seem to be concrete are abuse, but even that's vague.

The only hints to his backstory that seem to be concrete are abuse, but even that's vague.

There's never been a "Profiler, Profiled" or "Demonology" for Hotch? Huh.

I forgot to mention this earlier... but who in the hell reads a case file filled with gruesome pictures and prominently marked "FBI" on a train with civilians? Completely disregarding the unlikelihood of a psychotic sociopath as a traveling companion, isn't there an issue of confidentiality or clearance? No matter how much I dislike Elle, she's not that dumb.

We don't ever get more. The only hints to his backstory that seem to be concrete are abuse, but even that's vague.

Yeah, we saw that in the ep they showed on ion last night (damn, drawing a blank on the name) where they actually caught the Unsub midway through the episode, but they had to continue profiling him in order to find the FBI agent he had kidnapped and tortured. That line at the end, where he says that some abuse victims go on to become serial killers and others go on to catch them was absolutely chilling.

There's never been a "Profiler, Profiled" or "Demonology" for Hotch?

We never go further back than Haley--but we do get a lot of her, so maybe that's the balance. JJ we know crap about, and Garcia's kinda vague, but we've had chunks of everyone else's backstory.

No matter how much I dislike Elle, she's not that dumb.

Haters gonna hate, but I do think she is dumb. All her actions that got her booted out/to walk were just plain stupid.

That line at the end, where he says that some abuse victims go on to become serial killers and others go on to catch them was absolutely chilling.

And we've definitely seen that he has rage issues.

But his brother seems totally chill and well-adjusted.

Huh. I just had a Winchester-analog moment, where floppy-haired little bro doesn't want to go into the family business. Except this time, the family biz is law.

And we've definitely seen that he has rage issues.

No lie there.

But his brother seems totally chill and well-adjusted.

Could be that Hotch protected him, which would fall in line with his general bossy nature with him during "The Tribe."

Garcia's kinda vague, but we've had chunks of everyone else's backstory.

Well, we know that she took her step-father's surname, that her parents were killed when she was... eighteen, and that she got her kicks hacking into federal systems while she was at Cal-Tech, which is what got her recruited by the FBI in a "join or be arrested" sort of deal, right?

She apparently has brothers, but they never came up during the episode where she was in hospital, so it was kind of a tossed off reference. She hasn't had anything like Profiler, Profiled or Reid's episodes that actually dwell on things that took place during her childhood.

I guess JJ almost had that, but then they turned around and made it about Hotch's loss too.