Criminal Minds ninth season premieres on Sept. 25 at 9pm, for those viewers excited for the return of Hotch’s (Thomas Gibson) indifference and Reid’s (Matthew Gray Gubler) adorkable nature.
Erica Messer, executive producer and showrunner for the first episode, told The Daily Beast, “In season nine, we are trying to find new ways to bring back old faces from the show that the fans love. We're also hoping to delve into some characters origin stories as the season progresses.”
Season eight ended with the death of Strauss, the big boss of the gang, at the hands of a killer the team chased for multiple episodes dubbed “The Replicator"--because he recreated the past crimes they solved. Though The Replicator stacks up pretty high when it comes to demented delinquents, he’s not even close to some of the nastiest murderers of Criminal Minds.
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The Daily Beast ranks who is the baddest of the bad.
7. Adam Rain (“The Lesson”)
When Messer polled the writers’ room, this haunting criminal’s name came up. Played by Brad Dourif, Adam Rain turned his victims into human marionettes. He dislocated their limbs and dressed them up to look like two characters from his childhood. The victims also had holes put in their hands so they could be hung up and moved as dolls. Lovely.
6. Henry Grace (“The Masterpiece”)
Seinfeld’s Jason Alexander portrayed Henry Grace, a killer who claimed to be born with an extra Y-chromosome which he thought meant he was born as a killer. He blamed agent Rossi for ruining his life, and over five years, brought women to an underground lair where he killed them. A narcissist, he believes he’s more intelligent than basically everyone – and attempts to lead the Criminal Minds team into a trap and murder them all.
5. Ian Doyle (“Sense Memory”)
Timothy Murphy’s character Ian Doyle is the show’s most challenging international criminal – and is known for being the nemesis of agent Emily Prentiss. He had a shady past with the agent during her days at Interpol and eventually ends up stabbing her with a large chunk of wood.
4. Izzy “Queen of Diamonds” Rogers (“Hit”)
This charming lady, played by Tricia Helfer, was known in her assassin days for shooting her victims once in the stomach so they would bleed out and suffer the longest and most agonizing death possible. She gets into the home of agent Jennifer Jareau – who proceeds to deliver one of the most epic beatdowns in Criminal Minds history.
3. Floyd Feylinn Ferell (“Lucky”)
Jamie Kennedy’s character Floyd works at a barbecue restaurant where, we later find out, he SERVES STEW OF PEOPLE’S BODIES. He force-fed one of his victims, Abbey, human fingers from a prostitute – which were later found in her stomach by the medical examiner. In his childhood, he was put in a hospital for the criminally insane after biting a hunk of flesh out of his 9-month-old sister.
2. Frank Breitkopf (“No Way Out” Part 1, 2)
Frank is the throwback, original sadist of Criminal Minds and the archnemesis of Jason Gideon (Homeland's Mandy Patinkin) before the actor left the show in season three. Frank traveled throughout the entire country in a trailer – killing people along the way – until he finally fell in love with a woman named Jane (who we meet on the show and is bats**t crazy). His death toll? 166 people.
1. George “The Reaper” Foyet (“Omnivore”)
“The Reaper” made for perhaps the most emotionally draining episode of Criminal Minds yet. Agent Hotcher tracked C. Thomas Howell’s character throughout season four of the show – only to be too late to save Haley, Hotch’s ex-wife. Rumor has it Foyet will be back season nine, but it’s unclear how exactly – because Hotch beat him to death with his bare hands in the fourth season finale.
