The team searches for an Unsub who lobotomised his victim.

While fixing a burst water main, a city works crew digs up the back yard of the home of the Johnsons - father Charles, mother Tina, and their middle aged son Lyle - upon Tina's approval. The Johnsons have lived at the house for thirty-five years. The crew finds the skeletons of two human bodies buried in the yard. The BAU takes the three members of the Johnson family in for questioning, who they believe know something about the skeletons, primarily because Lyle ran when he saw the authorities at the house. While Hotch, JJ, Morgan, Rossi and Cruz question the Johnsons individually, Lyle initially comes across as the most guilty by his animosity, however the team eventually believes his attitude is more a facade hiding other issues. Charles also demonstrates a more reserved form of animosity, he being a history buff who continually implies how he and his family, as being black, have been persecuted, this situation being no different. The identification of the two bodies and of the others which are eventually found in the yard, in addition to what Reid and Blake are able to find in the Johnson house may piece the puzzle together. Meanwhile, JJ wants to divulge to the team the fact that she and Cruz have been on special assignment, against Cruz's wants.

The BAU call Emily Prentiss for help to find JJ, who has been kidnapped. The truth about JJ and Cruz's past is revealed.

The BAU is called to Texas to consult on the murders of victims with links to prostitution.

When Reid is in serious condition after the shootout with the Preacher, the BAU begins to investigate the Sheriff's Deputies.

When an innocent family of four is abducted while vacationing in Barbados, Hotch and Cruz enlist the assistance of the FBI's most elite team in handling international cases. They realize that this situation closely resembles a case that the BAU once handled in Florida. Upon this discovery, the BAU contacts Jack Garrett, (Gary Sinise) the unit chief of the team with whom they will be working. The BAU will need to pool together their skills with Garrett's elite team in hopes to save this family. This will serve as the backdoor-pilot episode for the new spin-off, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders.