Criminal Minds: The Reaper Vs. Hotch

This was one of the best written stand offs in TV drama history. I would have paid for a movie version of the "Criminal Minds" season finale and the later resolution.

To recap the "Criminal Minds" season finale:
Agent Hotchner was attacked by The Reaper, the escaped serial killer that took Agent Morgan's ID. The Reaper left Hotch barely alive at a hospital, but took his ex-wife's address. Hotch's family was put into witness protection for their safety....

Cut to the resolution:
The Reaper manages to get the number for the agent guarding Hotch's family (wife and son). He tortures him for info, then finds the agent's cell phone and tracks down Hotch's family. Hotch and the BAU team are exactly one step behind the Reaper. Agent Hotchner receives a phone call from his ex-wife, he knows the Reaper is with her or she would not be calling.



The entire team listen as Hotch talks to the Reaper through his last words with his wife. Agent Hotchner managed to get a message to his son Jack to hide. He continues talking to his wife until there is a final gunshot. As Hotch pulls up to his family's home, he races in to confront the Reaper and beats him to death with his bare hands.
The entire episode is told as a flashback while the team is interviewed on the use of Agent Hotchner's deadly force (he was cleared).

This was the most amazingly dramatic moment I can remember on network TV. "Criminal Minds" is known to be graphic and gory, but they almost always get their guy. I was so not expecting this outcome that I actually sat open-mouthed staring at the TV. The most graphic scene of this entire show.... had no blood at all. Just the ringing sound of that gunshot.
style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; I think all of us wanted Hotch to beat the Reaper (played perfectly by C. Thomas Howell, who woulda thunk it Ponyboy!) to death. I certainly was not ready to pull him off.

This is just one of the many reasons why "Criminal Minds" is my favorite TV drama right now.