
An elite squad of FBI profilers analyzes the country's most-twisted criminal minds, anticipating the perpetrators' next moves before they can strike again. Each member of the "mind hunter" team brings his or her expertise to pinpoint predators' motivations and identify emotional triggers to stop them. The core group includes an official profiler who is highly skilled at getting into the minds of criminals, a quirky genius, the former media liaison who manages to adeptly balance family life and the job, and a computer wizard.

The team goes to New Orleans to find a perpetrator who has resumed killing after a 15-month break; Reid struggles with the effects of being a hostage.

The team tracks an arsonist through a radical environmental group that uses fire to spread its message.

Elizabeth Prentiss, a foreign ambassador and SSA Emily Prentiss' mother, seeks the aid of the BAU when a Russian immigrant is kidnapped.

After determining that victims were transported deep into woods, the Behavioral Analysis Unit discovers that the perpetrators have a new sport.