Mr. Scratch has definitely put Baby Boy in a corner.

Unlike his quickly resolved efforts earlier this season, Peter Lewis continues to put the screws to Reid on Criminal Minds Season 12 Episode 14.

Reid may be home, but he's definitely not safe yet, as more and more evidence piles up against him. 

I found it pretty unbelievable that the Mexican police were able to recover the knife that was the murder weapon from where it was tossed in the desert.

Seriously, with all the lawlessness in parts of Mexico, how likely is it that enough police could be spared to search the entire route of the high-speed chase from Criminal Minds Season 12 Episode 13?

And that his blood and fingerprints were intact after several days of the knife baking in the sun?

I'd think that a good lawyer could get that tossed. I'm betting chain of custody in Mexico isn't up to U.S. standards.

Nor are forensics. That's why there was never a CSI: Juarez.

Fortunately, thanks to Prentiss, Reid now has a great defense lawyer in her old friend, Fiona Duncan.

I liked how she laid everything out in black and white for Reid.

Reid: What would you do if you were in my shoes?
Fiona: I'm not in your shoes. It's a decision only you can make.
Prentiss: Whatever you decide, I'm in your corner. We all are.

• Permalink: Whatever you decide, I'm in your corner. You all are.

Her providing a hard dose of reality is just what Reid, who is much more comfortable in the theoretical realm, needs.

I'm not sure that having Prentiss as Reid's liaison was the best use of personnel.

After all, JJ is the one who has been looking in on Reid's mother, so having her nearby made more sense than sending her to Florida while Prentiss stayed behind. 

Also, with all those big brains on the BAU, couldn't someone figure out a way to counteract Reid's short-term memory loss? After all, it would be really helpful if he could give Fiona some of his memories to work with.

Right now, what little bit he remembered certainly isn't going to help his case.

I'm glad Reid decided to roll the dice based on his faith in his teammates and the fact that, well, he's innocent.

I just feel bad for his mother, who has lost her main anchor to reality.

Spliced in between the Reid scenes was a fairly interesting case of the week.

Yes, Criminal Minds dipped into one of TV's newest tropes: Someone taking over technology to commit some sort of crime.

Lewis: An unsub turning cars in murder weapons. That's terrifying.
Alvez: It could be a whole new frontier for serial killers.

• Permalink: It could be a whole new frontier for serial killers.

Since the unsub was a hacker, Garcia got to go out in the field.

Next time, Penelope, remember comfortable shoes for running. You don't want to slow down the inevitable car chase.

And the best part was that Garcia got thrown together with Alvez, who she has been treating like crap simply because he's not Morgan.

I don't 'go with.' I'm precious cargo.

to Alvez}

• Permalink: I don't 'go with.' I'm precious cargo.

Garcia performed pretty well in the field. Thank God for laptops, since she can do her job in the BAU from anywhere.

She found the computer nerd unsub on the dating web site way too easily. The same goes for tracking the car and overriding its controls way in time.

It was almost like Alvez was there only to drive like a maniac and slap on the cuffs.

Still, the two of them contributed more than the rest of the team combined. I'm guessing their heads weren't really in the game with Reid's hearing upcoming.

Now, the hearing itself. I can't believe that Reid's sterling record at the FBI didn't get him bail. Trips to Mexico to get drugs for his mom makes him a flight risk?

Granted, he obviously knows how to leave the country undetected, except unfortunately by Scratch. Still he should have gotten the benefit of the doubt.

So next is the obligatory cop-in-prison episode. Good thing he's got Harold Perrineau, of Oz fame, as a cellmate, to explain to him how things work inside.

Otherwise he might get shivved for accidentally talking down to prisoners who probably don't want to hear about recidivism rates.

To catch up on what Mr. Scratch has been up to this season, watch Criminal Minds online.

Is Reid getting out or getting off the show? How long is it going to take? Is this Prentiss' first leadership crisis? Comment below.

Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.