Criminal Minds is one of the most beloved crime shows on modern TV, and the dedicated fanbase after nearly two decades proves it. Every fan has their own favorite aspect of the show, but many share a deep love for Dr. Spencer Reid and actor Matthew Gray Gubler.

Matthew Gray Gubler’s Spencer Reid first appeared in Criminal Minds in the first episode and made a strong impact immediately. His presence is notably absent from the show’s revival, Criminal Minds: Evolution. But there’s still plenty of room for him to return in Evolution’s upcoming second season or any point in the future. Aside from going back and watching Spencer’s best episodes while waiting for an MGG return, there are several Criminal Minds episodes directed by Matthew Gray Gubler worth revisiting.

12 The Capilanos is Filled with Clowns

"The Capilanos" features the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit working on a case in a small town called Guymon, Oklahoma. The unsub, in this case, travels across the country, breaking into homes, beating the male homeowner, and posing their bodies with exaggerated smiles. The kicker in the case is the witness left at a scene, who claims the unsub was dressed as a clown during the murders. The BAU initially shrugs it off as a manifestation of the boy’s fear of clowns, but as it turns out, the unsub is truly a killer clown.

"The Capilanos" is an understandably terrifying episode for viewers with coulrophobia, the fear of clowns. That’s perhaps because the episode has a stunningly creepy atmosphere, with the visuals and music adding a haunting tone to an already dark episode. Many fans didn’t mind the episode and consider it among Season 13’s best, explaining why it’s still rated quite high online. The episode’s biggest problems center around the scare factor, as it disappointed some fans expecting "The Capilanos" to be the scariest of the show.

11 Alchemy Spotlight's Reid's Grief

"Alchemy" follows the BAU heading to South Dakota after Reid stumbles upon a case during one of his many sleepless nights. The case centered around killings in which non-local men turn up murdered, with dismemberment and poisoning evident. Ritualistic markings and the crime scene locations lead the BAU to investigate the Native American population and naturopaths in the area. Their real unsub is simply a woman who seduces men and then kills them as a twisted way to replace her deceased child.

The episode’s biggest strength is balancing a tense case and brutal unsub with interactions between the beloved team. The spotlight in "Alchemy" and many of Season 8’s latter episodes belongs to Gubler’s character, Dr. Spencer Reid. The episode touches upon Reid’s grief and trauma surrounding his girlfriend’s murder and features a bittersweet ending that suggests he’ll be okay. Besides Reid’s character exploration, fans praise "Alchemy" for its concept, which stands out from other Season 8 episodes.

10 Elliott’s Pond Writes off Aaron Hotchner

"Elliott’s Pond" takes the splintered team to Delaware to investigate a case where three young teens went missing. They had easy leads at the investigation’s beginning, but the BAU realizes the case has ties to a similar case from 1983 that never got a resolution either. Following his firing and absence for several episodes, "Elliott’s Pond" also explains the exit of Thomas Gibson’s Aaron Hotchner as the character and his son enter Witness Protection.

Fans generally praise "Elliott’s Pond" for getting the series back on track after several subpar episodes. It’s very on-brand for Gubler’s directorial style, with melancholy and creepiness blending beautifully with the team dynamics. The episode’s worst critiques center around Hotch’s exit, and understandably so. The circumstances of Thomas Gibson’s exit are controversial, but Hotch’s exit simply doesn’t make sense and is an injustice to the BAU.

9 Gatekeeper Spotlights Reid and Rossi

"Gatekeeper" follows the team to Boston on a case where three men were strangled to death in the downtown area. The unsub stalks the people living in a specific apartment building, targeting those he considers a bad influence or people he fears could harm his estranged wife and their unborn child. The BAU catches him through his tendency to photograph his victims, as a woman stumbles upon his room of pictures and winds up falling to her death. "Gatekeeper" has a sweet ending, as Dr. Reid successfully delivers a healthy baby, and the team does karaoke together.

"Gatekeeper" is another Criminal Minds episode that fans find somewhat disappointing. For many, the best parts were the subplot in which Joe Mantegna’s David Rossi mourns the closing of his favorite bar and the silly team-oriented scenes like those mentioned above. The episode still felt and looked like a Criminal Minds episode, with a lovable atmosphere and even some rare Hotch smiles.

8 Blood Relations Explores a Family Feud

"Blood Relations" takes the BAU to rural West Virginia in response to two men getting killed with some form of barbed wire as the weapon. The team unravels a deep-seated rivalry between the two men and a larger family feud between the Howard and Lee families. When members of both parties drop like flies, Howard family matriarch Cissy and Lee family Patriarch Malachi get thrown into the center of the chaos. Even though the BAU attributed the rivalry to moonshine and meth, the unsub turns out to be the sole product of the families merging: a vengeful son abandoned by Cissy and Malachi decades prior.

"Blood Relations" has one of the most interesting and best-executed plots of any Criminal Minds episode. The worst critiques of the episode revolve around its ambiguous ending, as the unsub never got arrested, and the show never revisited him. Aside from that, there are some questionable depictions of West Virginia, as the episode plays on several stereotypes, and some found the loose twist on the infamous Hatfield-McCoy family feud offensive or disrespectful. Overall, the reviews are very impressive, but all it takes is a couple of two or three-star reviews to tank the average.

7 Heathridge Manor Embraces Gothic Horror

"Heathridge Manor" takes the BAU to Salem as a missing woman turns up dead in an abandoned mental institution, tied to a bed, dressed in Renaissance clothing, face painted white, and having died of nicotine poisoning from her dress getting soaked in a nicotine-based liquid. The episode’s unsub has severe delusions--possibly attributed to his mother and folie à deux-- that his victims are the Devil’s Wives.

"Heathridge Manor" is one of the most beloved Criminal Minds episodes and has a genuine Gothic horror vibe. Perhaps the episode’s best quality ties into the greater horror genre, with famous horror faces, like A Nightmare on Elm Street’s iconic Robert Englund. Even though it adds to the unsettling nature of the episode, many fans agree that the incestuous overtones were a bit too much. Similarly, the episode brings "Satanism" into the mix, with parts of the crime scene suggesting Satan worship. Criminal Minds is no stranger to attributing unsubs to Satanism or the occult, but it’s often a misguided depiction and arguably overused in the show. Still, "Heathridge Manor" isn’t completely outrageous, so fans understandably love it.

6 The Lesson Creates Gruesome Marionettes

"The Lesson" also features what’s believed to be a religious ritual-based serial killer. The case takes the BAU to Arizona, where two men show up in coffin-like boxes, their hair dyed black and several joints dislocated. Each victim died from hanging, and the third victim had holes in his hands, suggesting crucifixion. However, the unsub has no religious connections as he’s not crucifying victims; he’s turning them into marionettes. The repeated hangings, dislocated joints, dyed hair, and still-missing victims all tie into the unsub’s twisted puppet show.

The concept in "The Lesson" could have easily been disastrous, as puppets can be horrifying or ridiculous. However, Matthew Gray Gubler’s direction made it Season 8’s most harrowing and creepiest episode. That said, it’s not the best choice for people looking for in-depth psychological analysis, as it’s more focused on death, with some brutal and borderline gratuitous violence. The episode also features Reid’s romantic side as he prepares to meet his beloved girlfriend, Maeve, for the first time in person.

5 The Tall Man Haunts JJ

"The Tall Man" takes the BAU to East Allegheny, Pennsylvania to investigate the local legend of the Tall Man as it relates to missing person cases. Two people go missing in the woods, and a third person resurfaces the next morning, claiming that the Tall Man is keeping her friends and she has injuries consistent with the legend. The case hits extremely close to home for JJ, who struggles through the entire investigation as she vowed to stay away from East Allegheny, her hometown, due to her childhood trauma and her sister’s death, which she realizes ties into the BAU’s investigation.

Criminal Minds often has episodes that feature insight into a character’s childhood or early career, but "The Tall Man" is the first time JJ’s had more of the spotlight. Early on in the series, JJ revealed that her older sister Roslyn died by suicide when JJ was around eleven, but that’s the brunt of the information provided about JJ’s upbringing until "The Tall Man." The episode features a perfect blend of team focus, with the horrifying Tall Man legend and the creepy vibes Gubler sprinkles through all his episodes.

4 A Beautiful Disaster Bids Farewell to a Fan-Favorite

Most episodes of Criminal Minds feature the BAU traveling to investigate and catch an unsub. But "A Beautiful Disaster" is one of several episodes where the unsub hits the BAU on their home turf. The episode opens with an attack on Morgan and his pregnant girlfriend, Savannah, where she gets shot, and the BAU rushes to find out who did it and why. Luckily, Savannah was okay at the end of the episode and gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Hank Spencer Morgan, named after Derek’s late dad and "the best little brother in the world." Unfortunately, the episode was Morgan’s final episode as a main character.

Gubler had a bit of an advantage with "A Beautiful Disaster" as Criminal Minds cast member Kirsten Vangsness, who plays Penelope Garcia, wrote the episode. The two play Morgan’s best friends in the BAU, and they did a fantastic job with his farewell episode. "A Beautiful Disaster" gets close to approaching soap opera vibes but keeps a perfect amount of tension and bittersweet moments for fans to enjoy.

3 Lauren Explored Emily's Past

"Lauren" picks up after Emily Prentiss disappears without her badge and gun. The BAU must dig deep into her CIA past and ties to international intelligence groups. They learn more about her enemy, Ian Doyle, and fight to get to her before Doyle and his sizable army kill her.

"Lauren" is one of the highest-rated episodes in Criminal Minds, and understandably so. Even though the previous episode set up the episode’s events, "Lauren" was still packed with tense moments and surprises. It ties up a few loose ends for Emily’s character and provides a nice send-off to intertwine with JJ’s. Luckily for fans, neither exit was permanent, as they’re both main characters for most of the show after Season 6, including every episode of Criminal Minds: Evolution.

2 Mr. Scratch Went Full Horror

"Mr. Scratch" has a slightly different setup as the BAU holds three people accused of killing one of their loved ones in separate events across the country. The problem is that each killer shares the same story as they claim they didn’t kill anyone, but they smelled burning sage and felt sick before getting attacked by a shadow monster with talons. This understandably points the BAU toward drug influence. But a deeper connection between the killers suggests that the unsub’s identity lies buried under years of repressed memories and false ones suggested during therapy sessions on each of the killers.

For "Mr. Scratch," Gubler preyed on fears perfectly with a less-is-more approach. The audience rarely sees Mr. Scratch, allowing the brain to create horrifying images of him. There’s a focus on the fear of things that lurk in the night, and Mr. Scratch perfectly represents a Criminal Minds version of the boogeyman. The episode only gets scarier at the end, where it’s clear that the shadow monster sunk his talons into Hotch and will haunt the BAU in the future. Gubler tapped into iconic horror author Stephen King for the episode and even added a reference to King’s infamous Derry, Maine, to solidify the horror theme further.

1 Mosley Lane Was Gubler's First and Best Episode

"Mosley Lane" keeps the BAU in Virginia as they respond to a case about a little girl kidnapped from a busy town festival. The case gets significantly more complicated for the team as JJ gets confronted by a woman named Sarah Hillridge, whose son Charlie got kidnapped when he was eight. For around eight years, Sarah contacted JJ every time a BAU worked on a child abduction case in Virginia. While JJ initially shrugs off Sarah’s concerns, the BAU pieces together a pattern revealing a husband-and-wife duo who kidnaps children using a distraction and keeping them or disposing of them so the bodies never get found.

"Mosley Lane" is the highest-ranked Criminal Minds episode with Matthew Gray Gubler in the director’s chair. It’s also the second highest-ranked episode of Season 5, barely missing the infamous "100." Gubler’s directorial debut on the show did exceptionally well and is still a fan favorite. Fans praise the episode’s acting, with performances from Evan Peters, Ann Cusack, and Beth Grant in the unsub role standing out. "Mosley Lane" masterfully blends the profiling and procedural aspects central to the show with a bittersweet ending, mixing Gubler’s signature creepy vibes with almost non-stop gut-wrenching scenes.