Criminal Minds (TV Series)

Collision Course (2017)

Kirsten Vangsness: Penelope Garcia

Photos 

Quotes 

• [first lines] 

  Penelope Garcia : [JJ is at Reid's desk]  Hey.

  Jennifer Jareau : Hey. I still can't wrap my head around it.

  Penelope Garcia : I know.

  Jennifer Jareau : I, uh... I took a change of clothes to the precinct for him.

  Penelope Garcia : Did you see him?

  Jennifer Jareau : Uh-uh. I left it with Emily. She said he was finally getting a little sleep. Now part of me's glad I didn't see him locked up. I don't think I could take it.

• Penelope Garcia : [In a car, Luke is driving]  You have to be so lurchy? I get carsick!

• David Rossi : We need an APB and to figure out where he's taking her.

  Penelope Garcia : Well, in order to have an all-points bulletin, I need to have points. And he has hacked into the DMV and deleted his entire account, so I can't find a car he's registered to, let along a license.

  Stephen Walker : Well, he's gotta drive a 2013 Meridian. Those were his first crashes.

  Jennifer Jareau : Right. And he chose those because he already figured out how to hack his own.

  Penelope Garcia : That makes sense. That narrows it down.

  David Rossi : Cross-check all the plates of 2013 Meridians with named owners. The one without a specified owner is our unsub.

  Penelope Garcia : [to Luke]  Stop staring at me when I'm search engining.

  Luke Alvez : I'm not. I'm sorry.

  Penelope Garcia : It's weird. Uh... I got it. It's a vanity plate, WUKO. I'm sending the APB now.

• Penelope Garcia : Ohh, our sweet, sweet boy wonder.

  David Rossi : [approaching]  He's strong. He's gonna be okay. We got a new swab from him and we're running it now.

  Jennifer Jareau : Well, what happened to the comprehensive tox panel they ran in Mexico?

  David Rossi : With the red tape between jurisdictions, who knows if or when we'll get those results.

  Penelope Garcia : He should be here. We need him. His mom needs him. His mother! How's his mother?

  Jennifer Jareau : Well, she cried at first. Said it was all her fault he was even down there. But later she kept asking when Spencer would be home.

  David Rossi : Well, maybe it's a blessing she can forget.

  Penelope Garcia : What's our next step?

  David Rossi : Well, getting the kid home on bail pending trial.

  Penelope Garcia : Okay. That's a good baby step. I can focus on that.

  David Rossi : And I'm ready, willing, and able to post that bail, no matter how high they set it.

  Penelope Garcia : [hugging him]  Oh, my. I love you so hard.

  [letting him go as her phone chirps] 

  Penelope Garcia : Hmm. Well, crime never sleeps. We got a case.

• David Rossi : Prentiss won't be joining us. She's on Reid duty for the time being. This one was referred to us by a fellow federal agency, the National Transportation Safety Board.

  Penelope Garcia : So, last week, two separate incidents. Two separate vehicles hit two separate pedestrians, crashed on the same stretch of road in Bradenton, Florida, just outside of Sarasota.

  Luke Alvez : And they're sure they were both accidents?

  David Rossi : No, they don't think so.

  Penelope Garcia : Both vehicles were 2013 Meridians, and both drivers said they lost control of the cars.

  David Rossi : The first pedestrian is alive, but the second one died of his injuries.

  Dr. Tara Lewis : And it wasn't a vehicle defect?

  David Rossi : That's what the NTSB suspected, but they've done extensive tests and they've ruled that out, along with hazardous road conditions.

  Jennifer Jareau : [looking at the report]  And they're saying driver error is unlikely, though the drivers suffered head injuries in the crashes and they can't recall any of the details.

  Stephen Walker : Same make and model vehicle, two drivers saying they lost control. It sounds like they're thinking hacker.

  David Rossi : Could be. Most cars made after 2009, regardless of make or model, are vulnerable to hacking.

  Luke Alvez : Is there any footage of the crashes?

  Penelope Garcia : Oh, yeah. Middle school security camera caught the moments of impact. Brace yourselves. It ain't pretty. Here we go.

  Dr. Tara Lewis : [Garcia plays the camera footage]  Oh, god. No swerving, no braking, and an unsub turning cars into murder weapons. That's terrifying.

  Luke Alvez : It could be a whole new frontier for serial killers.

  David Rossi : Well, Garcia, since your area of expertise is relevant on this one, I want you to join us in the field.

  Penelope Garcia : [excited]  Me? Going wheels up? Sir, yes, sir.

  David Rossi : Great. Wheels up in twenty.

• Penelope Garcia : [on the BAU jet]  Not to be critical or anything, but this place could really use a splash of color.

  Dr. Tara Lewis : Really? I find the neutral tones soothing.

  Jennifer Jareau : Yeah, and they're a great background for when you're on the big screen.

  Penelope Garcia : [pleased, but feigning a coy modesty]  What, you mean I'm the splash of color? Stop it.

• David Rossi : Garcia, what have you got for us?

  Penelope Garcia : Just this. Two drivers and two pedestrians.

  David Rossi : Well, the victimology on this case is going to be difficult.

  Dr. Tara Lewis : It's just hard to know who the unsub's intended victims are. And the drivers, the D.A.'s considering murder charges in both cases, not to mention the psychological damage this unsub's inflicted, or the pedestrians, or both.

  Luke Alvez : Any connection between the drivers and the people they hit?

  Penelope Garcia : Just what we already know. Both drivers had the same kind of vehicle and it happened at the same location. Besides that, nothing. So what does the unsub want?

  Jennifer Jareau : Well, he's causing death and destruction while exerting power and control.

  David Rossi : And creating a public spectacle.

  Luke Alvez : Maybe there's some paraphilia there, like an arsonist who likes to watch.

  Stephen Walker : If this is about voyeurism, that might make it sexual, and if so, he's not likely to stop.

  Penelope Garcia : [her computer chimes]  This just in. One of the drivers, Marta Calderon, she's agreed to an interview.

  David Rossi : All right. JJ, Luke, Garcia, you head the crash site. A special investigator from the NTSB will meet you there. Tara, Stephen, and I will go straight to the Bradenton P.D.

• Pete Abadilla : We had the NTSB coordinate with the Bradenton P.D. and we shut down this whole stretch of road.

  Jennifer Jareau : That's a good call. Don't see any skid marks.

  Pete Abadilla : Well, there weren't any. Not for either accident.

  Luke Alvez : Well, if the unsub likes to watch, the question is where is he watching from?

  Penelope Garcia : Yeah, 'cause this is too open for our guy to watch comfortably watch from outside.

  Pete Abadilla : Well, we could canvass all the shops and homes along this route.

  Jennifer Jareau : We can, but anyone with his organization and hacking ability wouldn't be careless enough for that.

  Luke Alvez : Everything about this unsub is one degree of separation from the destruction.

  Penelope Garcia : [spotting a traffic camera]  Right there. Traffic camera.

  Pete Abadilla : Those cameras are closed circuit. Florida D.O.T. has hundreds of 'em. They only provide real time visuals of current traffic.

  Penelope Garcia : Exactly. They're everywhere, and they can be hacked.

  Luke Alvez : So he can hack into any one of them and watch in real time.

  Penelope Garcia : Yes, he can, newbie.

  Jennifer Jareau : So he can control a hacked car like a remote control toy.

• Penelope Garcia : Penelope Garcia coming to you live on location for a limited time only.

  Jennifer Jareau : Yeah, the most recent pedestrian victim. What you got on her?

  Penelope Garcia : Ohh, that's right, victim. I make jokes to cover up the sad. Okay. Meredith Courtelis, twenty-two, raven haired beauty. She was low risk. She lived with her parents. She was going to school. She wanted to be a physician's assistant.

  Jennifer Jareau : What about a boyfriend?

  Penelope Garcia : She doesn't have one. Not according to her social media. Looks like Meredith was her own girl. Chronically single. Friends kept trying to set her up.

  Jennifer Jareau : All right, well, this unsub specifically targeted her over other available targets. Is... is there a connection to the driver? His name's Mark Keeling.

  Penelope Garcia : [typing on her computer]  Mm, I got bupkis on that.

  Jennifer Jareau : No connection. It's the one thing he's been consistent about.

• David Rossi : This unsub is what's known as a sadistic symphorophiliac.

  Dr. Tara Lewis : Symphorophilia is a type of paraphilia in which sexual arousal is derived from staging and then watching disasters, such as fires or, in this case, car accidents.

  Jennifer Jareau : Observing the destruction he causes is extremely important to this unsub.

  Stephen Walker : He enjoys watching the terror of the drivers whose cars he hijacks, as well as the impact with his chosen pedestrian victim.

  Luke Alvez : In order to watch, he hacks traffic cameras or in-car dashboard cameras, as well as dashboard mounted smartphones.

  Dr. Tara Lewis : Now, so far there's no apparent connection between the drivers of the vehicles and their pedestrian victims.

  David Rossi : Instead, it appears the drivers are selected based on the vehicles they drive.

  Stephen Walker : This pattern of vehicle selection was initially limited to a single make and model, but he has since expanded his hacking capabilities.

  David Rossi : We believe our unsub is a white male in his mid- to late twenties.

  Jennifer Jareau : This unsub is careful enough to select drivers based on after market add-ons to their vehicles, such as dashboard cams or smartphone mounts.

  Penelope Garcia : Workplace parking lots would be really a good hunting ground because he'd be able to see the same cars over and over, and once he's determined that that driver is using those after market devices consistently, bang, that's his next victim.

  Luke Alvez : His first two hijackings were in order to perfect his technique. And those pedestrians were victims of opportunity.

  Dr. Tara Lewis : However, this latest hijacking reveals that he's refining his victim criteria. He specifically chose a young, attractive, dark haired woman.

  David Rossi : It's likely this victim was a surrogate for someone the unsub seeks to terrify and punish.

  Jennifer Jareau : This unsub may lack the confidence and social skills necessary to form healthy relationships, which could be fueling his anger.

  Stephen Walker : We anticipate his next victim or victims to be young, attractive women with whom he has some sort of personal connection.

  Dr. Tara Lewis : Encourage drivers to protect themselves by removing after market dashboard cameras and to refrain from mounting smartphones on their dashboards or CD slots.

  Luke Alvez : That's right. If the unsub can't watch, he will not select that car and driver.

  Stephen Walker : Law enforcement also needs to understand that the drivers of these vehicles are victims. They are unable to control the vehicles they appear to be driving.

• Luke Alvez : There has to be some kind of connection between the unsub and Veronica Perotta. I mean, he targeted her outside her home. He had to have some knowledge of her daily routine. This... this was personal.

  Penelope Garcia : I'm looking through Veronica's social media now. She was single. She had recently joined something called Amorous Intrigue.

  Luke Alvez : The dating website.

  Penelope Garcia : Oh. Is that what that is? It's good. Maybe I should try it. Not that I'd want to join something you know about. Or I'd need a dating website. 'Cause I don't.

  Luke Alvez : If the unsub needed a dating website, it was because he had trouble meeting women.

  Penelope Garcia : Well, let's see if she was dating anyone on Amorous Intrigue. Well, she was pinged a few times. But those conversations didn't go anywhere. Oh, wait. Here's somebody. Jonathan Rhodes. He pinged her three... no, four times. She ignored him. She must have rejected him just off his profile.

  Luke Alvez : Well, what's weird about his profile? Can you pull it up?

  Penelope Garcia : Yeah. Jonathan enjoys games of the video variety, mostly single-shooter and... driving games. Uh... he's into computers, and he was a sound tech engineer at a local radio station.

  Luke Alvez : Let me guess. WUKO.

  Penelope Garcia : Yeah, that's the one. After she blew him off, he cyber stalked Veronica for months.

  Luke Alvez : Who else rejected Jonathan's pings on Amorous Intrigue?

  Penelope Garcia : Well, I don't know. He didn't really put himself out there that much.

  Luke Alvez : Well, that would only intensify the rejections.

  Penelope Garcia : Okay. Here's somebody. Alyssa Miles. Totally his type.

  Luke Alvez : That's his next target. Can you pull up an address?

  Penelope Garcia : Yep. Just sent it to your phone.

  Luke Alvez : All right. Grab your laptop, hotshot. Let's go.

  Penelope Garcia : What?

  Luke Alvez : Come on.

  Penelope Garcia : I'm going with you? I don't go with. I don't. I'm precious cargo.

• Luke Alvez : We're at Alyssa's house. Car's here. No signs of a struggle. I think he abducted her.

  Jennifer Jareau : The local P.D. says he's not in his apartment and his car's gone.

  Penelope Garcia : So then why the change in the modus operandi?

  Jennifer Jareau : It's part of his escalation. It's not enough for him to watch anymore. What he craves is physical contact.

  David Rossi : His confidence is up. He was ready to step out of the shadows.

  Stephen Walker : He needs to be a part of it, and he wants to experience the moment of impact, even if it means he doesn't walk away from it.

• Penelope Garcia : [Luke just made a remark about a cell phone]  Yeah, yeah, that's helpful! You're helpful sometimes