[s6e19] With Friends Like These Guide

Ben’s "friends" urge him to attack a nurse, Karen Heywood, after an awkward supermarket interaction.

The BAU is reeling from the loss of Emily Prentiss (who they believe is dead), but they must focus on a series of violent murders in Portland, Oregon. The victims are bludgeoned and stabbed, with high levels of overkill—up to 71 times in one instance. [S6E19] With Friends Like These

Spencer Reid is deeply affected by the schizophrenic unsub, fearing his own mental health issues and struggling with the team's loss of Prentiss. Ben’s "friends" urge him to attack a nurse,

Early theories suggest a "pack" of killers, but Hotch quickly realizes it is one single, highly disturbed individual leaving the same shoe prints at every crime scene. The unsub is Ben Foster (played by Bug Hall), a paranoid schizophrenic who believes he is being pursued by the ghosts of three friends he killed in a fire when he was a child. These "ghosts" (Matt, Tony, and Yolanda) now haunt him, acting as "imaginary foes" that force him to kill to get them to stop nagging him. Spencer Reid is deeply affected by the schizophrenic

In a heart-wrenching scene, Ben calls his mother for help during a breakdown, but she dismisses him, telling him to "find a yellow pages" and hangs up, leaving him to the voices.

When a suspected gang in Portland starts targeting a new victim every night, the BAU is tasked with finding a "pack" of killers before they strike again. But what they find is far more personal, tragic, and psychological than a simple gang war.

The BAU realizes the overkill is a desperate act to burn energy so Ben can sleep and get a reprieve from his hallucinations.