Tara and Voit discuss The Fan: Voit doesn’t think his twisted admirer has killed yet, and he’s pretty sure the guy will reach out again. He does, this time sending three photos of a young woman with her face partially obscured. It takes a minute, but the BAU identifies the woman as a Wharton student named Laura Boyd; when they make contact with her, she tells them that her ex-boyfriend took the photos. Things ended badly between her and the guy, and he’s been harassing her ever since.
The guy is Lance Kingston (played by Connor Storrie), and as I mentioned, he sure looks like he just got off the couch from playing footsie with Shane. But unlike Ilya, Lance has a problem he very much would like to go away: Namely, the BAU’s sudden interest in his life and actions. “You’re not going to frame me for anything. I’m not that pathetic,” he tells JJ as she sits across the interrogation table from him. “Interesting choice of words,” she remarks, clearly thinking of The Fan’s previous communications. We learn that Lance has assault charges in his past, which is easy to believe as he gets mad at JJ. “F**k this noise,” he says, swiping a folder off the table and referring to his ex in less-than-kind terms. He says he’s familiar with Voit — who isn’t, but this point? — and admits to taking the photos but claims he didn’t send them to the imprisoned serial killer.
Tara decides to test Lance by having him sign a document with a pen she knows is going to leak and make a mess. He’s not bothered when the ink goes everywhere, which she reads as his not being obsessive-compulsive, and therefore likely not The Fan. However, as she and JJ later posit, it’s very possible that The Fan made sure to put Lance in the BAU’s sights.
Even if he’s not their guy, he’s not a GOOD guy, so Luke chats with Lance to make sure that he’s going to leave Laura alone from here on in. Luke notes that Lance doesn’t have a lot of people on his side — even his mother doesn’t seem to return his calls, if his phone log is any indication — but Lance asserts that his mother loves him. Still, Luke says, the younger man needs someone looking out for him. And then he threads a difficult psychological needle of suggesting that the BAU will check in on/look out for him, but he’s got to play nice and do as he’s told. Lance nods his assent.
Later, Voit shares his thoughts that Lance isn’t the killer, but he IS part of The Fan’s plan. And that seems to bear out: In the episode’s final moments, we see someone loading an unconscious Lance into the trunk of a car.
Now it’s your turn. What did you think of the episode? Sound off in the comments!
