What Really Drove Criminal Minds Con Artist Everett Lynch To A Life Of Crime

With 15 seasons and over 300 episodes, the popular procedural "Criminal Minds" showcased a variety of criminals, from the mildly deranged to the majorly demented. Admittedly, some of the series' unknown subjects, or unsubs, were more compelling than others. Proxy killer Peter Lewis (Bodhi Elfman), aka Mr. Snatch, was so loved by audiences that his character plagued the Behavioral Analysis Unit over multiple seasons. The chemistry between Aubrey Plaza's femme fatale Cat Adams and Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler) prompted the assassin's inclusion in multiple episodes. But, of all the repeat offenders to appear on the show, only one has the unique distinction of being the series' final unsub.

That honor belongs to con man turned serial killer Everett Lynch (Michael Mosley), who first appeared in Season 14 before returning for revenge in the series' last two episodes. Known as "The Chameleon" due to his keen ability to alter his appearance, Lynch murdered at least 18 people before the BAU managed to stop him. His was a long reign of terror, one that began when he was just 7 years old.

As a child, Everett Lynch became an unwitting accomplice in his mother's fraud schemes. Roberta Lynch (Sharon Lawrence) used her young son, and the false claim of being destitute, to trick men into marrying her. When the husbands were no longer of financial use to her, Roberta would leave them. These schemes went on for some time and greatly shaped the man Everett would become. For each new target, Roberta and Everett would reinvent themselves, changing their appearance or history to ensnare the new mark, which kept a young Everett from developing his own personality. Not surprisingly, Everett came to see his mother's actions as an enjoyable game that usually resulted in a profit.

Everett eventually broke away from his mother after her negligence nearly resulted in the drowning death of his young daughter, Grace. With his daughter in tow, Everett began following his mother's footsteps. Unlike Roberta, though, Everett wasn't content to simply con women out of money. When he was done with his victims, he'd kill them and remove their faces to keep as trophies, which caught the attention of the BAU.

Despite the BAU's best efforts, Everett managed to elude capture at the end of his Season 14 episode. His daughter, however, was apprehended after stabbing Agent Luke Alvez (Adam Rodriguez) in an attempt to help her father. Everett returned in Season 15, adding many new names to his already extensive list of victims, including both his daughter and his mother. He nearly escaped again, but instead died in a jet explosion.

Everett Lynch follows a common pattern among the unsubs the BAU profiled over the 15 seasons of "Criminal Minds." The experiences of his early childhood essentially prevented him from having a normal adulthood. During the years when most children are developing their own sense of self, Everett was forced to abandon his identity and reimagine a new one each time his mother decided it was time for the next con. Without that sense of self, that sense of identity, Everett was essentially faceless, thus the trophies he took from his victims. It's possible that without Roberta's influence, her son could have been something other than the monster at the heart of the BAU's last case.