Season 2 Episode 14: "The Big Game"

 

          In this episode of Criminal Minds, the officer team pursues a religious killing team in Atlanta that sets up computer webcams to record their murders to post them on the Internet. This team of killers is known for calling 911 at the scene of the crime right before they commit the murder. After listening to the recorded 911 calls, the officers find it strange that one person on the team seems to be afraid and apologetic for the murder they are about to commit, while another stronger voice who identifies as “Raphael” seems to yell at the other man and say that it is “God’s will” to kill these sinners.
         After extensive research and investigation, they find that it is not a team of killers responsible for these murders – but rather a single person suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder. This man, known as Tobias Hankel, had a very difficult childhood. His father was a religious preacher who constantly abused him – he would hold Tobias under water in attempts to drown him, hit him, and even burn him with hot metal crosses to brand him with the symbol of Christ. Even though his father abused him, Tobias still loved and honored his father. After his father died, Tobias believed it was his responsibility to keep his world alive – which is possibly why Tobias developed two different personalities (his own personality and his father’s). Raphael would command him to kill people he believed were sinners, such as wealthy people or people who were dishonest. He would break into their house and slaughter them like an animal – Raphael’s way of religious sacrifice. After the murder, Tobias would feel extremely guilty and pace back and forth whispering “What did I do, what did I do! They didn’t deserve that, it’s not what God wants!” Raphael would quickly break through, yelling “Stop talking nonsense, those sinners got what they deserved!” This type of internal conflict would happen quite frequently with Tobias. Later on in the episode, he actually kidnapped Spencer (one of the officers) and tortured him. Whenever he would talk to Spencer, he would constantly switch between personalities – sometimes he would be the kind and compassionate Tobias, and other times he would be the controlling and sinister Raphael. One minute he would be apologizing to Spencer for the way his father was treating him, and the next Raphael would start torturing and beating him again. According to (http://my.clevelandclinic.org/services/neurological_institute/center-for-behavorial-health/disease-conditions/hic-dissociative-identity-disorder), “DID results from extreme and repeated trauma that occurs during important periods of development during childhood. The trauma often involves severe emotional, physical or sexual abuse, but also might be linked to a natural disaster or war,” which would explain how Tobias’s abusive past is linked to the development of his disorder.