The episode highlights Alex Blake's linguistic expertise as she analyzes the UnSub's speech patterns in the recorded calls.

The UnSub, later identified as Hinckley, makes a series of cryptic and threatening phone calls to the parents to induce a state of pure terror. He waits for the parents to be distracted or away from the child's side for only a few seconds before snatching them.

Fans often rank "The Caller" as one of the saddest episodes of Criminal Minds due to the realistic horror of a child being taken from their home and the long-term devastation it causes families. You can watch the full episode on Paramount+ or other streaming platforms.

The BAU tracks the UnSub to a remote area. They find that he has been keeping "trophies" of his victims and that his motivation stems from his own childhood trauma and a distorted need to "save" children from what he perceives as inadequate parenting.