Criminal Minds Aaron Hotchner

thomas gibson filming in 2010

in general, hotchner depicted hard-working, (mostly) humorless, no-nonsense agent smiles or acts out in anger; aloof demeanor , composure tend mistaken complete lack of emotion. takes great care avoid antagonizing witnesses, local law enforcement , suspects unless believes provoking them cause them reveal information, chastising team mates needlessly flippant or hostile behavior. few exceptions, takes ethics of profession seriously, evidenced angry reaction elle greenaway s killing of suspect, (correctly) believed cold-blooded murder. though lacking evidence, stated arrest if had such. sympathizes subjects pursues, although universally condemns behavior , never allows them justify it.

following birth of son jack, hotch s work bau began disrupting family life. following two-week suspension in 2007 (engineered office rival section chief erin strauss after case @ college campus in flagstaff, arizona ended in disaster when both serial killer nathan tubbs , copycat killer anna begley died), requested transfer different division, pleased haley, until derek morgan (shemar moore) convinced him team case in milwaukee. changed mind leaving department, , when returned home, found haley had taken jack , left him. later served divorce papers @ work. hotch attempted see jack weekly, unable spend time him like.

at beginning of show s fourth season, shown car exploding @ end of season 3 hotch s suv. both , ssa kate joyner caught in bombing outside new york city federal plaza. kate died injuries, , hotch suffered shrapnel wounds , punctured eardrum resulted in hyperacusis, causing temporary hearing problems. later in season, team worked 1 of hotch s old cases: case of boston reaper. hotch revealed rossi had maintained interest in case on ten years since had investigated it. shown reaper, power-hungry predator, had taken interest in hotch himself.

after being misled time, hotch , team identified reaper george foyet, 1 have supposedly survived reaper injuring himself. hotch , team arrested foyet escaped prison shortly afterward, going on run. in season 4 finale, ...and , hotch confronted in apartment reaper (identified trademark mask). foyet stabbed hotch 9 times , tortured him knife before delivering him hospital. although hotch survived, foyet took haley s , jack s address hotch s apartment, requiring them placed in protective custody , unable contact hotch while foyet @ large. following encounter foyet , subsequent loss of contact hotch s family, there concern within bureau, , on part of agent morgan, agent hotchner suffering effects of post traumatic stress disorder, , hotchner s actions analyzed more closely. in season 9, hotch hospitalized due complications old stab wounds after collapsing in team s conference room.

when chief strauss once again began putting pressure on hotchner, hotch decided step down unit chief avoid being reassigned different unit, relinquishing position morgan. morgan accepted hotch s position, stated step down once foyet had been captured. shortly thereafter foyet reappeared, baiting hotchner through correspondence old unsub (the fox) had since been imprisoned since being captured in season 1 episode, fox . of team, hotchner proceeded track foyet, posed marshal in order locate haley , jack. having gained access home, foyet had haley call hotch, during time realized had happened. while hotch managed issue code son, jack, him run , hide, didn t arrive in time save ex-wife, whom foyet murdered while talked on phone hotch.

upon arriving @ house, hotch found haley s body in bedroom , noticed foyet hiding behind curtains. full-out fight ensued, foyet s surrendering, though hotchner, enraged , afraid son s life, continued beat him death until rest of team arrived; morgan had physically restrain hotch him stop rampage. during inquiry section chief strauss, team demonstrated complete support of agent hotchner, despite strauss s persistence in painting hotchner s actions premeditated. position towards events changed upon speaking directly agent hotchner who, when asked believed have happened if foyet had lived, responded: don t have think; know have tried kill son, too. chief strauss concluded hotchner s actions entirely justifiable.

after ex-wife s murder, hotch took time off grieve , spend time son. spoke @ haley s funeral. clear jack missing mother, , comforted sleeping in dad s bed. hotch offered retirement bau in order son. however, after haley s sister, jessica, offered stay jack when hotch had go away, hotch agreed , decided return bau. since then, hotch has attempted build better relationship son being pillar of support. many of jack s actions make clear holds father in high regard. example, in 1 scene, jack shown playing 2 figures @ dinner table. explains father 1 figure hotch, while other bad guy . when jack s aunt jessica, making pancakes dinner, asks jack going win, replies: daddy. no 1 beats daddy.

in episode, refuses dress spider-man halloween because s not real super hero . instead jack puts on suit large him, , when hotch asks him hero s supposed be, says, m you, daddy. later on, hotch asked coach jack s soccer team when team s performance lacks , decides little rossi, whom takes on assistant. @ end of episode, hotch , rossi shown coaching jack s team , making them win. despite many responsibilities, after jj s departure team, hotch has chosen take on part of jj s role media liaison, move shares penelope garcia. former media communications officer jennifer jj jareau has moved on become official full-time profiler.

hotchner requested run psych review on team following prentiss death . request granted strauss, , saw different reactions team. strauss questioned why had not submitted psych report himself, made excuse. hotch protective of spencer reid, shown in small ways throughout episodes. in pilot episode extreme aggressor , hotch explains introduce him dr. spencer reid instead of special agent spencer reid people respect him despite youth. has taken on fatherly role spencer after gideon s departure. in season 7 premiere, revealed hotch assigned temporary duty investigative task force in pakistan during period between seasons. once hotch gets back, tells jj s time team learn prentiss alive.

although jj isn t sure s idea, hotch tells prentiss on way. tells team happened prentiss on operating table. rossi, morgan, reid, , garcia shocked. later, in proof , hotch witnesses reid s hostile behavior towards jj , tells him take anger out on him , not jj. reid replies wasn t hotch whom spent ten weeks crying on prentiss, jj, , never said word. in addition being bau special agent , bau unit chief, hotch has been promoted section chief because erin strauss, former section chief, resigned in episode self-fulfilling prophecy because had been drinking on job. despite fact involvement in above mentioned, bungled arizona case led being told not considered promotion.

later, hotch makes connection female runner while training triathlon. hotch hesitant , rossi feels because hotch doesn t think enough time has passed since haley murdered 2 years ago. while on plane, group - including garcia - debate issue of hotch s dating. after recent case, hotch admits rossi go on bike ride woman. @ end of episode, woman, beth, makes clear s interested in him romantically, leaves hotch smiling. during beginning of episode closing time , revealed hotch , beth have continued training having lunches together. hotch asks out on date, says yes to. @ end of episode hotch shows day roses, , , beth have first kiss. later, after running triathlon, hotch introduces son beth.