The BAU travels to Santa Monica when burned bodies of homeless people begin showing up by the famous pier. Also, Rossi reconnects with his former Marine sergeant from Vietnam.

When a recent attendee at a popular motivational speaker's conference in Seattle is murdered, the BAU looks at the speaker as the main suspect, but they have to refocus their investigation when the speaker himself goes missing. Also, Garcia is puzzled when Morgan declines to attend a dinner honoring an old family friend.