Ep 20. Honor Among Thieves

The show Criminal Minds season 2 episode 20 titled "Honor Among Thieves" follows the BAU team as they investigate a string of robberies. The episode opens with the team arriving in Baltimore to investigate a series of robberies that have been committed by a group of thieves who call themselves "The Faceless Bandits." The robbers are so named because they wear masks that completely obscure their faces, making identification nearly impossible.

As the team begins to investigate the crimes, they quickly discover that the robbers have a very specific MO. They only target businesses that are owned by members of the Russian mob, and they only steal specific items. For example, they might rob a jewelry store but only take a specific type of diamond. The team is puzzled by this and begins to wonder if there is something more going on than just simple robberies.

The team soon learns that the Russian mob has a strict code of honor, and that certain members of the mob have been breaking that code. These members have been stealing from other members of the mob and using the stolen items to finance their own criminal enterprises. The Faceless Bandits have been hired by a group of mobsters to punish these dishonorable members by stealing back the stolen items and returning them to their rightful owners.

The team begins to investigate the mob members who have been stealing from their brothers and quickly narrows down the list of suspects. They focus in on one particular member, a man named Yuri Sokolov, who has been stealing money and jewels from his fellow mobsters and using the proceeds to fund a drug trafficking operation.

The team sets a trap for Sokolov and manages to catch him in the act of stealing. They arrest him and bring him in for questioning. During the interrogation, Sokolov reveals the identity of the person who hired The Faceless Bandits to steal the stolen items back. The team is shocked to learn that it was actually another member of the Russian mob who had hired the thieves. This member, who had been wronged by the other thief, had decided to take matters into his own hands and had hired The Faceless Bandits to do his bidding for him.

The team manages to track down the leader of The Faceless Bandits and arrest him. During the arrest, the robber reveals that he himself had been wronged by a member of the Russian mob and had decided to take matters into his own hands. The other members of the team express sympathy for the robbers, who were simply trying to do what they thought was right in a complex and violent world.

As the episode comes to a close, the team reflects on the concept of honor among thieves, and how the world of organized crime is built on a complex system of rules and codes that are often only understood by those who operate within it. The team recognizes that they have gained a new understanding of the criminal world, and that they will continue to work to bring justice to those who have been wronged, no matter what code of honor they choose to follow.