Played by: Mandy Patinkin
Mandy Patinkin Photo Gallery

Rank: SSA (Supervisory Special Agent), Profiler

Vital stats: Gideon was a father figure to all of the team members. He helped Morgan and Reid through their nightmares. Prior to the series, he is said to have had a "nervous breakdown" after he sent six men into a warehouse with a bomb in it. All six agents were killed, and he was heavily criticized about the event. Gideon is also skilled at chess, having continually beaten Dr. Reid. After a series of emotional cases, Gideon began to feel burnt out. He retreated to his cabin during Hotch's suspension and left a letter for Dr. Reid, whom he knew would be the one to come looking for him. When Reid arrived at the cabin, it was empty except for the letter and Gideon's badge and weapon. Gideon was last seen at the beginning of Season 3, leaving a diner and remarking to the waitress that he didn't know where he was going or how he'd know when he got there, and then subsequently drove off in his car.

Key episodes:
1x01: "Extreme Aggressor"
1x03: "Won't Get Fooled Again"
1x17: "A Real Rain"
2x10: "Lessons Learned"
2x13: "No Way Out (1)"
2x23: "No Way Out (2): The Evilution of Frank"
3x01: "Doubt"
3x02 "In Name and Blood" (Gideon's final episode)

Who is Gideon? Discuss his character development by season.

Season 1	Episode 1x03 "Won't Get Fooled Again": We learn Gideon left Boston due to assuming he'd disarmed a bomber then sending six Agents into the building recover hostages, the bomber still had the trigger on him though; and set it off killing everyone in the building. Gideon suffered PTSD and moved to the BAU. After a copycat bomber started using the Bale's methods, Gideon had to face his past and Bale to find out who the bomber was and stop him. After saving the lives of more agents by stopping them before they were killed; Gideon was forced to make a deal with Bale to have him help them get a bomb off an innocent man. Gideon realized Bale lied about which wire to cut and called his bluff, once again, saving them all from a bomb going off. He then had the pleasure of returning Bale to prison, the burden of the six Agents' deaths presumably gone. He told Bale's cell block mates he was very cooperative with the FBI and said that "he might even call it an emotional release". You also learn some of this while in the kitchen with one of the unsubs of "Extreme Aggressor". Episode 1x10 "The Popular Kids" It was revealed that Gideon has been a profiler since at least 1985. Episode 1x11 "Blood Hungry" Gideon injured himself and ended up on crutches from skydiving causing him to remain at the BAU office while the team went to Tennessee. He had a list of "25 things to do before I die" and skydiving was #24. It is implied by Hotch that #25 is to mend a rift with his son, Steven. When Hotch left his office, Gideon called his son Steven and asked if they could get together. Episode 1x17 "A Real Rain" When Hotch and Gideon were first paired up, one of their first cases was to catch an unsub in Iowa who murdered 2 teenage boys. Guns drawn, Hotch and Gideon confronted the unsub, only to have him pull a gun on them and aim it at Hotch. Rather than shooting the unsub, Hotch talked him down. When the case went to trial, the unsub was acquitted and it wasn't until he killed his 3rd victim, a 12 year old boy, that they got him. In this episode, Hotch and Gideon were faced with a similar circumstance when they tried to talk Marvin Doyle down. When Doyle aimed his gun at Gideon, Hotch shot and killed him. Episode 1x22 "The Fisher King (1)" We see Gideon at his cabin. With music on, he is he preparing a gourmet dinner. He then hears a buzzing sound (that turns out to be a signal of a vehicle approaching) that opens a cabinet to reveal a security system with cameras that monitor the road outside. An SUV is approaching, and Gideon is apparently expecting a lady friend for a romantic rendezvous, so he continues to cook while keeping an eye on the monitors.
Season 2	Episode 2x10 "Lessons Learned" Gideon talks to the terrorist Jind Allah. Gideon was able to trick him to reveal the next terror attack, many lives was saved.
Season 3	Episode 3x01 "Doubt" While trying to solve a case on a college campus, Gideon kept imagining that he was seeing Sara in the crowds and in the victims faces. He was unable to put her death behind him and questioned if he could do his job any longer. In solitude at his cabin, he wrote a letter to someone trying to describe how he felt and his reasons for leaving. He signed and sealed the letter and put it on his desk. The show ended with him pulling out his gun. Episode 3x02 "In Name and Blood" Reid tried reaching Gideon on his cell phone and was unable to. He notified Hotch, who was on a 2 week suspension. Reid had problems focusing on the case at hand because he was worried about Gideon and where he was. In the end, Reid drove out to Gideon's cabin and walked in and found it empty, except for Gideon's gun, badge and letter addressed to him on the desk. While Reid was reading the letter, Gideon was pulled off at a diner and told the waitress he was just "driving" with no destination in mind. This is Gideon's last episode.