'Criminal Minds' season 12 spoilers: Team to face 'supernatural' serial killer for show's Halloween episode?

facebook.com/CriminalMinds

The Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) of "Criminal Minds" will have their hands full with an unusual case for the season's fourth episode, entitled "Keeper."

Based on a promo released for the episode, the team will be going after the killer through the woods leading to the Appalachian Trail in Virginia. The perp appears to have sharp claws, leading some of the audience to believe that he is a supernatural being.

The killer will have already had seven victims by the time the team gets in on the case. Sadly, the perp takes pleasure in torturing his victims before killing them. The challenge for team will be to catch the slippery suspect in an unfamiliar terrain before he goes and claim another victim.

Since Hotch (Thomas Gibson) was written out of the show on "special assignment" after an on-set altercation with one of the writers of the show, it will be Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster) who will lead the team in his absence.

"I love Criminal Minds and have put my heart and soul into it for the last 12 years. I had hoped to see it through to the end, but that won't be possible now. I would just like to say thank you to the writers, producers, actors, our amazing crew, and, most importantly, the best fans that a show could ever hope to have," Gibson said through a statement upon his dismissal. It is unclear if he will still return to the show to wrap up his storyline or if his deployment will be permanent. 

According to Brewster, the show will address her character's long absence by explaining her involvement with the Interpol for the four years that she was gone. The actress said that Prentiss is happy to return to the BAU because of the new challenges her new position brings.

Meanwhile, a report by Bitbag has indicated that the fourth episode will be pushed back to an Oct. 26 airing date, making it the show's Halloween offering.

The show has also released the titles episodes 5 to 11, namely "The Anti-Terrorism Squad," "Elliott's Pond," "Mirror Image," "Scarecrow," "Profiling 202," "Seek and Destroy," and "Surface Tension."