I have this headcannon when watching Criminal Minds that whatever it is the unsub is doing the moment we see their face for the first time is the reason for their downfall.
This is especially the case for earlier seasons where most of the episode is left for us to guess at who's doing it. But also, in episodes where we see the unsubs face from the start, it just means that they were that much more stupid/sloppy to begin with and that there's nothing they could have done to avoid the BAU.















