Aino's Modus Operandi

Primal Scream
It Cuts Both Ways
Second Best
Power Corrupts
Old Acquaintance
Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Quick
Victims of Victims
Birthright
Ties That Bind
Every Five Minutes
Breaking Point
Lethal Obsession
Die Beautiful
Root Of All Evil

For a much better inventory of the "Profiler" soundtrack, visit Isis' TPA: The Profiler Archive.

During the discussion of the case in the VCTF for the first time, Bailey speculates that the killings might have been committed by an animal. He mentions Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" in reference to his theory. Poe's tale, set in the nineteenth century Paris, tells of how the brutal murders of Madame and Mademoiselle L'Espanaye were solved by Monsieur Dupin, a fallen son of a prestigious family, and a master at the art of analysis. By his bewildering gifts of analysis, Monsieur Dupin comes to the conclusion that the murders were committed by an orangutan.
The song that plays in the background when Sharon is at Jack's lair is "Fever". It was written by E. Cooley and J. Davenport and it has been covered a number of times from its original release in 1956. Here are the lyrics to the song. The most probably singer of this version is Peggy Lee, whose cover was released in 1958.

Fever

Never know how much I love you
Never know how much I care
When you put your arms around me
I get a fever that's so hard to bear
You give me fever (you give me fever) when you kiss me
Fever when you hold me tight (you give me fever)
Fever ... in the mornin'
Fever all through the night

Sun lights up the day time
Moon lights up the night
I light up when you call my name
'cause I know you're gonna treat me right
You give me fever (you give me fever) when you kiss me
Fever when you hold me tight (you give me fever)
Fever ... in the mornin'
Fever all through the night (WOW!!)

Everybody's got the fever
That is somethin' you all know
Fever isn't such a new thing
Fever started long time ago

(You give me fever)
Baby, turn on your love light (yeah, yeah)
Let it shine on me (yeah, yeah)
Well, baby, turn on your love light (yeah, yeah)
And let it shine on me (yeah, yeah)
Well, just a little bit higher (yeah, yeah)
And just a little bit brighter, baby (yeah, yeah)

You give me fever (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
You give me fever (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
You give me fever (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
You give me fever.

Romeo loved Juliet
Juliet she felt the same
When he put his arms around her
He said, "Julie baby you're my flame"
Thou givest fever when we kisseth
Fever with thy flaming youth
Fever I’m on fire
Fever yea I burn forsooth

Captain Smith and Pocahontas
Had a very mad affair
When her daddy tried to kill him
She said "Daddy oh don't you dare"
"He gives me fever with his kisses"
"Fever when he holds me tight"
"Fever, I’m his missus"
"Daddy won't you treat him right?"

Now you've listened to my story
Here's the point that I have made
Cats were born to give chicks fever
Be it Fahrenheit or centigrade
We give you fever when we kiss you
Fever if you live and learn
Fever till you sizzle
What a lovely way to burn
What a lovely way to burn
What a lovely way to burn, ah
What a lovely way to burn

Back to the "Primal Scream" guide.

At the end of the episode, Sam asks "Wasn't it Ebenezer Scrooge who was shown his own corpse by the ghosts?". This is a reference to a popular Christmas story by Charles Dickens, called "A Christmas Carol", first published in 1843. Its protagonist, Ebenezer Scrooge, is a mean and wealthy old man who couldn't care less about the holiday spirit until he's visited by four ghosts. These visits make Ebenezer change his life. Respectively, the four visitors are the ghost of Jacob Marley (Scrooge's dead company partner), the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Chrismas Present and the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come. Ebenezer is taken to his own dead, covered body by the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come, but Ebenezer can't bring himself to lift off the cloth. However, not until the Ghost takes him to the cemetary is Ebenezer sure that he himself is dead in the apparition.

Sam: "Where does a Jack feel a need for a Jill?"
Bailey: "Jack and Jill. If I remember the nursery rhyme correctly, it didn't work out too well for them."

A reference to a common children's rhyme "Jack and Jill". Here it is:

Jack And Jill

Jack and Jill went up the hill
to fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down and broke his crown
and Jill came tumbling after

Up Jack got, and home did trot
as fast as he could caper. Went to bed,
to mend his head with vinegar and brown paper

Jill came in, and she did grin to see his paper plaster
mother vexed did whip her next
for causing Jack's disaster.

Back to the "Second Best" guide.

The inaccuracy of several storylines:
This episode was intended to be run right after the season premiere "Ambition In The Blood", which was seen November 1st 1997. However, it was pushed back because TPTB presumably wanted to run the season shocker "Second Best" during the November sweeps. So "Power Corrupts" was deemed dispensable to make way for "Second Best". This helps to explain the inconsistencies of storyline happenings in this episode.

A. Santa Croce:
In Henegar's hearing you see that one of the judges is named A. Santa Croce, which also happens to be the name of a producer from the first season. After this episode it seems that Anthony Santa Croce went his own way since he is not mentioned in any credits hereafter. A way of saying goodbye, maybe? Seems probable, seeing that "AITB" and this episode were shot at the end of the first season due to Ally's pregnancy.

The shoes Traci wears in the teaser of the episode were from her own personal collection. The shoes were by Gucci, and Traci also wore them in one of her promo photos for the series. Click here to see the shoes and the picture. In one of the takes for the teaser's ending, Traci held one shoe in her hand, instead of the knife we see in the actual episode. Eventually, one shoe's heel broke off on the set, and it was given a proper funeral. The other shoe was recently auctioned off at eBay.

According to some resources, Jack in the proverb "Jack be nimble, Jack be quick" is a reference to the Devil. This proverb can also be found in the song "American Pie" by Don McLean.

The episode contains two references to the works of Washington Irving (1783-1859). Grace mentions the "Headless Horseman", and John refers to the killer pulling a "Rip Van Winkle", having started the killings anew, forty years after the original killing spree took place. The Headless Horseman comes from Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", written in 1820. In the story, a village by the name Sleepy Hollow is beset by the Horseman. The main character is Ichabod Crane, a local school master, who tries to woo the daughter of an affluent family. In "Rip Van Winkle", the main character is Rip, whose life is run by his evil minded and mouthed wife. One day, Rip wanders into the Catskill mountains to hunt for squirrels and meets strange looking strangers. When he returns to his home village after having spent the night in the strangers' company, he finds that suddenly 18 years has passed since he left the village.

In the footage of the VCTF members hard at work the clip of Sam in her office is actually from "Ring Of Fire". In addition, the footage of Grace and Bailey in the lab is taken from "Unholy Alliance".

The footage of the VCTF arriving at Kathy Young's house in the middle of the night was utilised in "Die Beautiful" when the team reaches Gina Brazziano's home.

In the United States before the episode began, Ally Walker appeared on screen and made a statement about women and rape. This was not seen on NBC Europe, nor was it run in any other country as far as I know. According to data I have found at RAINN: Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, the PSA mentioned this particular organisation. The RAINN hotline reveived nearly 1,000 calls for help following the episode.
Here are the lyrics to the soond that is played in the bar during the teaser:

Conga

The artist: Miami Sound Machine
The album: Primitive Love

Come on, shake your body baby, do the conga
I know you can't control yourself any longer
Come on, shake your body baby, do the conga
I know you can't control yourself any longer

Come on, shake your body baby, do the conga
I know you can't control yourself any longer
Feel the rhythm of the music getting stronger
Don't you fight it 'til you tried it, do that conga beat

Everybody gather 'round now
Let your body feel the heat
Don't you worry if you can't dance;
Let the music move your feet

It's the rhythm of the island,
and like the sugar cane so sweet
If you want to do the conga,
you've got to listen to the beat

Come on, shake your body baby, do the conga
I know you can't control yourself any longer
Feel the rhythm of the music getting stronger
Don't you fight it 'til you tried it, do that conga beat

Feel the fire of desire,
as you dance the night away
'Cause tonight were gonna party,
'til we see the break of day

Better get yourself together,
and hold on to what you've got
Once the music hits your system,
there's no way your gonna stop

(3x) Come on, shake your body baby, do the conga
I know you can't control yourself any longer
Feel the rhythm of the music getting stronger
Don't you fight it 'til you tried it, do that conga beat

Come on, shake your body baby, do the conga

Before the opening theme music, every commercial break and the end credits numbers 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 are shown respectively. After number "12" the following appears on screen:

Back to the "Every Five Minutes" guide.

The skeleton-like metal sculpture which appears in the teaser of the episode is Bruce Gray's original work of art, and it is called "Oh-O".
The articles about Sharon's imprisonment feature familiar names: P. LeBlanc and J. Niss, as in Paul LeBlanc, the show's computer graphics designer, and John Forrest Niss, one of the show's producer.

The architect whom Nikki Ware mentions in her live broadcast from the city center plaza has a familiar name: Monica Gillette. This also happens to be the name of an assistant editor who edited this episode.
After the team has solved the enigma of the kidnapper's music, Bailey mentions Edgar Allan Poe and quotes a stanza "Quoth the raven, Nevermore". The stanza is from Poe's famous poem called "The Raven". It was first published in a New York magazine in January 1845. Later that year, it was released in the collection "The Raven and Other Poems".

The Raven

   Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
   While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
   As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door-
                 Only this, and nothing more."

   Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
   Eagerly I wished the morrow;- vainly I had sought to borrow
   From my books surcease of sorrow- sorrow for the lost Lenore-
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore-
                 Nameless here for evermore.

   And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me- filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
   So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating,
   "'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door-
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;-
                 This it is, and nothing more."

   Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
   But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
   And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you"- here I opened wide the door;-
                 Darkness there, and nothing more.

   Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;
   But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
   And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore!"
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!"-
                 Merely this, and nothing more.

   Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
   "Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice:
   Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore-
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;-
                 'Tis the wind and nothing more."

   Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore;
   Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
   But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door-
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door-
                 Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

   Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore.
   "Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,
   Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore-
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"
                 Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

   Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning- little relevancy bore;
   For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
   Ever yet was blest with seeing bird above his chamber door-
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
                 With such name as "Nevermore."

   But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
   Nothing further then he uttered- not a feather then he fluttered-
   Till I scarcely more than muttered, "other friends have flown
       before-
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before."
                 Then the bird said, "Nevermore."

   Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store,
   Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster
   Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore-
Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore
                 Of 'Never- nevermore'."

   But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;
   Then upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
   Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore-
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous bird of yore
                 Meant in croaking "Nevermore."

   This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
   This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
   On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamplight gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamplight gloating o'er,
                 She shall press, ah, nevermore!

   Then methought the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose footfalls tinkled on the tufted floor.
   "Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee- by these angels he hath sent thee
   Respite- respite and nepenthe, from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!"
                 Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

   "Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!- prophet still, if bird or devil!-
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
   Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted-
   On this home by horror haunted- tell me truly, I implore-
Is there- is there balm in Gilead?- tell me- tell me, I implore!"
                 Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

   "Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil- prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us- by that God we both adore-
   Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
   It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore-
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore."
                 Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

   "Be that word our sign in parting, bird or fiend," I shrieked, upstarting-
"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
   Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
   Leave my loneliness unbroken!- quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"
                 Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

   And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
   And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
   And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
                 Shall be lifted- nevermore!

Back to the "Lethal Obsession" guide.

The VCTF finds a part of a stanza, "Beauty is truth, truth beauty", in Melissa Merritt's diary. Bailey mentions that it's by John Keats. The partial stanza is taken from Keats' poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn", which was published in 1820 in his "Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems" collection. Here is the poem.

Ode on a Grecian Urn

Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness,
    Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thou express
    A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:
What leaf-fring'd legend haunt about thy shape
    Of deities or mortals, or of both,
        In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?
    What men or gods are these?  What maidens loth?
What mad pursuit?  What struggle to escape?
        What pipes and timbrels?  What wild ecstasy?

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
    Are sweeter: therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd,
    Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:
Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave
    Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;
        Bold lover, never, never canst thou kiss,
Though winning near the goal - yet, do not grieve;
        She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,
    For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed
    Your leaves, nor ever bid the spring adieu;
And, happy melodist, unwearied,
    For ever piping songs for ever new;
More happy love! more happy, happy love!
    For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd,
        For ever panting, and for ever young;
All breathing human passion far above,
    That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd,
        A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.

Who are these coming to the sacrifice?
    To what green altar, O mysterious priest,
Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,
    And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?
What little town by river or sea shore,
    Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,
        Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn?
And, little town, thy streets for evermore
    Will silent be; and not a soul to tell
        Why thou art desolate, can e'er return.

O Attic shape!  Fair attitude! with brede
    Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
    Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
    When old age shall this generation waste,
        Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
    Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty," - that is all
        Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

Back to the "Die Beautiful" guide.

Some of the photographs utilised in this episode are by Ben Martin and Dick Swanson. I was able to find a website of Mr. Swanson, but nothing on Mr. Martin. At Mr. Swanson's page, Photography by Dick Swanson, you can find two photos that were seen in the episode. Here are the links: Bangladesh and Boys behind a barbed wire. Thank you to Mr. Swanson for letting me display this information and link to his web page.