The Most Unforgettable Derek Morgan Scene On Criminal Minds

It's safe to say that the agents of the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) on "Criminal Minds" make a formidable team. Week after week the team stares down the worst that humanity had to offer, oftentimes putting their lives on the line to ensure the safety of the general public. It takes serious guts to not only track down the worst serial killers in the nation, but also to get inside their head and learn how they think in order to take them down quickly and decisively. Each member of the team: from Rossi (Joe Mantegna) to Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler) to Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness) is heroic and highly capable in their own right.

If the team of "Criminal Minds" could only claim one standout, it would likely be Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore) — and if the profilers of the Behavioral Analysis Unit were the Justice League, Morgan is Superman, hands-down. In a series with many amazing Derek Morgan scenes, one episode easily has the most jaw-dropping moment of the entire run of "Criminal Minds."

While there are a number of awesome Derek Morgan moments, the episode that easily has the single most unforgettable moments is found in the season 11 episode "Derek." In the episode, Derek is kidnapped by a mysterious group of ex-military members who torture and beat him with a baton, which he endures, retreating into his mind to better block out the pain. When that fails, they break out white phosphorus, placing it on his body and lighting it on fire.

Waiting for an opportunity, Morgan fakes a fugue state from the torture and then seizes an opportunity provided by the killers, which allows him to kill five out of his six abductors and severely injure the sixth. All (it should be noted) while he is still on fire. The episode is stacked with incredible moment after incredible moment on top of one another and coming so often that the viewer is left constantly on the edge of their seat.

None of the agents on "Criminal Minds" lacks courage and intelligence, but Derek Morgan is easily the toughest agent the BAU has ever seen. Beaten, tortured within an inch of his life, Morgan could not only seize an opportunity and lay waste to his captors, he did it while profiling them, treating himself as the victim in a case. Drawing on reserves of his own endurance, he waited for an opportunity and struck, not only turning the tables on his opponents but providing the BAU with an opportunity to track him down and come to the rescue.

In one single moment, Morgan not only managed to surprise his enemies, he proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is the BAU's ultimate badass in residence. While he stepped down from the team two episodes later to focus on his family, it's clear he left some seriously big shoes to fill.