Criminal Minds season 16 episode 9: What happened to David Rossi?

With a riveting ending to Criminal Minds' season 16 in episode 9, the fate of David Rossi now seems to be hanging by a thread since he was seen struggling to not get killed. We also saw Elias Voit a.k.a. Sicarius capturing Rossi and recording him via a security camera.

Episode 9 of Criminal Minds season 16, titled Memento Mori, was directed by Doug Aarniokoski and written by Breen Frazier. The main focus of this episode was on David Rossi, played by Joe Mantegna, and fans are worried about his future after the cliffhanger-esque ending.

The beloved show has been on the air since 2005 and its current season, season 16, aired on November 24, 2022.

Warning: Major spoilers ahead from Criminal Minds.

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What exactly is the disturbing cliffhanger with which Criminal Minds season 16 episode 9 ends?

Zach Gilford's portrayal of the psychopathic Elias Voit in this season of Criminal Minds has been nothing short of phenomenal and could just be the reason for Rossi's downfall.

The episode began right where the previous episode ended, with Rossi showing Sydney, Voit's wife, a photo of the Hardware store. After getting an alert, Voit called Sidney and she confronted him regarding the photo. He realized that he had read Rossi's book Deviance before and Sidney managed to get Rossi out, who mentioned that her husband had some explaining to do.

We already know here that Rossi clearly knew that Voit is Sicarius. The attorney general can only give them 48 hours, but they’re on a short leash. Voit then surprisingly showed up to talk to Rossi in the Seattle Field Office and confirmed that he was in the hardware store and mentioned to Rossi that he had read all his books. His book contains detailed descriptions of murder and how to dispose of bodies. Unfortunately, this was not solid evidence to arrest Voit.

Then in Criminal Minds' season 16 in episode 9, Rossi wondered if Sydney was the weak link who had been brainwashed with Voit's lies: A coworker found out his company was transferring the slush fund into cryptocurrency for bad people, and when he tried going to the FBI, he got in the car with an agent and was never seen again. When Rossi tried to tell Sydney that her husband was a psychopathic killer, the cunning Voit posted a video of Rossi hailing him as a stalker.

The attorney general ordered Prentiss to take Rossi out of the case but he instead went to Voit. Elias sent his family to a motel for safety and invited him in for wine. Rossi enters the room and sees Voit sitting calmly in the living room. The former proposed to Voit that he let Sidney and his children go and he would let him go. But Voit rejected the deal.

Ross said that Voit was a unique psychopath because most of them don't feel love. But his behavior will kill his family. Voit reacted slightly and then attacked Ross as they wrestled for the gun, however, the latter got knocked out by the former. Thankfully, one of Voit's victim's brothers, Tyler, tracked Rossi's phone and figured out that he was with Elias.

The rest of the BAU got too late. By the time they reached Rossi's location, Viot had already shot Tyler and escaped with Rossi. The BAU receives a live stream link, with a message on the screen:

“Further instructions will come. But here are the ground rules. Let me go, you get him back. If you don’t?”

They see a glimpse of Rossi calling out for help before the camera feed cuts off.