“Unfinished Business” quotes from Criminal Minds

Tractor, New Jersey -- a small industrial town where a passerby has summoned the police to a mugging in a dirty alley. But this senseless beating is about to take on far more significance to a man not even witness to it -- a man named Richard Kimble.

For each of us, there is an occasional moment of fantasy. A search for a straw man of our own, but Richard Kimble can only hope that the memory of a face caught once in the glare of headlights is made of something other than straw.

For every acquaintance he makes, a man reveals a different face, a different identity. To the people of this Midwestern city, this man is John Evans, itinerant laborer. To those who know him better, he is Dr. Richard Kimble, convicted murderer.

One man with a dozen names, a dozen identities, but none he can claim as his own. Richard Kimble moves on in search of justice, and the elusive privilege of answering to his rightful name.

In a civilized society, a network of laws protects man against his own brutality. But for Richard Kimble, living outside the law, the civilized world has become a jungle. His only protection is his animal instinct, his will to survive. But always there is the hunter, even in Drover City, Montana.

Some men break the law, others are broken by it, but Richard Kimble continues his endless quest. Pursued by the law he respects. A fugitive from the justice he seeks.

A man's image can be shaped by society's opinion of him. A fugitive must ask himself then, how long can a running man hold out against that opinion? How many miles, how many accusations before he becomes what society has labeled him?

Some people run for exercise, some are professionals chasing a record, and still others must run to live. Theirs is the longest race. If they can last until tomorrow, their reward is one more day of running.

For a fugitive, there is no rest from the past and no safety in the present. Even here, in the remote village of Small Groves, Wyoming, the most ordinary day may explode in his face. Rumors that Richard Kimble had been seen in the city of Casper have been relayed to every law enforcement agency in this corner of the state.

For Richard Kimble, there is no sanctuary from the night wind. There is no cave in which to hide. But occasionally, along the road, a fugitive will find a hand extended in trust, and the night wind will not seem so cold.

No matter how far a man may run, he cannot escape the emotional ties that bind him to his past. So Richard Kimble finds himself drawn to the factory town of Hempstead Mills. The reason: the chance of a small item in the local newspaper.

Richard Kimble, fugitive. On a brief visit to a dead past. Now once more in search of a future.

Hey Mister!

A fugitive is usually a man without a goal, aimlessly fleeing the Furies that pursue him. But for Richard Kimble, there is a goal: a phantom who has himself become a fugitive. And Richard Kimble, in turn, now becomes the hunter. [cut to interior of car with another newspaper with the exact same photo, pan up to see its driver, Lt. Gerard] But another hunter is also on the move.

Lt. Gerard

I want to know who that man was with Barbara Webb this afternoon and where she's gone with him.

I don't know.

Lt. Gerard

I hope you enjoyed your drive this evening, Mr. Malone, because it's going to cost you.

You'd have a tough time proving I broke any laws and you know it. Now I've been a newspaperman almost as long as you've been a cop, Lieutenant, and I am not easily intimidated.

Lt. Gerard

There's something else we both know. If that man with her is Richard Kimble, Miss Webb will go to prison for a long time.

I was just out taking a little drive in her car.

Lt. Gerard

You fired her for just this sort of thing, but you're still in love with her, aren't you?

None of your business.

Richard Kimble

(speaking into a pay phone) I'd like to make a person to person call to Lieutenant Philip Gerard at the Baker City Police Department.

Richard Kimble

Yes, it's G-E-R-A-R-D. That's right.

Richard Kimble

I'll wait.

And Richard Kimble waits, not yet aware that his hope for salvation has again disappeared. Waits to be reminded by Lt. Philip Gerard that he is still as much a fugitive as before.