As Christmas nears, Rachel and the VCTF work into the night in search of a twisted serial killer (guest star Ben Bode) who goes online to select his victims, all of whom are carefully screened, seeking a candidate he can make over into his ideal woman. At the same time, Rachel is surprised when her troubled brother, Danny (guest star Rafael Sbarge), drops in from out of town and displays telltale signs of substance abuse. Also, Rachel confronts George about his own addiction to pain pills and other drugs.

Rachel, Bailey and the team head to Yosemite National Park where a maniac brutally killed a mother and her two daughters, and while circumstantial evidence points to a local outlaw biker (guest star Douglas Bennett), Rachel constructs a different suspect profile -- one who feels remorse and might have sibling issues. Meanwhile, George's lingering substance abuse problem causes a dangerous embarrassment for Bailey and the VCTF just as an attractive Congresswoman (guest star Erin Gray, ""Silver Spoons"") begins an investigation of the unit, and she is most impressed by Bailey. Back at home, Rachel's budding romance with her brother's (guest star Raphael Sbarge, ""Message In A Bottle"") drug counselor (guest star Joe Flanigan, ""Providence"") hits a snag.

A tormented Rachel must push aside her personal nightmares when she realizes that a disturbed child slayer (guest star Harry Groener, ""Buffy The Vampire Slayer""), whom she could not convict as a prosecutor years before, has resumed kidnapping young girls and putting them in gilded cages where he worships them as virginal ""princesses."" At the same time, Rachel is troubled by the sudden disappearance of her drug-addicted brother (guest star Raphael Sbarge) from a halfway house and her romantic relationship with therapist Tom (guest star Joe Flanigan, NBC's ""Providence"") enters a new stage. Also, George frets about the hot shot computer whiz (guest star Judith Moreland) who's temporarily replaced him while he's on leave due to his own struggle with narcotics.

In the season finale, Rachel is emotionally distraught after her brother's death and she's further rattled by the mind games played by wanted Agent Marks, who she believes is responsible for a series of murders, but Marks needs her to accomplish his own agenda. Malone has even more concerns when he is ordered to conduct a performance review of his VCTF members as rumors fly in Congress that the elite unit will be disbanded.