'Criminal Minds' season 12 episode 6 spoilers: BAU tries to stop history repeating itself

A promotional still from "Criminal Minds" season 12, episode 6, "Elliot's Pond"CBS

In the next episode of "Criminal Minds" season 12, "Elliot's Pond," the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) will attempt to stop history repeat itself.

The team will be called to investigate the disappearance of three children while biking on a road, which happens to be the setting of the same case from 30 years ago where other individuals were last spotted alive.

This adds pressure for the team to solve the mystery come "Criminal Minds" season 12 episode 6 as they are dealing with someone who managed to dodge the law for three decades.

The promo for next week's episode teases that the crime might be the doing of a patient at a mental institution that burned to the ground, opening the door for the inmates to "run the asylum."

It looks like that the case of the three missing children in "Criminal Minds" season 12 might be far more complicated and spine-chilling than the team has anticipated.

One of the promotional stills from the installment shows Prentiss (Paget Brewster) and Alvez (Adam Rodriguez) happen upon a house that has Polaroid photos of children. From the looks of it, they could be closer to finding the culprit.

The list of guest stars in the upcoming episode includes three sets of actors playing young and adult versions of the characters.

These characters might be the victims from the unsolved case from decades ago. This suggests that they may still be alive but never found.

The upcoming "Criminal Minds" season 12 episode will be directed by cast member Matthew Gray Gubler, who, of course, plays the role of Reid in the long-running series.

This is not the first episode where Gubler will take duties both on and off screen. Prior to "Elliot's Pond," the actor actually helmed nine episodes throughout the series although this will be the first one for the season. The latest one was "A Beautiful Disaster" from last season.

"Criminal Minds" season 12 episode 6, "Elliot's Pond," airs Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.