Forgot to answer this! No worries on picking apart; I love ep discussion, and it's been ages since I've been invested enough in a show to want to dig into it like this.
We don't know exactly when the killer incinerated Rollins, when and who pieced the rental papers together from Rollins' trash (and why leave them on the floor like that?). We know Rollins left his building and killer came back as Rollins. If this is the same building where Finch found Rollins' remains (I assumed it was?), I guess killer got Rollins in there some other way that wasn't on the security footage Carter was watching...
I had to think about this one for a while, because it didn't make a lot of sense. But I think the timeline went like this:
* Killer kills Rollins in Chicago, disposes of the body but keeps some trophies, including (but not necessarily limited to) teeth.
* Fake Rollins moves to NYC, stores teeth somewhere he can be morbidly pleased about them, 'cause crazy.
* FBI Agent starts nosing around a few months ago, somehow tips his hand. Fake Rollins starts taking steps, including incinerating incinerates his trophies to be safe, maybe rents the home on the island to stash an emergency serial-killer-bug-out kit.
* Something - survival instinct is all I've got, because this part is so waffly and weird -- tips fake Rollins off to run, so he bolts for the island, doing a crap job of covering his tracks, maybe because he knows the storm is coming and doesn't want to get caught in it. Fahey is close behind, breaks into the apartment and finds the rental agreement, heads for the island post-haste without telling anyone.
* Fahey shows up on the island just as Fake Rollins is about to split. Fake Rollins kills Fahey, stuffs him in the trunk, grabs all of his IDs and puts on his spare FBI jacket (... I am a little put out that Fahey-in-the-trunk was wearing an FBI jacket, since Fake Fahey was, too) in case anyone remembers an FBI agent driving that car, and tries to leave, but the storm forces him back.
* Fake Fahey goes back in the house to ride out the storm, but John shows up. Fake Fahey figures trying to hide two bodies of federal agents is a bit much when he hasn't had time to plan anything, so he does what he does best: fakes it, and convinces John he's real so he can control the investigation until he can get off the island. It actually makes sense in that context for him to upscale the investigation into a serial killer rather than missing persons, since he knows about the killings and can look like a better investigator without risking knowing the wrong parts of real Fahey's intel.
I'm kind of fascinated that Fake Fahey spotted Harold as an impostor right away, but never once spotted John, whom he spent much more time with.
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We don't know exactly when the killer incinerated Rollins, when and who pieced the rental papers together from Rollins' trash (and why leave them on the floor like that?). We know Rollins left his building and killer came back as Rollins. If this is the same building where Finch found Rollins' remains (I assumed it was?), I guess killer got Rollins in there some other way that wasn't on the security footage Carter was watching...
I had to think about this one for a while, because it didn't make a lot of sense. But I think the timeline went like this:
* Killer kills Rollins in Chicago, disposes of the body but keeps some trophies, including (but not necessarily limited to) teeth.
* Fake Rollins moves to NYC, stores teeth somewhere he can be morbidly pleased about them, 'cause crazy.
* FBI Agent starts nosing around a few months ago, somehow tips his hand. Fake Rollins starts taking steps, including incinerating incinerates his trophies to be safe, maybe rents the home on the island to stash an emergency serial-killer-bug-out kit.
* Something - survival instinct is all I've got, because this part is so waffly and weird -- tips fake Rollins off to run, so he bolts for the island, doing a crap job of covering his tracks, maybe because he knows the storm is coming and doesn't want to get caught in it. Fahey is close behind, breaks into the apartment and finds the rental agreement, heads for the island post-haste without telling anyone.
* Fahey shows up on the island just as Fake Rollins is about to split. Fake Rollins kills Fahey, stuffs him in the trunk, grabs all of his IDs and puts on his spare FBI jacket (... I am a little put out that Fahey-in-the-trunk was wearing an FBI jacket, since Fake Fahey was, too) in case anyone remembers an FBI agent driving that car, and tries to leave, but the storm forces him back.
* Fake Fahey goes back in the house to ride out the storm, but John shows up. Fake Fahey figures trying to hide two bodies of federal agents is a bit much when he hasn't had time to plan anything, so he does what he does best: fakes it, and convinces John he's real so he can control the investigation until he can get off the island. It actually makes sense in that context for him to upscale the investigation into a serial killer rather than missing persons, since he knows about the killings and can look like a better investigator without risking knowing the wrong parts of real Fahey's intel.
I'm kind of fascinated that Fake Fahey spotted Harold as an impostor right away, but never once spotted John, whom he spent much more time with.