Criminal Minds: Evolution Needs to Go Back to Basics

Criminal Minds: Evolution has certainly been a departure from the beloved show that fans were devoted to for fifteen seasons on CBS. Instead of one-off mysteries and killers in each episode, the series has taken advantage of its new streaming home to tell much longer, more serialized stories, specifically about Elias Voit (Zach Gilford)—a killer the BAU just hasn’t been able to completely take down. However, following the second season, with the “Gold Star” mystery behind them and Voit’s life hanging in the balance after being attacked in prison, it’s time to get back to basics, as the new direction just isn’t working.

To begin, Season 2’s “Gold Star” story was, frankly, an absolute mess. The first season teed-up a cliffhanger surrounding the death of Deputy Director Doug Bailey (Nicholas D’Agosto), the entire season revolved around this mystery and the results were sorely lacking. Too much time was wasted on the killers, Voit’s involvement in the story was painful and wholly unnecessary, and while there was a great deal of potential at various points—especially when it was revealed that all of this linked back to a paper written by Rossi (Joe Mantegna), the late Gideon (Mandy Patinkin), and newcomer Dr. Jill Gideon (Felicity Huffman)—not an ounce of that potential was delivered on.

Bringing in some cult-like security firm led by a charismatic and narcissistic sociopath, who was not only torturing the children in this program but assaulting the teenage girls involved, in the penultimate episode was such an extreme turn that it’s hard to grasp. But the nail in this lackluster story’s coffin was tying it back to Bailey, revealing his brother Pete (Alex Saxon) was the final member of the program and had been targeting Emily throughout the season due to his misplaced belief that she was responsible for his brother’s death. There was so much focus on making this scattered story make sense that everything else, including our beloved profilers, fell to the wayside.

Then, of course, there’s Voit. For the two seasons of the revival, this is really the only “criminal mind” the series has taken any time to dig into (in spite of the series’ title). His presence has held the revival back from truly exploring anything else, as even the Gold Star killers came in second place to the team’s many unsuccessful attempts to get Voit to confess to his crimes. To keep Voit on the show, the team’s skills are being degraded and diminished. Despite how obnoxious the continued bureaucracy plots have always been on this show, this is the first time it actually makes sense to see the FBI doubting the effectiveness of this unit. Evolution keeps spinning the BAU’s wheels while keeping them firmly in the shadow of this one specific killer, to increasingly diminishing results. 

All of the issues that have arisen are drastically decreasing the quality of the show. One of the most fascinating aspects of the original run was the team digging into a new killer (or killers) in almost every episode (albeit with the outliers of a two-parter or a sporadically appearing season-long villain). It kept the audience on its toes, but primarily showcased the impressive and, at times, otherworldly talents and skill sets of the profilers. 

In the revival, they can’t really even do their jobs. They don’t even profile very often or thoroughly anymore. It cannot be overstated how keeping one serial killer around on a prolonged basis like this, where they’re unable to get him convicted for his crimes, weakens the team and the pseudoscience they practice. Even the so-called cases of the week don’t capture what the original run did. Thus far, almost all of these cases have tied back to either Voit or the Gold Star mystery in some way, which makes them less enjoyable and meaningful.

The only exception to this, which I would argue has been the best episode of the revival by far, is Season 2’s seventh episode, which saw JJ (A.J. Cook) and Luke (Adam Rodriguez) searching for an UnSub who was imagining that his wife and child were still alive and trying to get “justice” for what happened to his wife. That was on par with some of the intriguing cases we used to get every week, and, sadly, we’ve only gotten that in one out of 20 episodes since the series’ resurrection.

Nonetheless, no matter how interesting a case may be, the profilers continually being split up in practically every single episode of the revival puts a damper on things as well. When there is a “case of the week,” only two of the BAU members work on it, while two other plots are occurring simultaneously. It’s simply too much for the show to handle.

In Criminal Minds: Evolution, the BAU doesn’t feel like a team anymore. A family? Sure, when they’re not at work. But definitely not a team. And because of their disconnection, none of the stories feel remotely cohesive. Cheap twists seem to have taken precedence over intriguing weekly plots, but these surprises ultimately fall flat when the story as a whole isn’t satisfying in the slightest. 

Honestly, if these issues continue, the revival is going to go out with a giant whimper and potentially even taint the legacy of the original run. So, let’s get back to what made the show so great to begin with, which was new episodic mysteries to solve, grotesquely fascinating criminal minds to explore, and allowing this team to showcase their incredible skills throughout the various dynamics this stellar team offers. Season 2 opens the door to implement major changes going forward, so in the already-confirmed Season 3, there is no better time to course correct. 

Jay Snow is a freelance writer. He has published many places on the internet. For more of his thoughts on television and to see his other work (or to simply watch him gush again and again over his love for the original Charmed) follow him @snowyjay.

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