By: Kaylyn Bell
Season 18 of “Criminal Minds,” the third season of Evolution, was a high-quality production with lackluster writing and a storyline that felt disconnected. With a strong first few episodes, they found a balance of the original and new episode formats. However, that balance got lost throughout the season and the individual cases and the overarching Voit storyline failed to relevantly connect by the end.
Synopsis
After surviving his prison attack, Voit (Zach Gilford) is placed in a medically induced coma and Rossi (Joe Mantegna) is under investigation for the assault. The BAU hunts down an unsub who is recording his victims’ deaths. They link this footage back to Voit’s network, which they discover has been revived. Tyler Green (RJ Hatanaka), agent in training, joins the team to help investigate the network while being mentored by Unit Chief Prentiss (Paget Brewster). Voit wakes from his coma with no idea who he is and he works with neuropsychiatrist Dr. Ochoa (Aimee Garcia) to recover his memories with unexpected support from Penelope (Kirsten Vangsness). JJ (A.J. Cook) suffers a loss and the BAU team comes together to support her through her grief. Tara (Aisha Tyler) gets jealous as Rebecca’s (Nicole Pacent) ex-boyfriend and former law school pal, Evan (Geoff Stults), arrives to work with the BAU. Luke (Adam Rodriguez) supports Penelope as she struggles with a case. One of the members of the network delivers a message to Voit from his “disciple” and Voit continues working with the BAU. Tara is targeted in an attack and Evan is the main suspect. While in surgery, Tara reflects on how her grief is holding her back and she makes an important decision. The team tries to uncover the identity of The Disciple, who they determine is linked to Voit’s past. Voit meets The Disciple and is pushed to his limit, challenging whether he has truly changed.
Standout Acting Performances
The highlight of Season 18 was the acting. “Criminal Minds” has such a talented cast whose skill can be underutilized, but it was really showcased throughout this season. Most notably this season’s standouts are A.J. Cook and Aisha Tyler who delivered incredibly moving performances in episodes three and eight, respectively. Both of their characters explored grief in different ways and the actresses made you feel everything they were feeling. Cook’s monologue at the funeral was a performance that stuck with me even after the season ended.
This was also a good season for Prentiss, as it allowed more of her personality to shine through compared to the last few seasons and highlighted her leadership skills as chief. The most prominent example of this is when Brewster beautifully delivered a motivational speech to the worn-down team. She also had a great angry interrogation scene, which has always been Paget and Prentiss’ forte and we need Prentiss in the action using her spy skills more often.
Zach Gilford’s range continues to impress in his portrayal of Voit. Voit is such a dynamic character, as if he’s a completely different person multiple times per season, and Gilford keeps up with all the intricacies of these shifts. Voit was a comedic, manipulative and unpredictable character last season, whereas this season he’s vulnerable and raw. Impressively, Zach is able to effectively portray all of these nuances to connect with the audience.
Wardrobe and Special Effects
The wardrobe department for Evolution has been consistently amazing, and they did not disappoint this season. The outfits were very fashionable while aligning with the tone and, as someone who loves TV costumes, I found myself excited to see the team’s outfits every episode. Fans online could not get enough of Emily’s glasses and Penelope continued to have cute and unique outfits, which each express her personality so perfectly. This was even highlighted in a quote by Penelope herself, “Great question, great as my outfit today.”
The makeup and special effects did an outstanding job this season. The injuries and gore were very realistic and there were a few times when I had to look away, which is a testament to their skills as artists. The work of these departments in episode 4, with a burn victim, was especially impressive and effectively contributed to the storytelling of the episode.
Memorable Episodes
Long-time fans of the show should enjoy episode three, “Time to Say Goodbye,” because as sad as it was everyone coming together for JJ made it feel reminiscent of the old BAU family dynamic that fans have been missing. Matthew Gray Gubler, who plays Spencer Reid, even made an appearance. It was underwhelming, as he only had one line, but it was nice to have a familiar BAU face back with the team. It would be great to see more cameos in the future should it fit the storyline. Episode three was the first episode of “Criminal Minds” without a new case, but it didn’t feel like a loss; it was refreshing getting such an in-depth look at what JJ was experiencing, which also continued beyond this episode. I love that Evolution’s new format allowed us to see how JJ dealt with her grief throughout the season because we’re used to something traumatic happening and it being forgotten about by the next episode.
Episode eight, “Tara,” was one of the best episodes of Evolution yet. Like most of the episodes this season, it didn’t connect very well to the others, but independently it was a very good hour of television. It had beautiful cinematography underscored by very thoughtful and visually interesting lighting, moving writing and wrapped up with a beautiful moment for Tara. Getting to see more of her with Rebecca and seeing their growth together has been a touching progression.
Directing
The direction stayed consistently strong across the season despite having different individuals behind the camera. Season 18 featured some of the actors reprising their roles as directors, such as A.J. Cook and Joe Mantegna. A standout was episode 9, “CollateRal,” directed by Doug Aarniokoski. It had very fluid transitions, which were very creative and engaging to watch, including a very smooth one to the title card.
Writing
There were some good individual writing moments, some of which I’ve previously mentioned, but overall I found the writing this season to be poor. It had a very strong opening episode, so I was excited for the season, and then it didn’t really go anywhere. Many of the individual episode storylines (Rebecca’s ex, the nurse, etc.) ended up feeling pointless because almost everything about the actual overarching unsub of the season was revealed and wrapped up in only the last two episodes. The first few episodes had a good balance of Voit and a new case and they set a great tone, but as the season progressed, the new cases were getting lost and seemed more like an afterthought. The cases overlapping with Voit did not feel natural and, in my opinion, the season did not connect very well from beginning to end. This disconnect was a reflection of trying to keep Voit’s storyline going for too long.
With the first few seasons of Evolution, it was interesting to get the thorough backstory of an unsub and really explore what creates a murderer through Voit. However, this season did not progress the story in an interesting way and I, personally, think they should have retired his character last season. I understand the philosophical intent of making Voit a morally gray character this season, but to me it wasn’t necessary to take it this far, to the point he’s practically had a redemption arc. The writers are used to writing one unsub per episode, and so far it’s been thirty episodes for one unsub, with seemingly even more next season as Voit is returning. The result is, at times, soapy writing with plot points such as the cliche coma. This new series format would have been more effective if they did one unsub per season or two. The same story has been dragged out for so long that it feels like they’ve run out of ideas and I’m losing interest in the story.
The profiling is what makes “Criminal Minds” unique in the crime drama genre, yet it was largely absent this season. There was maybe one actual profile delivered in the ten episodes and the most significant profiling scene wasn’t until the finale. It’s fun to see the thought process behind how the team comes to their conclusions, so it was disappointing it was mostly brushed over this season.
A consistent problem in Evolution is its inconsistency with already established characterization and storyline and it continued this season with an uncomfortable threesome conversation. It seemed clear, from everything we know about Emily’s character, that she pushed her old boyfriend Mendoza away because of issues with commitment; he wanted her to move with him, which she was still considering last we saw of him. Instead, for the sake of fan service, it was randomly brought up that she broke up with him because he was pressuring her into something she didn’t want. It felt out of nowhere, took you out of the story and didn’t serve to move the plot along in any meaningful way – solely to maybe bring JJ a bit of a laugh or distraction. The scene would have been more impactful at showing JJ’s and Emily’s strong friendship had they just had a deep conversation instead of unnecessarily making it an awkward joke. This same comedic spin happened with BAU-gate and Emily threatening to quit in Season 17 – especially with BAU-gate, which was about a serious real-world issue with AI, the comedic direction did not do the storyline justice.
Would I Recommend It?
Season 18 of “Criminal Minds” had some memorable individual episodes with moving acting performances from the whole cast. It had quality directing, costumes, makeup and special effects. The biggest improvement from the last season was that the dark lighting that viewers have been complaining about was finally fixed and it made the viewing experience much more enjoyable.
The first two seasons of Evolution, they were finding their footing with the tone, and I thought they found it this season with a strong start, if only the premise had been better. It gives me hope for season 19 if they stop dragging out the same storyline to avoid the need for soapy moments and lean more into the profiling again.