Differences Between Criminal Minds and Criminal Minds Evolution
The Cast
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During its 15 years on television, “Criminal Minds” had several cast changes. In “Criminal Minds: Evolution”, most of the previous cast reprise their roles with Joe Mantegna returning as David Rossi, AJ Cook as Jennifer ‘JJ’ Jareau, Aisha Tyler as Dr. Tara Lewis, Adam Rodriguez as Luke Alvez, Paget Brewster as Emily Prentiss, and Kirsten Vangsness as Penelope Garcia. But fans will notice the absence of Dr. Spencer Reid and Matt Simmons. Both Matthew Gray Gubler and Daniel Henney had scheduling conflicts with other projects. However, we’re told in the first episode that both agents are away on assignments and unlike in past seasons, there aren’t new profilers in their place, leaving the possibility they’ll return later.
New Faces
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In addition to most of the core cast who returned, “Evolution” introduced us to some new characters, particularly antagonists. Nicholas D’Agosto plays Doug Bailey, the Deputy Director who makes life difficult for Prentiss. Bailey looks for any reason to cut costs and get rid of the BAU. Luckily, the team has a special someone in the Department of Justice on their side. Rebecca Wilson, played by Nicole Pacent, also happens to be Tara Lewis’ new girlfriend. Zach Gilford, best known for his roles in “Friday Night Lights” and “Midnight Mass”, joined the cast as Elias Voit, the UnSub at the center of it all in “Evolution.”
A Different BAU
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Fans are used to seeing their favorite profilers in the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit working together. But in “Evolution”, we’re reintroduced to everyone dealing with the impact of budget cuts, meaning the team is smaller and spread out, and some have different job titles. And unfortunately no more jet. Tara and JJ work in the field, and Luke mainly stays at the office, while BAU Unit Chief Rossi obsesses over an elusive UnSub. Prentiss is now Section Chief, which requires her to oversee BAU along with multiple departments. Penelope is living her best, serial killer-free life. That is, until the team needs her technical expertise for a case. By the end of episode two, they’ve reassembled to take down a particularly powerful unsub.
Evolved Characters
The BAU has been through it. They’ve experienced several life-threatening situations, personal losses, and so much trauma. The team has certainly evolved over the years especially following the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone has an edge to them – Rossi’s grieving the passing of his wife Krystall, JJ is an exhausted working mom, and Tara’s had to get tougher with more time out in the field. But the most evolved has got to be Penelope, who left the BAU at the end of season 15. She’s established boundaries and puts her well-being first. And she isn’t afraid to get real with Rossi when he’s out of line. Emily has become equally assertive and confident, often dealing with Deputy Director Bailey’s constant interference with the department.
Language & Violence
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Going from broadcast television to streaming means a lot more freedom. Without the constraints of CBS, characters can now be a little more colorful with their language, and Rossi has a mouth on him. With hunting down serial killers, working under the threat of the Bureau shutting down the department, plus stressful personal lives always affected by the craziness of their work? Yeah, it’s definitely more realistic for characters to have a few choice words for their situations. And though they didn’t go full-on “Game of Thrones”, there’s still a little more blood splatter here and there, too. The addition of explicit language and a slight increase in graphic violence earned “Evolution” a TV-MA rating, quite the jump from the TV-14 they had for 15 seasons.
Darker Tone & Style
Season 15 ended on a sad but overall sweet note, a stark contrast to where we pick up in “Evolution.” With all its disturbing murder cases and twisted serial killers, “Criminal Minds” was always a dark show by network television standards. But as a streaming show, it takes that darkness even further. There are still moments of levity between the team members, especially when it comes to Luke and Penelope’s banter. However, we get a deeper look at the reality of their line of work and how it takes its toll on them over time. “Evolution” has a cinematic quality that makes the gritty realism more like a psychological thriller than a television crime drama.
Episodic Format
With the exceptions of seasons 14 and 15, “Criminal Minds” always maintained the standard network order of 20-25 episodes per season. But “Evolution” will be a 10-episode run with slightly longer runtimes. Rather than a case-of-the-week procedural setup, it’s a more focused approach with a serialized narrative. The BAU discovers an entire network of serial killers run by one UnSub. And in each episode, they find another person who’s a part of the network, which gets them closer to their main target. This structure allows for more time with individual team members but also more time with the killer.
The UnSub
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The BAU has seen its fair share of bizarre cases and unsubs with various paraphilias. Remember season 8’s Adam Rain and his human marionettes? They’ve also dealt with multi-episode “Big Bads” taunting and stalking them like the Reaper, the Replicator, and Mr. Scratch. But in “Evolution”, the main UnSub is Elias Voit, a seemingly normal family man working in cyber security. He also happens to be an evil mastermind operating a network of serial killers. When he’s not taking his daughters to school, he’s assembling “kill kits” for his far-reaching web of fellow murderers, burying them in different states. Voit is intelligent, calculated, and — perhaps most terrifying — he’s unassuming. In other words, the BAU has its work cut out for them.
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