Criminal Minds Season 19 Episode 10 Closes a Chapter in Sacrificial Style

Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0

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Criminal Minds Season 19’s finale brought an end to one chapter, with the hint of a more dangerous and psychologically damaging chapter to come.

It appears that everything with Elias Voit has come to an end, but is that really the end for this serial killer we’ve spent four seasons delving into?

Even the BAU doesn’t seem all that convinced that it’s over — and some of them don’t seem happy about it.

However, the focus was on The Fan, bringing an end to James Crowley’s reign of terror, as well as getting a little bit of backstory on him.

Two Sides to The Fan

It’s taken all season, but the more willing the BAU is to look at the profile again, the more they figure it out.

There have always been elements of The Fan’s profile that didn’t match. Sometimes the MO would change, or something wouldn’t quite gel.

We had an UnSub who supposedly had OCD, with so much focus on the typeface used and the specialist leather straps. At the same time, we had a man obsessed with Voit.

Getting a small bit of backstory helped to understand just why Laura and Holly were specifically chosen. They were both in the class he was a guest professor in, focusing on criminology.

On top of that, we finally got to understand the connection to Deena Ryan. 

After all, there was always going to be more to this than just finding a victim’s family willing to believe in The Fan being a long-lost family member.

Part of me thinks that some of these puzzles could have been put together an episode or two earlier, even if it was just for us as viewers, but I enjoyed seeing the connections.

It reminds us that serial killers never do something at random, especially those with OCD.

Criminal Minds Season 19 Episode 10 showed how The Fan could end up being unraveled, as he tried to mold the two sides of him together. That was always going to be his undoing.

Voit was Never Looking to Escape

Sure, Voit escaped prison at the end of Criminal Minds Season 19 Episode 9, but that wasn’t his original intention all season.

There were plenty of questions about whether he really did feel empathy and sorrow for everything that he’d done, and I feel like this episode answered all the questions in style.

Voit’s one need was to protect his children, and as soon as he realized Holly was in trouble, he did what he needed to protect her.

That included taking the blame, something that the entire BAU knows he did.

After it looked like The Fan was going to kill Voit, Holly rushed in to stab him. 

Part of me hoped that The Fan would survive and that the BAU would study him even more, as I found him so fascinating, but I don’t think we need another Voit-like storyline on Criminal Minds just yet.

Having Holly kill him was the right move. She felt rage for being kidnapped by him, and she felt fear as he almost killed her father.

Holly had a chance to let all her feelings out, while feeding into the idea that the psychopathic gene can be passed on.

Of course, Voit was going to plead guilty to murdering Crowley, and of course, the BAU was going to let him do it.

It’s not the ultimate sacrifice, but it’s a sacrifice only a parent can make.

It’s clear that everyone in the BAU knows that Holly actually killed Crowley, but they would also know that there was an element of self-defense in that action.

Voit and Holly weren’t getting out alive if Crowley had the choice, and they couldn’t allow him that chance. Plus, it’s another serial killer off the streets.

However, I do have to wonder if this is going to lead to Holly Voit becoming an UnSub at some point. There’s a moment when you see in her eyes that she decides not to feel guilt about what she did.

She doesn’t want the help of others. When she learns her mother is coming to her, she’s more scared that her mom will find out the truth than she is ashamed of her actions.

There is so much about her that is her father, but there is also an element of empathy in there, but how long will that empathy stay?

The Break Is Over

One thing I adored about Criminal Minds Season 19’s finale is seeing the team work together.

When I spoke with RJ Hatanaka about the end of the season, we chatted about how each team member had their own strengths, and they would need to work together to take down The Fan.

That’s exactly what we saw, with Tyler helping to figure out where Laura was being held due to material used in the building, and Garcia finding a way around hacking the system.

Luke used his knowledge to make sure they could all get Laura out safely, and I have to give Roxy a shoutout for making sure her Hooman got out of that building alive from the afterlife. It was a beautiful touch.

The team working together and using each other’s strengths continued all the way to the end. Trust is important when dealing with such dangerous killers, and the BAU has that trust. 

It’s a testament to why this show has gone on for so long.

I also can’t overlook how they all respectfully agree to disagree.

They all have their own opinions about Voit and what is going to happen to him next.

The book is closed on him, with his going to a more secure prison where the BAU can forget all about him.

While Tyler and Luke are happy about that, Tara points out that there is still so much to learn about serial killers from him, and JJ wonders if his change should mean he gets slightly more lenient treatment.

In the end, it doesn’t matter.

As Prentiss points out, everything that now happens to Voit is above their pay grade, and Rossi is able to move on and write the book about Sicarius that everyone has wanted.

After four seasons of Criminal Minds: Evolution, it appears that Voit is no more. It’s the one thing we’ve been asking for, and now we’re ready for a new UnSub during Criminal Minds Season 20.

After a slow middle of this four-year storyline, it has ended on a high, and now I’m excited to see who has brought the BAU’s break to an end.

We love to hear from you!
What did you think of the way Criminal Minds Season 19 came to an end? Are you ready to see Voit’s story come to an end? Sound off in the comments below!