The Behavioral Analysis Unit, in Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 19 (dropping Thursdays on Paramount+), is facing its “most formidable nemesis yet” in a Sicarius (Zach Gilford‘s Elias Voit) copycat known as The Fan. There have been glimpses of this UnSub thus far, but we won’t see him until later in the season. So, how does The Fan challenge the profiles in ways past UnSubs haven’t?
“One of the journeys that we were really excited about was for Elias Voit,” showrunner Erica Messer told TV Insider in our ATX TV Festival studio alongside series stars A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Paget Brewster, and Aisha Tyler. Between Seasons 18 and 19, the world has not only found out about him, but there are also podcasts about the serial killer.
She continued, “That was like the last thing he ever would have wanted. And part of that fear of the world knowing who he is is that there might be somebody who’s really got a crush on that idea of that kind of bad guy, and that’s exactly where we go this year. Somebody is enamored with who Voit is, what he’s done, and the idea of copying him in any way kind of terrifies everyone. We’ve never done that on the show for more than maybe an episode of, oh, this feels like Zodiac or something like that, but this was like, this is going to be the season.”
Tyler also remarked that Season 19 is like “OG BAU,” comparing it to Mindhunter. “We were getting into the intricacy of how we do what we do, which is picking apart a serial killer and trying to figure out what makes them tick and trying to use that information to help to save lives,” she explained.
This season as well as last have been ones of change for JJ (Cook). Her husband, Will (Josh Stewart), died in Season 18, and now, she has moved her family and is preparing for her oldest son, Henry (Mekhai Allan Anderse), to go off to college. When asked who she’s leaning on, Cook reached out to her casemates.
“That’s what’s so beautiful about the show, and I think that’s why people really love it. These characters, they’re not just characters. There is a sense of family and having each other’s back through the good, the bad, and the ugly,” she said. “She leans heavily on all of them and not just the girls, the boys as well. It’s just a really beautiful thing to get to see our characters in just raw human moments, and helping each other through those has been really a joy to portray, especially in the last couple seasons.”
Watch the full video interview above for more from A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Paget Brewster, Aisha Tyler, and Erica Messer on Seasons 19 (yes, including Connor Storrie) and 20 — they’re filming right now!
Criminal Minds: Evolution, Thursdays, Paramount+
—Additional reporting by Avery Thompson