Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 3, Episode 9 Review's Biggest Problem

This article discusses horrific crimes like murder, pedophilia, mass shootings, and death.

Warning: SPOILERS for Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3, episode 9, “Col1ateRal.“AsCriminal Minds: Evolutionseason 3 approaches its dramatic finale, I only hope that the crime drama has a satisfying ending planned for its exhausting Sicarius plot. Zach Gilford’s Elias Voit has been the central antagonist ofCriminal Minds: Evolutionsince the reboot began in 2022, but most of his storyline has ironically occurred after being arrested. From behind bars, Voit has continued to terrorizethe FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit— David Rossi (Joe Mantegna) and Jennifer “JJ” Jareau (A.J. Cook) in particular— since the season 1 finale. Even after a complete 180, however, Voit could ruin the BAU’s investigation.

Kyle Mackey and his daughter Ava in Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3, episode 6.

Criminal Minds: Evolutionhas spoiled Voit’s ending fatealready, but the procedural has put in work to redeem the prolific killer by fundamentally changing his brain chemistry. Following a prison fight in the season 2 finale, the empathy center in Voit’s brain has begun working again. As Rossi himself describes it inCriminal Minds: Evolutionseason 3, episode 9, Voit is“a psychopath who’s grown a conscience.”Even with the help of their reformed killer, though,the BAU seems ill-prepared for the final battle that lies ahead.

The Network’s Man On The Inside Is Immediately Revealed In Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 3, Episode 9

The Engineer Throws A Last-Second Wrench Into The Investigation

Criminal Minds: Evolutionseason 3 has done well experimenting with structure and form, as further evidenced by “Col1ateRal”. Rather than open with a horrific crime and unravel the mystery along the way, the episode opens by revealing the network’s informant at the hospital.

Compared toCriminal Minds’ disturbing unsubs, a somewhat creepy orderly named John wouldn’t make any headlines. Yet,what I originally believed to be a disappointing Disciple reveal turned out to be another piece of the puzzleentirely. The orderly, known in the network as “The Engineer,” creates the tools necessary to perform their ritualistic executions.

Zach Gilford as Elias Voit in Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3, episode 7.

The Engineer targets another killer’s family, killing his wife and abducting his child to ensure he doesn’t cooperate with the BAU. Taking the young boy doesn’t align with the BAU’s working profile, so JJ and Tyler Green (Ryan-James Hatanaka) go to Voit for answers. Bashful in front of Dr. Ochoa (Aimee Garcia), Voit doesn’t say much — but he doesn’t have to.

After JJ asks why the unsub would have taken the child, there’s a silent moment where Voit just looks at her reflection in the mirror. JJ suddenly gets a horrified look on her face and runs off. Ochoa asks what she’s missing, and JJ explains that there’s only one reason the killer would have abducted the son: if he was a pedophile. It’s one of the most unnerving moments of the entire season, despite only lasting thirty seconds. The shameful understanding in Voit’s eyes and JJ’s detached terror ground the scene, making the reveal feel truly sickening.

Aimee Garcia as Dr. Julia Ochoa in Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3

An Unsub’s Return (& His Victims’ Disappearance) Marks The Beginning Of Project Checkmate

The Network Is Rapidly Approaching Its Endgame

Thankfully, it turns out to be a false alarm. The Engineer took the young boy as collateral damage, hoping to trade him for Kyle Mackey, the unsub fromCriminal Minds: Evolutionseason 3, episode 6. Due to a clerical error, Mackey was lost in the prison system and undetectable. Consequently, the network believed the BAU had reached him first, using the child to bluff that Mackey’s wife and daughter were being held hostage.

Criminal Minds: Evolutionseason 3, episode 9 also gave Kyle Mackey a killer code name: The Undertaker, matching his M.O. of burying his victims alive.

Lainey and Ava were gone, but they fled voluntarily, as explained by the US Marshall on their security detail. The BAU hoped to keep them safe and stationary, but Mackey’s family was tipped off. The FBI eventually tracks down Lainey, Ava, and Kyle, leveraging Mackey’s bruised ego to force his cooperation. Begrudgingly, he agrees.

The BAU has always been one move behind because the game was built around the team.

Mackey says the network is planning its final move, known as “Project Checkmate.” The specifics of the plan were vague at best, but Mackey swore the network was planning on cutting off all loose ends in one final blaze of glory before disappearing. As he tells Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster),the killers have been focused on the BAU since the beginning, with the Engineer boasting about being just outside their zip codeand still remaining undetectable. Prentiss realizes the startling truth: the BAU has always been one move behind because the game was built around the team.

Despite The Impending Doom, Most Of The BAU Are In Uncharacteristically High Spirits

Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 3, Episode 9 Poorly Attempts To Balance Its Drama With Humor

Strangely, the main cast seems to understand the gravity of the situation at times, only to then have awkwardly upbeat conversations that stick out like a sore thumb. Following theending ofCriminal Minds: Evolutionseason 3, episode 8, it’s no wonder Tara Lewis (Aisha Tyler) and Rebecca Wilson (Nicole Pacent) are in better moods, seeing as how they are newly engaged. That storyline barely develops, but Tara does ask Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness) to act as their officiant.

All episodes ofCriminal Minds: Evolutionare streaming on Paramount+.

Meanwhile, Tara walks in on Rossi struggling to hide his pills, which he reveals to be Wellbutrin prescribed by his psychiatrist. With the combination of therapy and antidepressants,Rossi’s hallucinations inCriminal Minds: Evolutionhave ceased. Accordingly, Tara breaks out in a cringeworthy victory dance, flossing while Rossi groans. It feels less like a scene fromCriminal Mindsand more like a fever dream, but the sentiment is nice.

Quips about Dungeons & Dragons classes and the dangers of gingivitis fall flat when, mere moments beforehand, the crime drama jarringly confronts you with pedophilia.

That may be the most prevalent issue this season:Criminal Minds: Evolutionseason 3 tries to inject more humor and humanity into its episodes, but it always chooses the wrong places. Quips about Dungeons & Dragons classes and the dangers of gingivitis fall flat when, mere moments beforehand, the crime drama jarringly confronts you with pedophilia. Frankly, only one joke lands this episode, and it boils down to Voit calling Rossi old. For all he offers in the comedy department, however, Voit’s character arc must be on its last legs.

The Disciple’s True Identity May Connect To Voit’s Past (But Not In The Way We’ve Been Expecting)

A Convenient Cop-Out Is On The Horizon

Having to tie everything back to Voit is thebiggest problem inCriminal Minds: Evolutionseason 3, and it shows in the story. After years of studying Voit and his history, the BAU somehow uncover another person connected to his past. Supposedly, Cyrus Lebrun (Silas Weir Mitchell) found a replacement for Voit after he left home, bringing a young twenty-something under his wing to mold her into a killer.

The case connecting Voit to Rebecca reveals his secret successor, as the woman — who identified herself as Tessa Lebrun — told authorities that Cyrus was out of the country, precluding them from interviewing the murderer. Since she was brought into the fold after Voit had already fled, however, he had no knowledge of her existence or true identity.

Conveniently, Rossi just so happens to posit a theory at the same time that the Disciple could be a woman, which leads Tara to theorize thatTessa has followed in Voit’s footsteps once again and taken over his killer network. Given how rarelyCriminal Minds: Evolutionutilizes female killers, I think Tessa and the Disciple storyline could have been a hit. Yet, I find myself wishing there was more of a foundation for these reveals, or at least small hints hidden earlier in the season.

At present, it simply feels as though the showwanted a mystery for season 3 but had no resolution planned. Throwing in such pivotal characters as The Engineer and Tessa in the penultimate episode gave the storyline no time to marinate, with the crime drama simply offering blanket answers to justify the Voit of it all.

Dr. Ochoa Becomes A Dangerous Loose End As The Network Closes In On Voit

The Bloody Cliffhanger Undeniably Raises The Stakes For The Season 3 Finale

Granted, Tessa being the Disciple would adequately explain the obsession with Voit, which culminates in a faceless shooter taking out the hospital staff with silenced bullets on their mission to capture Voit. Unfortunately, Voit wasn’t alone —Ochoa, who was only there to say goodbye, gets caught in the middle of the dangerous conspiracy.

SinceVoit’s amnesia storyline inCriminal Minds: Evolutionbegan, Ochoa has been a protector of sorts for Voit, always prioritizing her responsibility to him as a patient and drawing boundaries for the BAU to preserve Voit’s well-being. Voit obviously values her, but it’s unclear if him bringing her a chocolate bar is flirting or simply trying to convey his appreciation. It reads like a student who develops a schoolboy crush on their teacher, but Ochoa ardently tries to discourage Voit’s feelings.

Their relationship takes a swift turn after Voit is revealed to be the one who tipped off Lainey and Ava, using a contraband phone he stole from the nurse’s station. The BAU — and Ochoa, who was watching from the sidelines — initially believed Voit was a leak, providing the network with information to obstruct the investigation. Before Voit can explain he was only helping a mother protect her daughter, Ochoa snaps inCriminal Minds: Evolutionseason 3, episode 9, telling Voit he’s still a bad person, and she’s transferring him to minimum security.

The lights cut out, the silenced shots are seen in flashes of light, and the door cracks open as Voit and Ochoa stand helplessly…

She turns to leave, only for Voit to suddenly overpower her and cover her mouth.Voit warns Ochoa that they’re in trouble, ominously saying it’s only that quiet“when [he’s] about to kill someone.“The lights cut out, the silenced shots are seen in flashes of light, and the door cracks open as Voit and Ochoa stand helplessly in the middle of the hospital room. By the time the BAU arrive, Voit and Ochoa are gone, setting up a high-stakes season finale.

“Col1ateRal” isCriminal Minds: Evolutionat its best and worst. There are stellar camera shots used to transition between scenes, whether it’s following Tara in an elevator or zooming in on Rossi’s office in the background. There are parts of a great mystery, but they’re bogged down by twists and turns that never seem to create a coherent plot. The failed attempts at humor distract more than they amuse, but it isn’t enough to discredit the flawless dramatic beats. Voit’s character may need to be put to rest, but I’ll never be tired of Zach Gilfrod’s captivating performance.