After a long time jump, Criminal Minds: Evolution returns with an episode that doesn’t waste any time reminding viewers what makes the Behavioral Analysis Unit one of television’s most compelling crime-fighting teams. The premiere brings a new scary serial killer, but the shadow of Elias Voit is still present in every corner of the story.
It’s been six months since the bloody prison attack that nearly killed Voit. The BAU might be looking to move on but the ramifications of the event still have ripples through the team as a new investigation begins.# A Killer in Plain Sight
The episode begins with what appears to be an ordinary gathering outside a convenience store. The stranger walks up to a man and asks for directions. It seems like an innocent conversation. Shortly thereafter it goes deadly as the victim is knocked unconscious and sneaked away.
What is more unsettling about the killer’s confidence is that he can convince a passing policeman that the unconscious victim is just drunk. With the help of the unwitting officer the murderer carries his victim without arousing any suspicion.
Days later, another body is found in Maryland, and the BAU discovers a chilling pattern. Multiple bodies have been found on beaches, all with strange puncture wounds to the chest. The team soon discovers that the injuries aren’t random acts of violence, but how the killer keeps bodies submerged until they come to the surface.# Tyler Green takes on a bigger role
Back at Quantico, Tyler Green is still adapting to the world of the BAU. His colleagues continue to tease him and he is still working through training requirements but his confidence is growing.
Tyler lays out the latest findings and the team learns investigators have linked several of the victims to the same offender. Unfortunately, the first victims’ identities are unknown, which makes it difficult to build an accurate timeline of the killer’s activities.
Forensic evidence has found traces of aerosolized fentanyl and other clues suggesting victims are being subdued before death as the investigation continues. The discovery results in a grim realization: the unsub is drowning his victims in a private swimming pool, before dumping their bodies in the ocean.# Rossi Pressured by IA
While the BAU works the case, David Rossi has problems of his own.
Federal investigators still suspect Rossi may have been involved in the prison attack on Voit. Rossi has been questioned many times over many months but refuses to change his story.
He is obviously being weighed down by the investigation. Annoyed by the accusations, Rossi privately says that if he really wanted Voit dead, the notorious assassin would not have been around.
His resolve to prove his innocence eventually leads him back to the prison where he finds evidence that might finally break the case being built against him.# Voit is Still a Threat While in a Coma
For much of the episode, Voit is lying unconscious in a hospital bed, but he remains one of the most important characters in the story.
Doctors found evidence of serious brain damage, raising fresh questions about his past. Meanwhile, Penelope Garcia shows an uncharacteristic compassion for him that makes her colleagues uncomfortable.
Especially Emily Prentiss has a hard time understanding Garcia’s emotional involvement in a man that has caused so much destruction. Luke Alvez is equally skeptical, warning that Voit has always been good at manipulating the people around him.
The tension surrounding Voit is one of the episode’s strongest subplots, and it’s clear his story is far from over.## The Investigation Goes Black
Garcia gets a break when he discovers the victims are connected to an online vacation rental website. With the aid of the company’s stakeholders and a former military man willing to cooperate, the BAU manages to obtain information that helps us narrow the suspect pool.
The way takes us to Franklin, a man haunted by a childhood trauma.
Franklin had lost several family members in a drowning some years ago. He once was a suspect in those deaths, but investigators never had enough evidence to charge him. His abusive father would constantly humiliate and punish him for not being able to swim, leaving behind psychological scars that never healed.
The BAU believes that Franklin’s crimes are motivated by these traumatic experiences, with each murder being a sick re-enactment of his own past.## A Race Against Time
In the last step of his escalation, Franklin kidnaps an entire family and forces them into a deadly situation around his swimming pool.
Franklin becomes increasingly unstable as the victims scramble desperately for a way to survive. Luckily for us, the BAU is able to locate him before the tragedy can play out in full.
Franklin chooses to die rather than be captured, and two family members are rescued. But he utters a cryptic last statement before he dies, implying his actions were part of something bigger.
Those last words take on a sudden weight when investigators discover Franklin has been posting videos of his victims to a dark web site that bears an eerily similar resemblance to Voit’s old network.
And all of a sudden what had looked like an isolated case might turn out to be part of a much bigger threat.# The Last Twist Changes Everything
And just when you think the episode is winding down, Criminal Minds delivers its biggest shock.
Voit wakes from his medically induced coma.
Within seconds he’s attacking a nurse, his hands around her throat as emergency alarms start blaring all over the hospital.
It’s a chilling ending that immediately changes the direction of the season and confirms Voit is still one of the greatest dangers the BAU has.# End of Review
Criminal Minds: Evolution’s Season 3 premiere is exactly what longtime fans want. The case at the heart of it is disturbing and emotional, with enough investigative twists to keep viewers hooked from start to finish.
Franklin’s tale is a good unsub tale in its own right, but the real focus is still Elias Voit. Even though he’s unconscious for most of the episode, his presence dominates the story.
The biggest question going forward is if the series can finally evolve beyond Voit or if it will continue to tie every major threat back to him. The premiere is a good indication of the latter.
But it does manage to build suspense, advance several character arcs, and set up a compelling mystery for the weeks ahead. If this first chapter is anything to go by then Season 3 is set for another dark and unpredictable ride.
Rating: 4 out of 5