Criminal Minds Season 19 Solves Its Voit Problem Before It Totally Ruins Evolution

Criminal Minds: Evolution has been a refreshing reboot of the original CBS series, but one long-standing problem with serial killer Elias Voit (Zach Gilford) has threatened to derail the series until its most recent episode. While Criminal Minds original run on CBS cycled through different long-term big bads like Mr. Scratch (Bodhi Elfman) and Cat Adams (Aubrey Plaza), Evolution has taken a different approach to its villains. On top of having cases of the week, the series has revolved around the inner-workings of Voit, first to find and capture him, and in its current iteration, to fully understand him psychologically.

Although Voit’s capture (escape, and eventual secondary capture) has made him more accessible and amenable to the BAU, the way the show’s chosen to use him throughout the past few seasons has felt off-putting at times. When Voit’s memory was virtually erased, for example, it felt like an easy way to create struggles surrounding the BAU trying to find justice for his victims. While the storyline was interesting, there’s always been something a bit too harried and pre-meditated about the way Voit’s story has unfolded after he was caught. Thankfully, Criminal Minds season 19 has a new use for Voit.

While it’s not clear if this will be the long-term plan for the character or if Voit will return to hallucinating about David Rossi (Joe Mantegna) and ripping up his fan mail in solitary, it seems possible that using him for the BAU’s gain could be the best path forward.

Criminal Minds: Evolution Has Been Highly Focused On Voit

As Criminal Minds: Evolution has built itself around the world of Elias Voit, the series has had to find the best way to structure itself around a central villain. Unlike the original run of Criminal Minds, Voit has been a massive piece of the reboot’s worldbuilding. Despite starting as the show’s big bad, Voit has become a fully-fleshed character who no longer has the power or freedom to commit crimes, which makes him unique from a Criminal Minds perspective. Rather than the BAU capturing Voit, eliminating his network, and moving into a fade-to-black space with his character, Voit’s been recurring.

Now that he’s become a part of the BAU’s fabric, though, the show has had to make some interesting choices about how to utilize Voit, when to bring him into a story, and what the most interesting way to fold his presence in is. In some moments, this has been tough. Voit’s family, for instance, wasn’t something that had legs to sustain the series for seasons after his capture. Voit’s backstory with his uncle and his family of origin only had so much meat on its bones, and his crimes, while eerily interesting, only take so long to entirely unpack.

As Criminal Minds: Evolution has moved forward, they’ve had to find creative uses for Voit in order to keep Evolutions’ story quasi-focused on him. The reason for the reboot in general, after all, was bringing the BAU back together to investigate Voit and his network of serial killers, but with that story mostly resolved, keeping Voit in the mix hasn’t always been easy.

Voit’s Storylines Have Often Been Rushed Or Over-Complicated

As Evolution has gone on, Voit’s story has had to shift and change in order to keep up with the rest of the series. That’s to be expected, but as the show has continued, Voit’s storylines haven’t always been the strong suit of the series. In some moments, things have felt incredibly rushed. The pace at which the BAU understood that Voit was behind the mask of Sicarius felt far too quick for such an intense web of deception, while the capture itself often felt too easy. For someone with Voit’s skill level, the BAU seemed to swoop in quickly.

Despite the fact that Voit’s capture was quick, there have been other storylines that haven’t felt like they were on track for different reasons. Criminal Minds: Evolution’s pacing hasn’t always been the problem with Voit. In moments, it’s been the way the BAU decides to proceed, which can be overly complicated for the situation. In other moments, like with Voit’s original escape, stories have felt too contrived and easily resolved, which has made it tough for the entire arc of the story to hold the level of impact that it’s meant to. Generally, Voit has been quite hit or miss.

Regardless of the fact that the overall story has been able to shift the scope of Criminal Minds, feeding both an episodic and a serialized story, Voit’s presence has been frustrating at times throughout the reboot. Four seasons in, though, it’s possible that the series has figured out what to do with its most divisive character.

The BAU Using Voit To Solve Complex Cases Is The Best Path Forward

Four years into Criminal Minds: Evolution, it appears that the series has finally found the right way for Voit to exist within the story, but not to be the central focus. After last season’s issues with Voit’s memory (and empathy) slowly returning to him after suffering a head injury, the BAU appears to have a handle on how to deal with the former Sicarius killer. While Voit seems to be up for answering questions about his own wrong-doings to the best of his abilities, his best use isn’t answering questions about his past crimes or motivations, it’s far more present-tense.

During Criminal Minds season 19 episode 3, “Body Count”, Voit plays a game with the BAU, making it seem like he’s at fault for a murder he didn’t commit in order to potentially be sentenced to death. While Rossi is quick to realize that Voit is having a little fun with the team, it’s also clear that this could be the right path forward for the character. Voit, while not in a formal capacity like Tyler Green (RJ Hatanaka), should be assisting the BAU to get more into the minds of the unsubs they’re constantly searching for during tough cases.

While assisting is something Voit has done in the past, the current season of Criminal Minds’ thread of Voit searching for ways to repent for what he’s done and the publicity surrounding him getting more heightened has created a great path for a more formalized structure. Criminal Minds: Evolution should leverage Voit’s knowledge for their own gain, especially now that he’s in a headspace that would allow for it.

Release Date

September 22, 2005

Showrunner

Erica Messer

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  Kirsten Vangsness

  Penelope Garcia

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  Matthew Gray Gubler

  Dr. Spencer Reid