Paramount+ has hinted at a season-long arc involving one unsub, and just released a trailer
Were you crying into your pillow the day that Criminal Minds finally wrapped up its 15-season run? Well, wipe those tears because the show is coming back!
Paramount+ has announced that not only will the BAU be returning, but OG cast members are set to reprise their roles. And in even more important news, the series finally has a title: Criminal Minds: Evolution.
“For 15 seasons, Criminal Minds was at the forefront of cutting-edge scripted drama as it explored the psychology behind crime – thrillingly,” said Nicole Clemens, President, Paramount+ Original Scripted Series. “The series never stopped evolving during its run, and we are beyond excited to bring it back into a new era with new stories for a new generation of viewers at Paramount+. Erica, the whole cast and creative team are building a season full of new twists that we are sure will electrify audiences.”
Criminal Minds: Evolution Trailer
“All my years as a profiler I studied killers, but I never studied what a pandemic would do to them,” Joe Mantegna’s character says in the trailer. Oooh. We’re in.
Criminal Minds: Evolution Cast
Joe Mantegna, A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Aisha Tyler, Adam Rodriguez and Paget Brewster have already signed on to the series reboot, in addition to new cast members as well. One of those new members is Zach Gilford, from Friday Night Lights fame. According to Paramount+, “Gilford will play Elias Voit, an operations analyst for a global cyber-security firm who has a dark side and obsession with death.”
For now, both Matthew Gray Gubler and Daniel Henney, who played Spencer Reid and Matt Simmons, are not returning to the show. Paget Brewster told Looper that Gubler is stepping back after appearing in every single one of the original episodes of the final two seasons, and as a regular in the series’ 15 seasons. Daniel Henney is a regular on another series that will be shooting for several more years.
Criminal Minds: Evolution Plot
According to Paramount+, the series will launch with a story arc involving an unsub (unidentified subject) who has created a network of serial killers during the pandemic. The BAU is tasked with hunting each one down as the network launches, which is bound to push each character to their limits.
Criminal Minds: Evolution Release Date
Production on the show officially started on Aug. 21, and Paramount+ has finally announced when it will air. According to Deadline, the first two episodes will debut on Thur., Nov. 24—Thanksgiving Day. After that, weekly episodes will drop on Thursdays until the mid-season finale on Dec. 15. The second half of the season will return on Thur., Jan. 12 with the finale airing on Feb. 9.
