‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ star has a heart for real-life cops
Just when they thought they were out — they pull them back in! And that’s not such a bad thing. The gang that solved scores of heinous crimes for 15 seasons on “Criminal Minds” is back.
“Criminal Minds: Evolution” marks a new version, streaming on Paramount+ and featuring most of the original cast as the crime solvers who specialize in profiling and character analysis for the FBI.
“The first year has 10 episodes and explores what our heroes have been up to since February of 2020, which is the last time you saw them, or, as we call it, ‘the-before-times,’” says Erica Messer, executive producer and writer on the new show.
“The B.A.U. (Behavioral Analysis Unit), like a lot of workplaces, has had some changes,” she says. “These past few years ... have made the team count on one another a lot more. And that is a very good thing, because they’re going to discover there’s been a prolific killer on the loose since 2005, and he’s evolved into legendary status during the pandemic.
‘We’re lucky to have Zach Gilford bring this one-of-akind unsub to life and have so many familiar B.A.U. agents back on the show.”
Joe Mantegna returns as agent David Rossi, Kirsten Vangsness as computer whiz Penelope Garcia, Paget Brewster as Emily Prentiss, A.J. Cook as Jennifer “J.J.” Jareau, Aisha Tyler as Tara Lewis and Adam Rodriguez as Luke Valdez. Among the B.A.U. MIA are Matthew Gray Gubler and Shemar Moore.
“Our hope is that the team members that we ended the series with on CBS will be able to come back and play at some point,” muses Messer.
“But everybody does have other projects. And the timing — we started shooting in August, and we’re going to be wrapped in December because it’s a 10-episode season. So there was a short window to try to get all of our friends to play, and we weren’t able to make that commitment.”
When “Criminal Minds” began, it proved a mega hit for CBS, though two attempts at spin-offs didn’t quite work. The drama was based on authentic cases reported by Edward Allen Bernero, a former Chicago cop who served as executive producer on the series.
“All of our cases are based in real cases. I don’t want anyone who was actually involved in it to ever know,” he said. “So we start out with a kernel of what’s a real case, and then we try to make it so different that nobody who was actually involved in it ever would know.”
The show was unusually graphic and grisly, especially for network television. But Bernero said that was not an exaggeration. “Our cases all start with a basis in reality, but we’ve had to tone down almost every single one of them,” he said. “What is REALLY happening is much worse than anything we could or want to do. Actually, there hasn’t been a single one we didn’t have to tone down.”
Mantegna adds, “If you think you were disturbed before, we may be taking it to another level. But I’ve always been a defender of the fact that our show gave that realistic aspect to what these real men and women do. Because very often we hear, ‘Oh, how can you?’ ‘Don’t you get nightmares?’ Or, ‘Doesn’t it disturb you to do this show?’ No. My feeling is it doesn’t disturb me at all. Because when they say ‘cut,’ that person lying there with the ax in his head pops up and goes over to craft services and gets a sandwich,” says Mantegna.
“The ones I worry about are the real men and women of the FBI and other law enforcement agencies around the world who have to really do this for a living,” he says.
“We show it like it is. I grew up in the era of when you watch a cowboy movie, the guy got shot and fell over, and it was cute. You know? We show it like it is. And I think that’s important. I think you have to show: Thank God we have the men and women who really do this job. And if you really want to see what they have to deal with every day, we’re giving you a snapshot of that.”
“We’ve worked with people that actually do this job, and it’s a tireless job,” adds Tyler. “And it does affect them, and it is a very heavy burden for them to carry. And so it’s an honor to be able to try to represent that. But I think people find it comforting to go, ‘Oh, there’s smart people working hard to make sure that the bad guys go to jail.’”
“Criminal Minds: Evolution” streams a new episode every Thursday night on Paramount+.