SPOILER HEAVY

Criminal Minds officially ended in 2020 but not long after, it was accounted that Paramount would revive the beloved crime drama for their new streaming service. Casting announcements followed with most of the Season 15 cast reprising as their roles. It’s hard to imagine that I was crying at Season 15, thinking that it was over for good, only for it to return 2 years later. Slightly embarrassing but I was in love with the characters and I still am.

Renaming it “Evolution” to distinguish, despite it going as Season 16, it lived up to everything that came before. It had a new format but it didn’t disappoint. The 10 episodes, down from originally 24 episodes, followed an unsub named “Sicarius” who started a killing ring essentially. The Behaviour Analysis Unit (BAU) team were brought back together for this mission. Emily being the boss ass queen she is, continues to lead the BAU and triumphs to fight against the patriarchy who keep trying to shut down the unit.

One thing that broke me, in S15, we saw David Rossi marry the true love of his life. She died in the pandemic. Seeing how lost he was without her was devastating and emotional. It pulled on the audience’s heartstrings completely. He was very closed off from his friends who were trying to help him. Luckily, he opens up as the episodes go.

JJ is still happily married and her kids are totally grown up. It’s adorable how her kids are actually played by the actress, AJ Cooks, children. Something rarely seen. Her life had some scares when we find out her partner, Will could have cancer. It would have hit home for AJ and her kids for sure, as her real life partner had cancer. JJ definitely got more character development, we didn’t see much of her home life in the original.

Penelope finding a love interest was everything. She deserved to have a happy ending for once but it got snatched away. She dealt with lots of trauma and clearly PTSD, she should have been happy. They robbed us, again! She could have been with Tyler. One things for certain, it would have been a disaster if they let the Luke potential romance blossom. They’re more of a brother and sister friendship.

Luke deserves better character development, we never have explored in detail which is a disappointment. Hopefully, there will be more to come. He was a late addition to the original cast so it’s understandable.

Tara, wow, she pulled surprises. She’s the first openly queer character on the show. We had no idea of this when she was first introduced. She was dating a lawyer named Rebecca, they hit it off but the sparks went out fast when she was in cahoots with those trying to shut down the BAU.

Director Bailey, although not a main character. Had an amazing performance. Shame he was killed off in the end. We will never know the secrets he’s hid.

Last but definitely not least, Sicarius aka Lee aka Elias, he has many identities. He was an amazing character whose story isn’t over yet. He is a character you love to hate. You want him to be caught but at the same time, you want more of him. He has a good back story that made you feel for childhood him.

Rated 10/10, it didn’t let the audience down in any way. It was full of emotional moments that grabbed the audience. Yes, there was no Reid, Morgan or Hotch but there’s always room in the future for them if the actors want to return.