” Wheels Up!”
Our favorite cult classic, Criminal Minds, is scheduled to be back soon, and fans can barely contain their excitement. From 2005-2020, the O.G. Production of Criminal Minds graced us with their stellar performance and catapulted an entire generation to watch other similar cult classics like Law and Order, Bones, The Mentalist, etc.
After completing 15 seasons on the CBS network as a broadcasting show, Criminal Minds was back again. This time donned the new nomenclature ” Criminal Minds: Evolution,” on the popular streaming network Paramount TV+. Season 1 of this revamped series got their fan base hooked yet again as prominent members of the earlier cast made a comeback.
After the palpable success rate of Season 1, fans are lurking around the net, impetuously waiting for an update on the release of Season 2.
Will we get to watch our heroes in action in 2023 itself? Continue reading to find out all the recent updates we have gathered.
Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 2: What We Know So Far
Guys, we are coming back so fast it’ll make your head spin. Because of you! We start shooting in 2 months, thank you, thank you, thank you!!
— paget brewster (@pagetpaget) February 10, 2023
Fans were all gearing up to celebrate its arrival by Spring 2023 (May). However, an unforeseen pressing issue ramified all hopes of its homecoming. This was because of the WGA strikes that broke out across Hollywood, forcing production houses to shut down and writers to stop writing scripts and join in on the fight against unfair wage payments and a deficiency of protection around Artificial Intelligence.
Thereafter, hopes were mended on the ranks of Criminal Minds Evolution: Season 2, returning around Thanksgiving 2023 ( exactly when the first season aired), but this hope, too, might be shattered based on recent developments.
WGA + SAG-AFTRA Union: Halts Criminal Minds Production Indefinitely
Criminal Minds actors & writers on strike ! #sagaftrastrong @aishatyler @Vangsness @MesserProds @criminalminds (Aisha’s phone was covered in sunblock … ) pic.twitter.com/SrCbqt5ZEf
— paget brewster (@pagetpaget) July 17, 2023
While we all hoped this issue would dwindle out weeks ahead, it seems as if the strike is here to persist for the time being. It first began in May with the Writers Guild of America, and now SAG-AFTRA has joined in on the protest. This has triggered a domino effect of writers and productions of several upcoming anticipated movies and series to halt production.
Criminal Minds fans seem to have caught the wrong side of the trail because the production for Season 2, which was positively going to release by July 2023, was halted indefinitely. This means that until the strike dissipates, we cannot expect a release of Season 2 this year at all.
But a sliver of hope for all you Criminal Minds fans out there; A season 2 renewal was announced on January 12th, as we know, so sooner or later, production will resume, and we will be back on track. Our prediction is Spring 2024!
Why the ‘Evolution’ in Criminal Minds?
You all must have noticed that instead of it being named ‘ Criminal Minds: Season 16,’ the series donned an all-new designation, “Evolution.”
“We called it Criminal Minds: Evolution, so that in future seasons, it could still have that name.” – Erica Messer (Showrunner)
This is not just a breeze in the wind impulse. The term ‘Evolution’ signifies the progression and significant maturity in all the characters of the series throughout the 15 seasons.
Criminal Minds Evolution Season 2: Cast
Agent Dave Rossi (played by Joe Mantegna)
Season 1 Evolution saw agent Rossi downtrodden and melancholic, grieving the loss of his wife. His only solution is to immerse himself in crime-solving and surf the latest BAU Muse: an UnSub called Elias. In Season 2, we expect to watch a more renewed Agent Rossi, who has accepted his wife’s death and has a healthy work-life balance.
BAU unit chief Emily Prentiss ( played by Paget Brewster)
The Boss Lady was back with all the zhuzh ready to guide a more reoriented version of BAU, now under the threat of being engulfed under the wing of Domestic Terrorism. She tries her best to steady the reigns upon her BAU unit as the likes of Detective Bailey try to keep knocking her over.
In relation to capturing the Hannibal Lecter Elias, she directs the following statement to Detective Bailey, who is trying hard to bring the Department of Justice under Domestic Terrorism,
” We have a serial killing network that IS Domestic Terrorism IF we catch them.”
We can expect Emily to work harder in trying to avoid the BAU being subsumed under Domestic Terrorism.
Penelope Garcia (played by Kirsten Vangsness )
We witnessed Penelope back in action doing what she does best, but this time, she had definitely set some strict boundaries at work. We appreciate the new version of her who tries to prioritize herself before throwing herself into an unhealthy amount of work, leaving her with no personal life.
Tara (played by Aisha Tyler)
Fans cannot wait to watch their favorite detective at work who is now a part of the Department of Justice.
Tyler (played by Ryan-James Hatanaka )
In a conversation with Good Housekeeping, Erica Messer stated
” Yes, there’s a very great chance that we will be seeing Tyler. We loved Tyler. We love RJ. We thought that relationship would do exactly what it did this season, but we really liked giving Garcia that messy relationship. We just completely bought that she would break up with him after that betrayal, but maybe it isn’t over. Maybe this is her person. We want to keep exploring that.”
J.J (A.J. Cook)
Our favorite Detective Momma out there is currently trying to have a work-family balance. Season 1 saw an unfortunate event with her husband, Will LaMontagne Jr. (played by Josh Stewart), whose doctor’s test results seem uncertain, but we will get to know more about that this season and how she is planning on dealing with the news.
A Seasoned Long Bad Guy Serial Killer – Elias
Elias (Zach Gilford)
Frankly, this is one of those seasons where we have fallen in love with this serial killer, and because of our positive feedback, Season 1 is characterized as the ‘serialized nature of our seasoned long bad guy.’
Something tells us we are going to be seeing more of Elias in Season 2. He has outwitted the most bizarre and dangerous crimes BAU had to face over the course of 15 years, and that includes those of Adam Reign(on human marionettes), The Reaper, The Replicator, and Mr. Scratch.
Elias is an UnSub who runs a network of serial killers over far-off distances, somewhat like a crime ring. By day, he is a responsible, loving father to his two girls, and by night he orders crime toolkits for his encrypted network of murderers.
The dichotomy created between the BAU and Elias is more than a ‘good cop bad criminal’ correspondence. A top secret “Gold Star” project is something we know of but doesn’t know about that is the point of contact between Elias and the BAU. Emily knows what it is, and she is not ready to tell the rest of her crew lest she loses her job as the chief of the unit.
Is it a top-secret project of the U.S Government (something in the likes of the series ‘Manifest’)? What does Elias have to do with it? And more importantly, where lies the fate of the future of BAU in this context?
We will have to find out when Season 2 release dates are announced. Don’t worry. We have our ears and sixth senses out to grab any information that comes our way. Stay tuned to this space for more updates!