After 6 Disappointing Episodes, Criminal Minds Finally Remembered Its True Self In Season 19

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Throughout the four seasons of Criminal Minds: Evolution, the show has been building its own identity despite still maintaining much of the original show’s foundation, but in the most recent episode, the revival finally seemed to return to its purest form. Throughout the run of Criminal Minds: Evolution, which continued the long-time CBS hit after its 2005-2020 span, viewers have had the chance to see the BAU in a new era. Though the group is structurally the same as it’s been in the past, the BAU’s shifted in tone and functionality throughout the new streaming era of the series.

While the original intention of Evolution was always to continue the Criminal Minds journey with a new, serialized flair, the first few seasons of the streaming series have focused more heavily on the serialized aspect of the show. Bringing Elias Voit (Zach Gilford) to life and creating a dynamic between him and the BAU has been an intense, exciting story, but there has been a net loss when it comes to the spirit of the series coming through in its new iteration. Voit’s story has taken up so much space that there’s often a lack of space for other storylines.

Despite the fact that Criminal Minds: Evolution has been able to continue their case-of-the-week stories regularly, balancing the BAU at work, glimpses of their personal lives, and their work with Voit has felt like a genuine juggling act. Thankfully, the show’s most recent episode felt like a return to form.

All Hands On Deck Storytelling Is Where Criminal Minds Shines Brightest

Although there isn’t always space for it from season to season, Criminal Minds always does its best work when the entire BAU is working together on a case. The all-hands-on-deck style of storytelling that the series is able to achieve by using its traditional formula, but taking the team on the road together for a bigger case, always turns out to be a great way to re-establish dynamics and change the way characters interact with one another. Going into this week’s Criminal Minds, viewers were aware of a rift between Rossi and Garcia, but the episode reinforced their struggles.

While the case-of-the-week wound up being a more complicated one for the BAU, getting to the bottom of things in a way that allowed different pairs to get together and resolve lingering issues was refreshing. While Garcia and Rossi’s conflict was a tough sell, it was clear that the characters have such an immense love and respect for one another that their personal struggles were able to amplify the tension in the larger story of the episode. With everyone in the BAU having to work together remotely, the story built around the team in an easy way that felt exciting.

Criminal Minds Redeemed Itself With Penelope Resolve The Best Case This Season

Kirsten Vangsness as Penelope Garcia in Criminal Minds season 19 episode 7. — Criminal Minds still

Although the Criminal Minds case-of-the-week saw the BAU having to go all hands on deck, the star of the episode without fail was Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness), who got the chance to use her empathy to her advantage. There are often storylines in the Criminal Minds canon that see Garcia being looked down on for her empathetic nature, and knowing that we were coming up on one of them wasn’t exciting after last week. Seeing Rossi angry with Garcia for giving her opinion on the Voit case felt like a reach, but the way it played out worked well.

Instead of fumbling the landing, though, the series was able to weave a story that saw Garcia use all of her skills — those she came to the BAU with and those she had long before — to her advantage. Getting the chance to see Garcia talk down two women with guns and have her openly acknowledging that law enforcement had failed them was honest and direct, and allowed Rossi to see her in an entirely different light. Although it’s not always feasible, knowing that Criminal Minds is able to keep the spark alive with episodes like this is exciting.