Season 3 ofCriminal Minds: Evolutionwent out in a big way. The culmination of three seasons of one big story seemingly came to an end.
Criminal Minds: Evolutionmight use the same characters and set-up as the original CBS series, but the Paramount+ streaming show makes better use of longer narratives. Each season of the series has focused on one main narrative arc, with all three seasons following the overarching journey of the same villain.
That could be bad news when the Behavioral Analysis Unit returns forCriminal Minds: Evolutionseason 4.
Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 3 Figuratively Burned All Its Options
Season 3 Tied Up All Criminal Minds: Evolution Loose Ends
Though each of the first three seasons ofCriminal Minds: Evolutionhad its own distinct narrative arc, at the heart of those arcs is the Sicarius killer. Lee Duval, AKA Elias Voit AKASicarius (Zach Gilford), has been the big bad at the centerof every story.
The first season was a search for Sicarius and an attempt to understand his network. The second used a piece of intelligence from him to pursue a conspiracy.Criminal Minds: Evolutionseason 3set out to bring down the Sicarius network and his disciple once and for all.
By the end of season 3, that means not only is Voit in custody and ready to pay for his crimes, but his network has been disabled and those killers on it identified, and his disciple has also been identified and stopped.
All of the big story arcs of the season, and really, the revival series as a whole, have been neatly tied up with a bow.There are no obvious narrative next steps to take on the story path that has provided the blueprint forCriminal Minds: Evolutionat this point.
While not having an obvious jumping-off point forCriminal Minds: Evolutionseason 4 could be a good thing since it gives the audience fresh stories to look forward to, it also presents a problem for the upcoming season.
It Will Be Difficult For Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 4 To Find Another Villain As Compelling As Voit
Will Any Future Criminal Minds Villain Live Up To Him?
Without Voit as its central villain, there is a huge void inCriminal Minds: Evolution.Voit is the best villain of theCriminal Mindsfranchise.Voit’s story is the most fleshed-out a villain has ever beenin the series.
The first three seasons ofCriminal Minds: Evolutionexamined how Voit became a serial killer, how he maintained the secrecy of his work, and what happens when he is suddenly made aware of how horrible his actions have been. Examining Voit so thoroughly helped to keep the audience interested.
Of course, it also helps thatZach Gilford is fantastic in the role, able to make the audience sympathize with him even after everything he has done, making Voit even more compelling to watch.
With a villain taking up so much story space, it’s hard to imagine any villain the series introduces next could measure up to Voit. It would have made sense to leave the disciple’s story open-ended, or even to go after the individual members of Voit’s network in season 4. That is not possible now.
Criminal Minds: Evolutionseason 4 has to have a villain who is larger-than-life, but it may need more than one.
WhetherCriminal Minds: Evolutionreturns to a more episodic case-of-the-week format for season 4 or begins a new, longer story arc, its new villain(s) will have a lot to live up to.
