Criminal Minds: Evolutionended season 3 with a conclusive season finale for its team, but that was a stark contrast to the season 2 finale. Instead, season 2 ended with a huge cliffhanger when Elias Voit (Zach Gilford) was attacked in prison.
Season 3 of theCriminal Mindsrevival series focused on Voit’s brain trauma. The recovery of his memories and his newfound empathy provided the major push for the investigation into the Sicarius network for the entirety of the season.
It is a bit surprising, then, thatCriminal Minds: Evolutiondid not address the truth behind the attack on Voit until the events of the season 3 finale.
Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 3 Finale Finally Revealed The Truth About Voit’s Prison Attack
The Disciple Tells Sicarius Who Wanted Him Dead
Voit spends all of season 3 dealing with the effects of the attack at the end ofCriminal Minds: Evolutionseason 2 that initially left him in a coma.
Early episodes of the season pondered the idea of whether someone at the Behavioral Analysis Unit might have ordered the attack on Voit. There was also the potential of someone in the prison wanting revenge for something he did prior to incarceration.
Confirmation of just who put the attack in motion was not made official untiltheCriminal Minds: Evolutionseason 3 finale.Tessa (Jordana Spiro) made the assertion that Voit’s own lawyer was the one to order the hiton him.
This is not exactly a surprise to Voit, but Tessa tries to use the information to prove to him that the people around him have not had his best interests in mind.It’s part of Tessa’s effort as The Disciple to “awaken Sicarius”inside a man who has newly discovered empathy.
Voit’s Prison Attack Plot Twist Was Ultimately A Letdown
The Mystery Could Have Been Woven Into The Season
Creating empathy through a brain injury makes for a fascinating jumping off point for Voit’s character during the season.
Criminal Minds: Evolutionseason 3 is heavily centered aroundVoit’s journey to becoming more human. Not only does he struggle to regain his language skills at the start of the season, but he also has to regain his memories of his entire life. It is strange that the mystery behind his attack would not be a bigger story point.
The attack on Voit in prison in season 2 is presented as a massive cliffhanger where the team and the audience do not know what will happen to the show’s primary villain heading into season 3. Creating empathy through a brain injury makes for a fascinating jumping off point for Voit’s character during the season.
It might have had more of an impact on the audience if the mystery of who masterminded the attack on Voit was actually woven into the events of the season, like his recovery was. There were so many possibilities of who could have been after Voit.
The trouble is that Voit’s lawyer(s) are not major characters since he does most of his talking to the BAU members alone. There’s also the matter of Tessa not even being introduced properly until the season finale. To top it all off,her line about Voit’s lawyer trying to kill him is merely a throw-away mention.
It makes the reveal a letdown.Suspense could have been built with an investigation threaded into more episodesof the season. With the BAU members consumed with finding all of the members of the Sicarius network, however, there just isnot enough time inCriminal Mindsfor an investigation into who tried to kill Voit.
Criminal Minds: Evolutionseason 4 is currently filming.
Voit’s journey to empathy and understanding is not one of redemption, but it is a fascinating one. It’s a shame the series did not have the chance to flesh out other angles of Voit’s story, like the search for his would-be killer.
Criminal Minds: Evolutionseason 3 puts most of Voit’s story to bed, but this particular plot twist could have been handled differently.
