Warning! Spoilers ahead for Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3.
Will’s death is already devastating inCriminal Minds: Evolutionseason 3, but the show’s original plan was supposed to make it worse. When we have to say goodbye to a beloved player like Josh Stewart’s character, it needs to be justifiable and respectful. Having us crying our eyes out from the loss is fine, as long as the death feels like it works for the character’s development. In the case of J.J.’s husband, the heartbreaking death inCriminal Minds: Evolutionseason 3was almost worse.
As we now know,Josh Stewart didn’t return to film Will’s death inCriminal Minds: Evolutionseason 3. Instead, footage fromCriminal Minds: Evolutionseason 1 was used, hinting that the death was supposed to come much earlier. While that would have hurt, it would have been far better for Stewart, and it would have definitely been far more respectful to the character and toJ.J. inCriminal Minds: Evolution.
Will’s Death In Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 3 Is From Unused Footage In Season 1
Josh Stewart Was Always Set To Leave In The First Season
A.J. Cook, who plays J.J. inCriminal Minds, shared a surprising piece of information about filming the death scene. The footage used forWill inCriminal Minds: Evolutionseason 3, episode 2actually came from the first season of the revival. During that first season, we learned that Will may or may not have cancer. It turned out that it was a scare, butStewart and Cook shot a scene that made it look like Will had died.
Our writers had to get very creative. Remember the cancer storyline that we wrote in [during season 1]? We so badly were like, ‘We don’t want [Josh] to think he’s going to die,’ we got so freaked out by it, that wepulledthis scene [of Will collapsing]. That’s how much we did not want Josh to leave us.
When it wasn’t used in its debut season ofCriminal Minds: Evolution, it was forgotten about until it came time to decide what to do about the entire situation. Showrunner Erica Messer figured it all out, putting everything together to make it look like it was all done in the most recent season.
Will Dying In Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 1 Would Have Been Heartbreaking But More Respectful
Josh Stewart Could Have Been Part Of His Own Death Storyline
The way it was done ended up being disrespectful to both the character and the actor. By using deleted footage from the first season, it meant that Stewart wasn’t even brought back to film this major moment for both Will and J.J. It was already bad enough that theParamount+ series didn’t ask Stewart to come back forCriminal Minds: Evolutionseason 2. Featuring the character just to see him die felt like it was more for shock value than anything else.
The death was used more as a plot device than a necessary storyline. Sure, it allowed Cook time to show off her acting abilities even more as J.J. now faces life without her husband, but it wasn’t necessary to push any plotline forward. Instead, the series destroyed one of the best couples on the series, as they’re the only couple to survive all the trauma and heartbreak that the agents have faced in this universe.
Criminal Minds Has Its Work Cut Out For It To Justify Will’s Death
There Isn’t A Way To Change The Problems That Come With This
Previous deaths ofCriminal Mindscharactershave hurt, but they have been justified. For example, the death of Hailey Hotchner served as an entire storyline for the team to hunt down a serial killer. It was the first time such a death was used, and it brought a human element to the series as a whole. While the death of Jason Gideon was divisive and could have been avoided, it connected back to an older case andoffered David Rossi a little time to face his past.
There’s a new layer of grief for J.J. to face, knowing that there is nobody to blame except whatever higher power she believes in, but that doesn’t make it easy forCriminal Minds: Evolutionto justify this decision.
Will’s death wasn’t something sacrificial to save the lives of people he cared about, nor was it at the hands of a serial killer to push the team to find a way to capture the person. In a way, this is the way to justify the exit, making it clear that death comes for anyone, and it’s not always at the hands of a villain to track down. There’s a new layer of grief for J.J. to face, knowing that there is nobody to blame except whatever higher power she believes in, but that doesn’t make it easy forCriminal Minds: Evolutionto justify this decision.
Criminal Minds
Cast
Criminal Minds follows an elite team of FBI profilers from the Behavioral Analysis Unit as they analyze the nation’s most complex criminal minds, led by experienced agent David Rossi. The team works to anticipate and prevent crimes by understanding the behavior of these dangerous individuals.
