7.5
Nienke de Boode gives Criminal Minds - Season 17 a 7.5.
Tuesday 13 August, 17:05 by Nienke de Boode
Criminal Minds - Season 17
The second season of Criminal Minds: Evolution, and thus the seventeenth season of Criminal Minds, proceeds in a similar fashion as the first season and continues to develop itself. This should be familiar. After a period without Criminal Minds, the series was relaunched under the name Criminal Minds: Evolution. A successful relaunch with fewer, but longer episodes in which a central storyline is told. In the first season of Evolution, the BAU (the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI) was after Elias Voit (Zach Gilford, Midnight Mass). The current season takes place some time after the end of the previous season and it soon becomes apparent that the BAU is not yet rid of Voit.
They have the greatest difficulty in proving that Voit is indeed the criminal called Sicarius and in addition he appears to have knowledge about something or someone called 'Gold Star'. The latter in particular frightens the highest levels of the FBI and, to the BAU's dismay, earns him a deal.
As part of that deal, the BAU will have to work with Voit to investigate crimes related to Gold Star and retrieve all information surrounding them. Gilford plays his role as Voit excellently again and it is completely clear to us as the viewer why he is able to get the BAU members on their nerves. However, this choice also makes the approach of the season different from before. Whereas it was clear quite quickly in the previous season that Voit was the one to go after, the entire season here revolves around the search for who or what exactly Gold Star is.
As a result, the focus of this season seems to be less on the 'profiling' of criminals, but - in addition to the investigation into Gold Star - more on the forced cooperation between Voit and the members of the BAU. Rossi (Joe Mantegna, As We See It), Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior) and Lewis (Aisha Tyler, Archer) all struggle with the consequences that the search for Voit had for them. It remains impressive to see how the writers, but especially Mantegna, manage to continuously create an extra layer of depth for Rossi. As for Garcia, they have to be a bit more careful that she does not become a caricature of herself.
Prentiss (Paget Brewster, Community) and JJ (A.J. Cook, Tru Calling) also have their fair share of challenges this season. Only the character of Luke Alvez (Adam Rodriguez, CSI: Miami) still lags behind a bit in terms of character development and that is a shame.
This season clearly continues the line that was set last season and thus moves a bit further away from the first 15 seasons of Criminal Minds. The fact that I found this season a bit weaker than the previous season is mainly due to the fact that I find Gold Star less appealing as an antagonist than Voit in the first season.
Nevertheless, the new season of Criminal Minds: Evolution still scores a good mark. I enjoyed the cat and mouse game between Voit and the members of the BAU; the way in which Voit tries to agitate the BAU members, and the way in which they take turns trying to break Voit.
In addition, we see the BAU in a way that we have not seen very often: vulnerable. More than before, they seem to be constantly lagging behind and need outside help to be able to bring their search to a successful conclusion.
I do wonder what the next season (which has already been announced) will bring, since a large part of the storylines that were introduced in the previous season seem to be completed with this season.
© Paramount+
They have the greatest difficulty in proving that Voit is indeed the criminal called Sicarius and in addition he appears to have knowledge about something or someone called 'Gold Star'. The latter in particular frightens the highest levels of the FBI and, to the BAU's dismay, earns him a deal.
As part of that deal, the BAU will have to work with Voit to investigate crimes related to Gold Star and retrieve all information surrounding them. Gilford plays his role as Voit excellently again and it is completely clear to us as the viewer why he is able to get the BAU members on their nerves. However, this choice also makes the approach of the season different from before. Whereas it was clear quite quickly in the previous season that Voit was the one to go after, the entire season here revolves around the search for who or what exactly Gold Star is.
As a result, the focus of this season seems to be less on the 'profiling' of criminals, but - in addition to the investigation into Gold Star - more on the forced cooperation between Voit and the members of the BAU. Rossi (Joe Mantegna, As We See It), Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior) and Lewis (Aisha Tyler, Archer) all struggle with the consequences that the search for Voit had for them. It remains impressive to see how the writers, but especially Mantegna, manage to continuously create an extra layer of depth for Rossi. As for Garcia, they have to be a bit more careful that she does not become a caricature of herself.
Prentiss (Paget Brewster, Community) and JJ (A.J. Cook, Tru Calling) also have their fair share of challenges this season. Only the character of Luke Alvez (Adam Rodriguez, CSI: Miami) still lags behind a bit in terms of character development and that is a shame.
We see the BAU in a way that we have not seen very often: vulnerable. More than before, they seem to be constantly lagging behind and need outside help to be able to bring their search to a successful conclusion.
This season clearly continues the line that was set last season and thus moves a bit further away from the first 15 seasons of Criminal Minds. The fact that I found this season a bit weaker than the previous season is mainly due to the fact that I find Gold Star less appealing as an antagonist than Voit in the first season.
Nevertheless, the new season of Criminal Minds: Evolution still scores a good mark. I enjoyed the cat and mouse game between Voit and the members of the BAU; the way in which Voit tries to agitate the BAU members, and the way in which they take turns trying to break Voit.
In addition, we see the BAU in a way that we have not seen very often: vulnerable. More than before, they seem to be constantly lagging behind and need outside help to be able to bring their search to a successful conclusion.
I do wonder what the next season (which has already been announced) will bring, since a large part of the storylines that were introduced in the previous season seem to be completed with this season.
About the writer, Nienke de Boode
She started with watching NCIS, CSI and Bones, but over time her passion for TV shows has grown to what it is today, with dozens of shows that need to be watched. You can always wake her up for a good crime show, but she is also open to different things. Comedy and fantasy are on her list of favourites as well. Since October 2014, she also writes for MySeries to combine her love for TV shows and writing.
View profile of Nienke de Boode
