Warning: SPOILERS for Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3, episode 5.
This article mentions suicidal ideation, death, and horrific crimes like murder.
The story quality throughout main character of Criminal Minds: Evolution, following in the footsteps of David Rossi (Joe Mantegna) and Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster), who unofficially led seasons 1 and 2, respectively. Aside from JJ suffering a severe personal tragedy (the departure of Josh Stewart’s Will LaMontagne), her story has been set up as a foil for long-time antagonist Elias Voit (Zach Gilford).
Already halfway through the season, Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3 has delivered some of the strongest episodes since the continuation began in 2022 and, unfortunately, some of the weakest. Issues ranging from repetitive storytelling to lack of Criminal Minds: Evolution season 4 kicks off, but JJ and Voit’s dual development at least seems poised for a serviceable conclusion after “The Brutal Man.”
JJ Turns To An Unlikely Source To Deal With Her Grief
Voit's Doctor Becomes A Sounding Board For JJ In "The Brutal Man"
Will’s death in Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3 marked a turning point for the revival, and JJ has been struggling to cope with her grief ever since. Whereas season 3, episode 3 was saturated in JJ’s pain without feeling contrived, the following episode used JJ’s convoluted grief as a flimsy plot convenience to set her up as a major figure in the new Voit’s life. Ironically, it’s Voit’s doctor — Aimee Garcia’s Julia Ochoa — who becomes the key to tying them together when JJ seeks out the neuropsychiatrist for a session.
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JJ and Dr. Ochoa’s conversation creates the framework for the episode, as most events are told through flashbacks spliced with cutaways to Dr. Ochoa’s clarifying questions. The back-and-forth between the past and present JJ is particularly compelling, as the camera shots use similar or identical movements to transition back in time or back to the present. JJ’s conversation with Dr. Ochoa offers unique opportunities for exposition and analysis that is usually left for interpretation, especially as the unsub of the episode unsubtly strikes a chord.
The Brutal Man's Sickening M.O. Strikes A Nerve With JJ
The Real Masked Killer Complicates Her Healing Journey
The titular unsub of the week, known by his self-given moniker “The Brutal Man,” is a textbook family annihilator with a small twist. The Brutal Man toys with his victims — always two parents and two children — by presenting them with a choice: if they agree on one family member to sacrifice, he’ll let the rest live. This game never pans out in Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3, episode 5, as The Brutal Man wipes out family after family, always leaving one sole survivor to spread his message.
JJ originally concluded that the masked man from the BAU Gate video was Elias Voit himself, but The Brutal Man drew the FBI's attention from Cleveland, OH.
One such survivor, a mother who lost her husband and daughters, resonates too much with JJ. The woman describes in detail how the unsub tied her and her family up, murdered her loved ones in front of her, and then refused to kill her. Instead, the unsub gave the victim his mask — the same Yase Otoko mask JJ investigated with Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness) in episode 4 — and encouraged her to keep it on until the police came to take her down. The survivor’s testimony, insisting it feels pointless to seek help, is a clear reflection of JJ’s suppressed instability.
Losing Will fundamentally changed JJ and how she interacts with her job...
While Criminal Minds has disturbing unsubs that speak to universal fears, The Brutal Man (revealed to be a locksmith named Ronald Graber) was clearly created to prey on JJ’s unique anxieties. As Dr. Ochoa herself points out throughout the session, losing Will fundamentally changed JJ and how she interacts with her job. Beforehand, she was skilled enough to deal with horrific atrocities day by day without breaking a sweat. Now, the trauma is catching up with JJ and throwing her off her game.
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Criminal Minds: Evolution Sacrifices Science For A Good Story
The Brutal Man is yet another killer connected to Voit’s network of killers, but the Sicarius killer is hesitant to confront his past. Following the Rorschach tests in episode 4, Elias Voit ed he was a prolific serial killer. Rather than reawaken the tired cat and mouse game Voit and Rossi have been playing since Evolution began, episode 5 adds a consequential wrinkle. With the empathy center in Voit’s brain suddenly functioning, his guilt is overwhelming, causing the former serial killer to become suicidal and beg Rossi to hand over his gun.
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Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3 finally starts to justify the existence of the newest addition to the BAU team, which is a long time coming.
Voit’s complex amnesia storyline in Criminal Minds: Evolution takes yet another turn when Dr. Ochoa describes the miraculous way Voit regains memories by being in someone's physical presence. It’s a slight departure from how he ed his wife and children, and overall demands far too much leeway from us as viewers, but it’s a unique narrative conceit. Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3, episode 5 shows its novel theory in action, as Voit suddenly re Tyler Green (Ryan-James Hatanaka) when he walks into the BAU’s office and comes face to face with his victim’s brother.
The BAU Ask Their Reformed Serial Killer For Help
The Success Of Voit's Contributions Remains To Be Seen
Voit’s all-consuming guilt meets JJ’s grief head-on when the conversation between the profiler and Dr. Ochoa pans the camera to reveal Voit was present for the discussion. The set-up was later explained to be a premeditated plan, with JJ confronting her trauma to force Voit to process his own. It proves successful, as Voit decides to channel his guilt into something productive by becoming a tool for the BAU. Voit doesn’t deserve to be an antihero, but it seems Criminal Minds: Evolution is giving the killer an opportunity to turn a new leaf.
Criminal Minds: Evolution is streaming on Paramount+.
ittedly, Voit ing forces with the BAU was an inevitability, which was only made more pressing by The Brutal Man. Rather than take his life like the many Sicarius network killers before him, Graber surrenders to arrest and vows to talk without a lawyer — on the condition that he can along a message to Sicarius from his “disciple.” Though the former amnesiac is initially hesitant, the BAU convinces Voit to talk with Graber and receive his message, hopefully uncovering latent memories of The Brutal Man along the way.
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This one BAU team member may be the key to Voit successfully convincing the FBI that he has truly changed in Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3.
I’d be remiss to ignore that Elias Voit is responsible for many of Criminal Minds’ brutal deaths, but Zach Gilford’s delicate acting demands further sympathy. Though my reservoir has run dry, I can’t deny his skillful performance begs the audience to root for Voit, at least in the battle if not the war. The desperate way Voit hugs JJ before walking into the interrogation room, chooses “monster” as his safe word, and offers heartfelt yet plentiful apologies all combine to make Voit the closest thing a mass murderer can get to a “good” guy.
That said, I hope Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3 still has some surprises in store. It would be fine for Voit to end the season by confessing to Sicarius’ crimes and penitently accepting jail time, but that seems too easy, too optimistic for the crime drama. Regardless of how it happens, one truth is becoming abundantly clear: Evolution season 3 needs to be the end of Elias Voit.
Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 3, Episode 5
- Release Date
- September 22, 2005
- Network
- CBS, Paramount+
- Showrunner
- Erica Messer
Cast
Kirsten VangsnessPenelope Garcia
Matthew Gray GublerDr. Spencer Reid
WHERE TO WATCH
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.
- Franchise(s)
- Criminal Minds
- Creator(s)
- Jeff Davis
- Streaming Service(s)
- Paramount Plus
- Unique editing choices
- Compelling narrative framework
- Plays with timeline
- Lacks subtlety
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