Criminal Minds: Evolution is officially back for Season 2 in the 2024 TV schedule, and fans with Paramount+ subscriptions got to see two episodes straight off the bat on June 6. The new status quo for the BAU is that after they worked to put Voit (Zach Gilford) behind bars last season, they now have to work with him in a very Hannibal Lecter-esque deal to catch Gold Star. Gilford spoke with CinemaBlend to share his unique spin on Voit’s dastardly deeds, with co-stars Kirsten Vangsness and Adam Rodriguez poking hilarious holes in his argument.
In theory, Voit shouldn’t be able to cause too much havoc this season since he’s behind bars, but he was already getting under the skin of the agents in just the first two episodes. When I spoke with the cast of Criminal Minds, I noted the saying that every villain is the hero of their own story, and asked Zach Gilford about how Voit sees himself. The frequent flyer of Mike Flanagan projects responded:
I think the other side of that is like everyone’s the victim and the hero in their own story, and I think he feels a bit of the victim. I think he feels him being this way is out of his control and he’s done everything he can to be a good person and start a family and re ally do everything he can for them. And I feel, as cheesy as it sounds, that’s like the one thing that keeps him going and keeps him trying to be better. You know, you haven’t seen me killing you in a long time. I’m like, I don’t know, eight months killing sober. So he’s doing a real good job and he’s just trying to help out the BAU do their job, which they’re not good at.
If we go by Zach Gilford’s take on Voit, the Evolution baddie doesn’t sound too bad… at least, not until he gets to the part about Voit being a killer! Of course, Voit probably wouldn’t be “eight months killing sober” if he hadn’t actually been caught by the BAU at the end of Season 1, so it’s not surprising that fellow cast members Kirsten Vangsness and Adam Rodriguez – a.k.a. BAU agents Penelope Garcia and Luke Alvez, respectively – see the serial killer in a different light.
As you can see in the video above, the two actors had hilarious and very blunt commentary on Gilford defending Voit. They said:
- Adam Rodriguez: “Bullshit. Smell the bullshit here?”
- Kirsten Vangsness: All the time.”
Hey, what better person to play a serial killer than an actor who can get into their character’s mind with a sense of humor? Alvez certainly wasn’t laughing during his 1:1 time with Voit to start Season 2, but Adam Rodriguez was all smiles in dubbing Gilford’s commentary as “Bullshit.” Gilford was close to cracking up as well when he doubled down on “defending” Voit, saying:
- Zach Gilford: Do my time. Pay my time, help solve crimes. That’s Voit’s motto.”
- Adam Rodriguez: Don’t let him lull you into believing that. That’s exactly what he’s trying to do. This man never leaves character.”
All in all, it’s fun to see the actors bantering back and forth when it’s probably safe to say that none of the agents will be laughing it up with Voit in Season 2 no matter how the investigation into Gold Star goes. The serial killer already has more depth on Paramount+ than would have been possible when Criminal Minds released on CBS, due to the serialization that Aisha Tyler described as “dazzling.”
Of course, Season 2 of Evolution (which is Season 17 of Criminal Minds overall) has only just started, and a lot can happen between the first two episodes and the finale. Hopefully including addressing what Ryan-James Hatanaka describes as the “trust issues” Tyler is dealing with!