Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 Episode 9 rips viewers away from the more character-driven storytelling we experienced in ‘Tara’ and drops us right back into the urgent hunt for Elias Voit’s so-called disciple. There’s more investigation left than there is time to do it, which makes this penultimate episode one that just throws nonstop information at viewers. Basically, BAU can’t manage to up, which means we’re not allowed to. Not much, at least. That’s not to say that there aren’t any personal moments in this hour — there are — but most wind up being used to move detail-heavy sequences along. Those that don’t are very, very precious. (To me, personally, if nothing else.)
In fact, the smooth transitions are some of the most interesting and effective creative elements of ‘CollateRal.’ There’s JJ and Tyler coming out of Voit’s room just as the camera pulls away from Nurse Monica catching John Perry with a phone. Or Rebecca walking away, just as JJ and Tyler come down the stairs into the bullpen, mid-chat. We also have the absolutely delightful conversation between Tara and Penelope, as Tara asks Penelope to marry her and Rebecca — insert adorably confused Agent Garcia here. That particular exchange is a pause for something person. It gives us a break from all the action…but not really. Tara’s on her way to see Emily, and when that short chat ends, the camera whirls us around, throws us off balance. And off Tara goes, Emily and Luke meeting her and continuing the endless motion, to catch that special delivery.
So, whenever we actually have a bit of a pause for a reaction and/or a clear cut between scenes, those create a certain emphasis. I’d imagine most are on purpose, whereas some are merely practical. Take JJ, for example. We don’t exactly spend a long time with her reaction to Tyler’s question of “what’s The Disciple going to do with a 10-year-old boy,” but it feels like it takes forever because it’s longer than many similar beats. There’s also an actual cut before we pick up at the hospital, which helps give that impression.
And the reaction in question is a powerful one. Everything about A.J. Cook’s facial expression there screams of JJ imagining every horrible thing an UnSub could do after kidnapping a child. So, it’s a chance for Cook to shine (yet again) and a good way to get viewers worried before we find out the actual purpose of the kidnapping.
Admittedly, I can’t help but wonder how much a slightly higher episode count might’ve helped give some of this hour’s twists a chance to breathe a little. Overall, though, Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 Episode 9 works about as well as any exposition-heavy episode possibly can. And if a scene here or there feels a little bit too dizzy-making, what with that camera spinning round and round and all, even that actually winds up fitting. Somehow.
Oh. And um. That ending is chilling. Talk about a plot twist that kinda feels inevitable — and, you know, definitely makes folks want to tune in for the season finale to see WTAF happened there.
MORE: ‘CollateRal’ isn’t the only episode this season to tell its story in an interesting way. Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 Episode 5 played with the timeline…and an unseen third character in the room while JJ was catching us up to speed.
“He asked to speak to Agent JJ”
Apparently, BAU Gate wasn’t enough. Because in Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 Episode 9, they’re back to one of their favorite things — targeting JJ on a very personal level. This time, it’s not a bunch of deepfakes. Instead, they send child to say a prayer for her. About the prayer in question? Let’s just say it pours something worse than salt into her most recent, gaping wound. Little Andrew has no idea what any of it means. But JJ does…and so do we.
“‘Now I lay me down to sleep. Your husband’s soul is God’s to keep. Lainey and Ava will be safe. If you release the man who dug their graves.’ That’s it. That’s the prayer.”
From the second JJ hears that the boy asked for her specifically, straight through until Emily sends her to find the leak at the hospital, A.J. Cook gives us another noteworthy performance. She makes a show of gathering herself, bracing for whatever may come, before walking into that playroom. Then…Ok. Let’s be real: Gotta take a minute to pause and be like “OMG SO FUN JJ WITH KIDS” here because, well. Yeah. OMG. So Fun! JJ with kids.
But Cook still has something guarded and cautious in her performance, even underneath the “fun mom” act her character puts on for this little boy who just lost his. Then, there’s what happens when JJ hears the prayer. Yes, the character is smiling for the kid’s sake, trying to convince him she really wants to hear and making all those adorable noises whenever he beats her at the game. But she is, once again bracing herself. Then, the reaction to the “husband’s soul” line is a stunner. Somehow, all at once, the mask of normalcy JJ has been wearing just totally falls…and she still keeps something under control. In fact, as the next few moments of Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 Episode 9 unfold, the control continues to fall away by degrees.
At first, it’s masked by anger. I loved Cook’s motion, like she was about to punch something, right in time to have Luke there to stop JJ. Then, in another one of those longer reaction shots that means something, an isolated and oh-so-emotional JJ relives that awful moment in the playroom. (Because, you know, gotta watch the recording with the team for case reasons. Why not make JJ suffer more, am I right?) Here, she can unravel a bit more because she doesn’t have to protect a child who doesn’t quite understand what’s happening. But she’s still tough JJ, only letting her guard down slightly more to show frustration with herself.
However, it’s when Emily pulls JJ aside that she is at her most vulnerable. (Notably, if Emily takes any time to breathe, whatsoever, before that anxiety attack — for lack of a better descriptor — near the end, it’s here as well.) Notice how Cook’s back to playing with her sleeves, initially having trouble making eye contact, and letting just the tiniest bit of a waver into her voice. But it doesn’t last long.
As soon as JJ and Emily start thinking as one and realize why the UnSubs had Andrew mention Will, it’s like all that self-control that was (relatively) slowly lost just falls right back into place. Somehow, she can bury her true feelings if it means winning that race against The Disciple. Put another way, JJ realizes they want to “dysregulate” her so she’ll make mistakes, but it’s exactly when she comes to that realization that she finds a way to lock back in. To regulate, if you will.
It’s really strong work that stands out amidst all the chaos that is Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 Episode 9. Plot-wise, I’m admittedly over the “hurt JJ” of it all. Then again, this time is at least slightly different. By going too personal and too recent, the BAU manages some real forward movement in their case. Or. Eh. It’s probably more accurate if I say they think they have forward movement. But at least it’s nice to feel like we might have a shot at winning for a while there.
MORE: Truly rude of them to bring up Will, when we literally just buried him in Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 Episode 3.
“I thought you might be lonely”
For better or worse, the ongoing theme of Criminal Minds: Evolution has been “all roads point to Voit.” Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 Episode 9 is no different. Here, we learn that the whole reason the BAU has any leverage, whatsoever, is because Voit has been secretly helping Kyle Mackey’s ex-wife and daughter stay hidden. It’s by pouring salt in Mackey’s “narcissistic wound” that the team is able to get at least some information out of him. (Although, as we see, it’s again worth pointing out that he doesn’t give them what they need anywhere near quickly enough for it to make a difference.)
After Tyler Green has a bit too much fun arresting Voit, Dave goes to see Elias. Despite Voit knowing exactly what Dave’s here to do and initially refusing to speak because he’d asked for a lawyer, the two wind up having some of the most lovely scenes of the hour. There continues to be something very special about any time Joe Mantegna and Zach Gilford work together. In Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 Episode 9, as Rossi tries to get Voit to tell him where Lainey and Ava are, their shared conversation over paper football is similar, in some ways, to many of their past interactions. Dave wants/needs information, Elias isn’t wiling to give it, and the two have this great push and pull to get to some kind of outcome.
But, of course, Season 18 has seen a different Voit — and even if he doesn’t believe in his own newfound empathy, Rossi does. What makes this latest back-and-forth particularly interesting is its simplicity. In a different setting, it really could just be a father figure playing a game of paper football with his son and/or just someone he mentors. Gilford does a great job of playing the uncooperative, rebellious kid here. Voit claims Rossi’s wrong about how saving Ava affected him, but Gilford puts absolutely no energy behind the assertion. He’s not convincing there because he’s not supposed to be convincing. Because Elias is not only lying and being difficult but also kinda, deep down, maybe not wanting to be difficult. He just wants to do the right thing.
Even when he delivers an oh-so-trademark Voit explanation for his actions, there’s no trace of the killer we know in there. “Because you’re not. Good enough. To save them. No matter how good you are — no matter how good your team is — innocent people always wind up dying. Sometimes because of me. Said in a different tone, he could be that smart-mouthed, over-confident dude we love to hate. But that’s not what Gilford gives us here. Because of this, it’s painfully easy to believe what he says next: “So, for once, I wanted to help save lives. And help them stay saved.”
Even before, as Voit calls himself “a real sonofab—ch to sabotage your case like that,” there’s no pride to it. It’s giving up, beating up on himself, kind of like a teenager who went from sassing his parents…to the one who’s just simply down on himself. But Dave gets through to him, convinces him he’s not that at all, and even makes him a promise to keep Ava and Lainey safe. As Rossi says, it’s the type of promise he swore he’d never make again. But for Voit? For this case? Here? Now? He has to. So, he does.
There’s not necessarily a huge outpouring of emotion from either actor here. And yet, these scenes still manage to have just as much power, be just as well done, as if there was some big, grand thing. That’s because of all the little details from Mantegna and Gilford. It’s the tiniest, fond smile from Mantegna when his scene partner asks if he has a piece of paper and starts folding it. And it’s the calm rhythm of their childhood game, the completely different energy in their battle of wits than in previous seasons. Even the way Gilford plays Voit’s little moment of attitude over Dave’s age/the Spinal Tap reference has something of value to it. He’s still the same guy in a lot of ways! But also…not.
Or what about that small swallow — a tell if there ever was one — from Gilford after Voit’s outright denial that Ava reminded him of his own daughters? Another swallow, this time after Rossi makes his promise to Voit about keeping Lainey and Ava safe, tells a completely different (and much more emotional) story.
Basically, the TL;DR here is that Mantegna and Gilford have a lovely way of crafting these characters. And, somehow, unlike previous times when I’ve been like “wow, I love this dynamic” with the new Voit, the discomfort I’ve had — and, in a lot of ways, should still have, is totally gone. That’s one hundred percent down to the actors.
MORE: This isn’t the only time Voit has opened up while focused on an unrelated task. In Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 Episode 6, building a computer with Penelope and Tyler helped him access some of his memories.
“This is how they checkmate us”
Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 Episode 9 does a great job of taking everything we’ve seen so far this season and showing how all of the puzzle pieces just fit. And it’s a (still) very exhausted, very over the games, Emily Prentiss who makes the big connection. Before we get to that revelation, though, Prentiss gets to force some information out of Kyle Mackey — with some delightful help from his ex-wife — in what are two absolutely fantastic scenes for Paget Brewster and Aaron Stanford.
In the first scene, there’s something super satisfying about the way Brewster chooses to put her emphasis on the BULL in “BULLsh—.” But it’s the way plays Prentiss’ “God himself” threat to Mackey that really stands out. Emily Prentiss is terrifying when she wants to be, yet we don’t necessarily get to see that terribly often. And when she is terrifying, at least here, it’s in a very business-like sort of way. She’s not making threats; she’s making a promise. And she’s not going to explode in rage (the BS outbursts, perhaps, aside) so much as just…tell you how it is and let you decide what that means about her mood. God, I love it. Then again, when she does explode in rage — as in, when she storms into that interview room during the next time these two characters butt heads — that is also pretty great.
Then, of course, there’s that awful moment when Kyle tells her the “right outside your zip code” bit. All that righteous anger is just…gone. Instantly. Like someone flipped a switch. From there, it’s the slowwwwwww way Prentiss leaves that room, as if in a trance. Brewster plays Emily’s absolutely horrified “aha” moment, sliding down that wall, voice slightly thready as she talks about the team being spread thin, so incredibly well. I also have to circle back to Mantegna here and point out how, somehow, he manages to crouch down in time with his scene partner while giving Dave more of a supportive feeling than that exact same quality of “oh. Oh no” that Brewster gives Emily.
As we know, the BAU arrives on the scene 37 minutes too late. Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 Episode 9 ends with the team finding pure carnage at Melgren. The detail work in the blood spatter, brain matter (ew), and even just the lights turning back on one by one after they’d gone out in similar fashion just moments before, is excellent. And the reactions, Brewster, Cook, and Mantegna are fantastic.
For a cliffhanger like this to be effective right before a season finale, it has to feel earned. I’m going on the record to say it absolutely was.
MORE: Emily names all of the UnSubs from this season as we see them in that montage. Here’s what we had to say about Franklin Fowler and Clyde Smets’ cases.
More on Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 Episode 9
- Admittedly, I feel a little bit fuzzy on the overall timeline here. This guy got rotated in to work with Voit eight days ago? So, who was the leak before???
- Nice touch with how the logo just slid on in from the left side of the frame.
- “I know it involves a VIP.” Hm. Yeah. John Perry wasn’t making a mistake when he said this. He, and everyone else in that network, consider Sicarius a Very Important Person. Just enough of a truth to conceal the lies.
- “Well, my wife has instructed me to tell you that in this economy, I will suck D— for double time.” Spoiler: The economy’s just gonna keep getting worse, pal.
- I think one of my problems with Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 Episode 9 is probably…also the point the episode is trying to make. This dude is right under their noses. Everyone’s instincts tell them exactly that, even! And yet…and yet. I mean, Nurse Monica is side-eyeing the crap out of John when Dr. Ochoa interviews him. Then, she catches him with a cell phone and, weirdly, doesn’t find it odd enough to mention that he doesn’t want to bring his kid to the hospital with that high of a fever? Ok then. Even after her phone turns out to be the one that sets off Garcia’s alarms??? Nothing???
- Ian McQuown totally killed it with that dark look from John after Monica walked away, though.
- Oof. The bloodbath. And, much like the end scene, it’s the detail work from the crew that kills me here. The china, though.
- I never thought I’d write this, but: OMG. Voit is so cute and bashful when he brings his doctor that chocolate bar. Absolutely smitten with how he stutters all over himself when he clearly feels embarrassed.
- “Well. Get out of here. You’re not taking back my chocolate.” She gets me.
- Sequence of events that hits us over the head with the urgency/how everything’s finally happening all at once: Penelope’s double “oh, no,” to storming off to tell Emily, who’s already on it, rushing off in the other direction, to the briefing, to the “oh, shhhhh—t,” to Rebecca a the board, to…
- I’m tired just from thinking about how much things just do not stop moving there.
- “We are in a race with the network, and we’re already behind.” Literally the whole three seasons.
- Voit avoiding that question about Andrew…wow. Super stuff from Gilford there. The way Voit just abruptly stops pretending to wash his face after JJ asks why the UnSub would abduct a kid! It’s like he freezes, and he’s drained, and he can’t even say the words. Can’t even think them. There’s also something about the exact quality of movement when Voit closes the door on Dr. Ochoa. Again going to say, it’s super stuff there.
- “Ok. I need a pick-me-up. Can I see your engagement ring?” Never change, Penelope. Never, ever, ever change.
- “That’s not fair. You can’t say there’s something to talk about in a happy way and then drop it because duty calls.” Ok but does Kirsten Vangsness breathe at all here or.
- “Rebecca won’t let me lift anything heavy, which is very sweet, but I had to draw the line when she told me I was BRUSHING MY TEETH TOO HARD.” “Well, you do!” “GINGIVITIS KILLS, BECS!” I would die for them.
- …and Penelope looks about as amused as I feel.
- Talk about a masterclass in making every second count — and making them all hilarious: Aisha Tyler and Kirsten Vangsness. “With regards to this news, is it lawful good? Or chaotic good?” “I…don’t…knowww…what that is.” The slowwwwwwwwww answer here! And the way it’s like Penelope just relishes getting to talk about the “chaotic good” part in response.
…but is there going to be fic about a throuple after this? Because um. Penelope’s initial adorable confusion…- “Why are you asking me?” “Well, because I’m chaotic good, and Rebecca is lawful good, and you’re the best parts of both of us.” “That’s the loveliest thing anyone’s ever said.” SHE IS SO OVERCOME WITH EMOTION. I LOVE THEM.
- “Where’s my mom?” OUCH.
- Loved the seamless transition from the team watching Tyler interview the US marshal dude, to actually being in the scene with them, to right back into the room with the team. It’s easily one of my favorites in this episode. So cool.
- “Can you…?” “I’m on it.” Jemily, sharing a brain cell. I love this for them. (And for us!)
- 100% fitting for Tara to be the one to catch Dave getting ready to take his meds. Her show of support in last season’s
Jemily episode‘Message in a Bottle‘ was a likely underrated, yet utterly lovely, quiet moment. So, for them to have a slower moment in such a relentless episode now, and for it to be one of joy, is perfect. - I did, however, genuinely worry for a second there. Dave was so nervous about that pill bottle, it could’ve been for very for bad reasons. And um. I would’ve fought someone if they’d gone that route.
- “WE LOVE TO HEAR IT” indeed.
- “…but since I can’t make you write on the chalkboard that ‘I will not come in before David Rossi says, come in,’ I will waste your time instead. So, please, sit down.” Mantegna’s rhythm here makes it almost like Dave’s singing. Love it.
- And her “waste of time” punishment, of sorts, from “Dad” for that end zone dance…hm.
- But Dr. Ochoa is 100% too obvious at this point, right? RIGHT???
- “Don’t even try it — don’t be charming. You will fail. I am at the red line. And red line says, ‘she has had it,’ and that she is me.” Ok but they’re married. Just like Tara and Rebecca. Fight me.
- How his “charming” grin hasn’t made her fall at his feet yet, I will never know.
- That interrogation! THANK YOU TV GODS FOR GIVING ADAM RODRIGUEZ A. SCENE. Alvez is so smug there with Mackey. The fact that this comes after he’s so cute with his girl makes it stand out even more, but I feel like they could’ve put this anywhere in Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 Episode 9 and Rodriguez still would’ve been a real, true highlight.
- “You’re a murderer, Kyle. We don’t let murderers go.” Ahhh, Luke. If only that were true.
- But can we have
12 Monkeys dudeAaron Stanford forever? The way he leans in with what can only be described as a twinkle in his eye at the end there… - “We can’t.” “No. We’re not going to. A: It would be stupid. B: This could just be another head fake from the network.”
- In which JJ remembers that conversation with Sydney from last season…and Emily immediately notices something’s up.
- I just think that angry JJ.
- “Sorry if I disappointed you.” I feel bad for him again???? Rude.
- …but she even looks like her instincts are telling her something’s up with John…and…nothing?? HE IS RIGHT THERE.
- “Do you think i would destroy my career over Elias Voit? Are you kidding me?” Respect to Nurse Monica.
- But, honestly…I would.
- “She’s gotta be 40 by now.” “And brilliant enough to run the network. How many people do you know who are this good with computers? We can take Penelope off the table. Who does that leave?” Me, Googling “Aimee Garcia age.”
- But Dr. Ochoa is way, way too obvious at this point…right?
- “Why do you always think you know me?” “Because I do! I knew you when you were a killer…and I know you now. And I know that saving Ava from being buried alive did a number on you. Am I wrong?” A similar exchange, in the previous two seasons, could’ve happened with Voit just taunting Rossi. This is so, so, so, so, so different.
- “Everyone else thinks that. They haven’t seen what I’ve seen.” Dad out here, supporting his son.
- Luke is such an adorable child with Ava.
- …and amused AF when Lainey goes in and starts reading Kyle for filth.
- It’s the finger walking during that whole story about The Engineer for me.
- “…perhaps God and the justice system will take pity on you. But if this is another smokescreen, God himself cannot save you.” Yes, Ma’am.
- Another nerdy thing I noticed that worked very well: The time lapse of the boys on their stakeout, getting increasingly bored and tired while the room back at Quantico empties down to just a very tired Emily and Dave.
- “We got F—ed.” “Yeah, but who’s doing the F—ing?” 10/10, no notes.
- “What did I tell you?” Emily Prentiss, Mother.
- “We’ve been so busy chasing them, we haven’t stopped to ask the obvious question!” Her hands, emphasizing every. single. word.
- That deadly quiet scene in Voit’s room is another one of those times where Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 Episode 9 slows down for effect. And Gilford owns it. Voit being on the opposite side of what used to be his deadly silence, his “gotcha” moment…wow.
- And the reaction to this gutted me, for what it’s worth: “You know, you may not be a psychopath. But you’re not a good person either.”
- “Something’s wrong.” “How do you know?” “Because it only gets this quiet when I’m about to kill someone.”
- Ok but am I the only nerd who was like, “wow this reminds me of Rossi’s nightmare from last season” when the team entered that dark AF hospital or.
- Their faces.
- The breathless quality when Emily calls for backup.
- …I need the finale, like, yesterday.
- But also not.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 Episode 9 ‘CollateRal’? Leave us a comment!
The Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 finale will stream Thursday, July 10 on Paramount+.
