Criminal Minds: Evolution Star Adam Rodriguez Discusses How the Series Has Cinematically Evolved

Criminal Minds: Evolution season 17 premieres June 6 on Paramount+.

By Haley Miller

Season 17 of Criminal Minds: Evolution premieres June 6 on Paramount+ and it sees the return of everybody's favorite profilers -- AJ Cook (Jennifer Jareau), Aisha Tyler (Dr. Tara Lewis), Joe Mantegna (David Rossi), Paget Brewster (Emily Prentiss), Adam Rodriguez (Luke Alvez) and Kirsten Vangsness (Penelope Garcia). The most notable omissions are Matthew Gray Gubler (Spencer Reid) and Daniel Henney (Matthew Simmons) who were both written off last season "on assignment" though it's unclear when exactly they'll return. 

In the wake of last season's shocking finale which saw Voit taken into the custody by the FBI after killing deputy director Bailey and Tyler Green working with the BAU, season 17 of Criminal Minds: Evolution picks up as the FBI's elite team of profilers investigates the deadly mystery of Gold Star. Per the synopsis, "As the conspiracy unfolds, the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) is met with an unexpected complication when serial killer Elias Voit negotiates a deal that transfers him to federal custody in the BAU's own backyard. The team faces its biggest threat yet and cannot emerge unscathed from the mind-bending consequences."

From watching the first two episode of the new season, it's clear that it's some of the most cinematic work the entire crew has done thus far, and Rodriguez has to agree. While speaking to Comicbook, Rodriguez broke down the cinematic differences between the CBS property and the Paramount+ series.

"Oh, man, well first of all, thank you, because we feel the same way. I mean, we're just so reinvigorated to be doing the show on Paramount+ now in more than one way. I mean, it's obviously Criminal Minds: Evolution. So it's slightly different from what Criminal Minds was. But we've got these characters that have been around for all of these years, and have built up this relationship with the audience that we now get to explore in a new way. So it lends itself to feeling more cinematic just in the amount of breath, time, and space that we have to do that kind of exploration. I think another big part of that is the addition of Anthony Pietro, who's our Director of Photography now, is amazing and just has a has a great eye and a great feel for the show. And on top of all of that fits into the culture of the show as well."

Yeah, I mean, we really just have such a great group of people there. And that starts with our boss, Erica Messer [Criminal Minds' showrunner], who is incredible, and just knows how to pick the people that are going to be invited to play in this space. Her decision making along with our feedback has really gotten us to a place that like, you just can't be more happy than we are to show up at work. It's just amazing every day. So, that I think is, of course, part of what all translates to the screen. And the fact that now our writers have the latitude that they have to be able to write on a streaming service versus writing on a network, you know, they're able to dig into their talents and their craft and do things in ways that they weren't able to do before. And we have really the pleasure of getting that kind of material to work with and doing what we do with it. I'm so happy that you feel that way because that's what we're going for. I mean, we keep saying on set, 'this is the best season of this show ever.'

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We know the show has graduated, it's evolved, its Criminal Minds: Evolution. We were also resistant to the title change at first, that little edition of the subtitle, we're like, 'it's still Criminal Minds, what are they talking about?' But as we've gotten into the second season, it's really fitting because the show has truly evolved. It's evolved even in what we're getting to show, not just the look and the material that we're doing. But the way we've evolved now from wrapping up each serial killer in a 142 minute package, we're now spreading that out over the course of two seasons, and inside the mind of a serial killer for two seasons where the audience is getting to see things in a way they never have. So I know that was a long winded answer, but there's so much to be excited about."

The first two episodes of Criminal Minds: Evolution season 17 premiere June 6 on Paramount+.

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