The long wait between seasons 3 and 4 is finally over. Criminal Minds: Evolution season 4, episode 1 landed on Paramount+ on May 28 with weekly episodes dropping through July 30. They wasted no time catching fans up on where the characters are now since last season. From JJ to Voit, we see how everything from last season affects them now and what that means for the new episodes.
Episode 1 stayed true to its episodic title, "Now and Then," as we caught up on the team and Voit. Sorry, crime fighters, Voit is still around and dealing with his trauma with Tara’s help.
JJ is still learning to do life without Will. Prentiss and Rossi chat about what could happen to the team. Penelope is being a rockstar Aunt P and cool ex-girlfriend/current co-worker on duty. Tyler goes out on a case with Luke and learns to trust his instincts. Those storylines are only scratching the surface of what this episode brought us.
Buckle up, crime fighters; this case was a doozy.
A 30-year cold case heats up as our favorite FBI team digs up dirt on their new case. What they find out is anything but normal. It may be Criminal Minds, but this case was crazy from start to finish. It all seemed too easy as well, making me think there was more to the story. If there was, I can’t think of what it was. But let’s back up a bit and go over the case notes from our view and the teams.
Laurie, Mark, and Griffin are alone on a dark road, wishing they had stopped a long time ago for a bathroom break. A truck revs up behind them. Mark tells Laurie to slow down and let them pass. Then, the truck plays a sick game that ends with them speeding off. Thinking all is safe, they pull over so Laurie can use the bathroom in a wooded area—bad idea. They're trapped and taken.
Hours later, in the light of day, their abandoned car is found. Luke and Tyler walk onto the scene and immediately know something isn’t right. Through the damage at the scene, they connect Laurie, Mark, and Griffin’s disappearances to a couple who went missing a month ago. After they uncover Griffin’s body, they connect his dumping ground to a guy who went missing in 1996. If he took multiple people back then, why was only one found? Although she was beaten, assaulted, and left for dead, Susan survived.
Raised in captivity
Through Susan’s memories, we vividly witness what she went through 30 years ago. The man made John feel powerless as he assaulted Susan in front of him while he was chained only a few feet away but out of reach. He kept Jeff and Susan for a year because pregnancy was part of his twisted game. He impregnated Susan and then raised the twin boys in captivity. 30 years later, Susan has a husband and a college-age son, with no idea that those twins survived. She remembers it being quiet after their birth. Now, JJ tells her the killers are two males and are her sons.
Her memory of the twins’ father’s smell leads them to tracking down their father, Frank. He’s in the hospital with a terminal diagnosis and watches his sons’ victims through the videos they record for him. Despite the father and sons believing they can be arrested, the teams waste no time handcuffing all three of them. With the twins secured on scene, Laurie and the others are safe. Thankfully, Luke stopped Laurie from adding murder to her transcripts as he saved her from the dark place.
Although they arrested two generations of criminals and saved four people, the case felt unfinished, as if there was a jump scare around the corner. Or maybe I’m just used to cases being complex to the point that they feel never-ending. At the same time, I’m so glad they saved almost everyone from the father-and-sons team.
The BAU: Now and Then
It's been a year since Voit was locked away in prison. He's not happy about his situation as he hashes things out with Tara, who took on his case so no one else did. She's calm while talking to him even though he's frustrated about the direction the families of his victims want him to take. On top of all that pressure, he's served divorce papers, and Rossi is still serving as his subconscious to keep the bad thoughts away.
Aunt Penelope is helping JJ and the boys move houses as they talk about Will and Penelope's love for bubble wrap. This leads Penelope to remind JJ she's a precious thing that needs to be protected just like her things. I love their friendship and how they continue to honor Will after his passing. My heart broke the more they reminisced about the past. Especially when JJ had to remember Will was her late husband when talking to Sharon during the case.
After moving, they tease Luke and Tyler about not helping and Penelope's wing being sore from lifting boxes. Although she gets some more picking in, there's not much time as the case is fresh and ready to be solved. We finally see Tyler as part of the team. Luke encourages him to trust his instincts when he has a knowing look that Penelope recognizes instantly. It's good to know their dynamic has only gotten better.
The most concerning conversation happened between Prentiss and Rossi before the case landed in their lap. As they are in the office talking about Penelope helping JJ move, Prentiss mentioned layoffs happening to another floor in the building. She worries they are next. Rossi is surprised the higher-ups haven't offered him a sweet deal. Prentiss reminds him that he's a hotshot author who they wish would write about Voit despite him being the only household not wanting to discuss it.
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