For nearly two decades, Criminal Minds has mastered the art of balancing pulse-pounding cases with the emotional lives of the Behavioral Analysis Unit. That’s exactly why fans continue to tune in week after week —not just to uncover the identity of the latest UnSub, but to spend time with characters who have become family.
Now, seven episodes into Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 19, that balance has never felt more rewarding.
Following last week’s standout episode, “The Furies,” which aired on July 2, the BAU finds itself facing the fallout of multiple emotional battles at once. While Penelope Garcia (played by Kirsten Vangsness) and David Rossi (played by Joe Mantegna) finally began repairing their fractured relationship after an emotionally charged disagreement, Elias Voit’s (played by Zach Gilford) increasingly dangerous psychological chess match with his mysterious admirer—now known as The Fan — reached a shocking turning point that promises to reshape the rest of the season.
And if last week’s episode proved anything, it’s that the hunt is no longer just about catching a killer. It’s about understanding who still holds the power.
That tension only escalates in this week’s all-new episode, “Requiem,” streaming this Thursday (July 9) on Paramount+, where a devastating betrayal inside the prison system threatens to upend the BAU’s investigation just as the search for The Fan reaches its biggest turning point yet. With loyalties shifting and Voit’s influence becoming harder to contain, the team is forced into one of its most dangerous missions of the season.
While fans have understandably been captivated by the cat-and-mouse dynamic between Voit and his newest admirer, Season 19 has quietly been giving another beloved BAU member his most emotionally layered storyline in years: Luke Alvez.
Speaking with Celeb Secrets ahead of the season, Adam Rodriguez admitted returning to Luke felt especially exciting because audiences finally get to see sides of the veteran profiler that have largely remained beneath the surface.
“This season in particular, I was really excited about Luke really having some meat on the bone,” Rodriguez tells Celeb Secrets exclusively in a virtual interview. “He really had some things happen in his life that allow the audience to get to know him better, to take an emotional journey with him, and to experience how friends and the people we love help us put those pieces back together.”
That emotional journey has become increasingly evident throughout Season 19. While Luke has always been one of the BAU’s most dependable agents in the field, this year’s episodes have peeled back another layer of his resilience, reminding viewers that even the strongest members of the team aren’t immune to the emotional weight of their work.
For Rodriguez, bringing those vulnerable moments to life required a different kind of preparation than audiences may realize.
“The biggest challenge was staying focused,” he explains. “On a set there’s always so much going on, and you’ve got to really maintain a focus when you have some really heavy emotional things to play. It was a great opportunity to test myself as an actor — to stay in the zone I needed to be in to tap into those emotions.”
And even though Luke has become one of the BAU’s most dependable agents over the years, the actor teases there’s still plenty fans haven’t seen from him yet.
“I feel like I know the character really well at this point,” he says with a laugh. “I think there are some surprises left in Luke that haven’t been seen… maybe Season 24 or 25 we’re really going to open up the Jack in the Box on Luke.”
Even as Season 19 leans further into darker psychological territory, the 51-year-old actor believes the show’s greatest strength remains exactly what longtime viewers have loved since the beginning: the relationships between the BAU both on and off camera.
“This cast is really something unique — especially for the length of time that we’ve all been together,” he reveals. “There’s just an appreciation for having the work to do every day, but then for the kind of professionalism that everybody shows up with every day… it’s just a really positive place to show up and be at work, especially when you’re dealing with such dark material all the time.”
Rodriguez believes that camaraderie naturally carries over to what audiences see each week.
“I feel like that feeling comes through in what you see on screen,” he says. “The writers know the way we gel, they know our sense of humor, and I think they’re talented enough to write to that in a way that comes through naturally for the audience.”
There’s no denying that following the BAU as they uncovered a horrifying network of corrupt deputies whose crimes ultimately led two survivors to seek justice on their own terms was one of the season’s strongest standalone investigations. Aside from that though, last week’s episode gave fans several deeply human moments that reminded everyone why Criminal Minds remains much more than a procedural.
And tomorrow, it looks like things are poised to push every storyline into overdrive.
As the investigation closes in on The Fan, the distinction between admirer and manipulator continues to blur, leaving the BAU scrambling to determine who is truly pulling the strings. With betrayal lurking from within the prison system and Voit’s influence extending further than anyone anticipated, tomorrow’s episode promises to deliver the kind of psychological twists that have made Evolution one of the franchise’s most ambitious chapters.
Rodriguez says that emotional investment is exactly what continues driving both the cast and the audience after 19 seasons.
“I think these relationships will just continue to grow,” he says. “The fans are really the invisible link to what makes this group work so well. As long as they keep showing up, that connection is there.”
Considering how Season 19 has steadily raised both the emotional and psychological stakes, fans may not be ready for what’s next — but that’s exactly what makes Thursdays feel like must-watch television all over again.
For more on Criminal Minds: Evolution, make sure to watch our full interview with Adam below — and don’t forget to catch new episodes streaming every Thursday on Paramount+.
