I know in my heart that “Criminal Minds: Evolution” is “copaganda” but my 14-year-old self is thriving with the Behavioral Analysis Unit, or the BAU, finally being able to say “fuck.”
Copaganda, a portmanteau of cop and propaganda, is the depiction of police officers in a positive light because of the way they are presented in TV shows according to a July 1, 2020 Refinery29 article.
“Criminal Minds,” is a prime example of copaganda, with the BAU being the mainline defense against serial killers. The team might violate a suspect’s civil liberties but the narrative makes it seem heroic because it’s for the “greater good.”
“Criminal Minds: Evolution” is a shiny new streaming veneer on the nearly two decade long show, but ultimately is just a rehash of the same-old problems that plague the BAU every season.
The plot is familiar: similar to season 10, the BAU must race against the clock to stop a network of serial killers while also facing budget cuts and the possibility of being split up, a conflict that emerges every few seasons.
My favorite moment so far was in episode two, “Sicarius,” when David Rossi,played by Joe Mantegna, said that the team should call the unsub,short for “unknown subject” and what the show calls the killers, “fuckface” instead of the name “Sicarius.” It had me hooting and hollering.
The first episode, “Just Getting Started,” does an amazing job showing how thinly stretched the BAU is. All of the team members are balancing their lives while working on individual cases and consulting with each other.
When a shipping container of bodies is discovered in Washington, Tara Lewis, played by Aisha Tyler, knows she has a serial killer on her hands, but the FBI Deputy Director Doug Bailey, played by Nicholas D’Agosto, is reluctant to help her investigate.
Meanwhile, Rossi is obsessed with trying to solve the killing of a family in Virginia as he grieves the loss of his wife while Jennifer Jareau, played by A.J. Cook, is investigating a body found with a severed spinal cord.
Through investigation, they realize that there is a network of serial killers linked through a toolkit.
“Criminal Minds: Evolution,” is thriving on its new platform Paramount+, taking on a darker tone by tackling more subjects through the crimes depicted compared to when it was on cable TV.
The show has never been afraid to show disturbing imagery, but this season has taken it to a whole new level. This is exemplified in “Sicarius,” with an unsub who performs spinal surgery on his victims.
When I heard Spencer Reid, played by Matthew Gray Gubler, was not returning for this season, I was nervous.
He has been in almost every single episode, so it was hard to imagine the series without him. However, the absence of the genius actually allowed the show to feel more grounded.
Still, certain classics are missing from the two new episodes. For instance, there is no scene where the team presents its profile of the killer, something that was in almost every single episode of the past 15 seasons.
The first two episodes premiered on Thursday, with the pilot free-to-watch via Paramount+’s YouTube channel, with new episodes being released on Thursdays.
