It’s the midway point for Season 2 of Criminal Minds: Evolution, and Gold Star, Elias Voit (Zack Gilford) and Emily Prentiss’s (Paget Brewster) deeply disturbed neighbor are bringing the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) to their breaking point. After mostly leading on the members of the BAU and mocking them for it, Voit finally starts helping with the investigation into Gold Star. However, Voit plays both sides expertly, narrowly avoiding death.
“Conspiracy vs. Theory” is an episode that shows just how much Criminal Minds changed in its reboot in, Evolution. Unlike the past few episodes or any of the show’s classic seasons, there was no case-of-the-week here. Instead, the whole narrative focused squarely on the Gold Star investigation. Criminal Minds’ transformation from episodic cases to a serialized investigation has never been more apparent than in this episode. The BAU recently discovered that, rather than a single killer, Gold Star was a “program” of killers. This was based on a tip that came from Brian Garrity (Paul F. Thompkins), and later confirmed by the phone Tyler Green (Ryan-James Hatanaka) cloned earlier in the season.
However, there also seems to be a mysterious figure behind-the-scenes pulling everyone’s strings, from Voit to the BAU itself. Of course, this may just be what the storytellers want the audience to think, because Season 2 of Evolution explores the idea of how conspiracy theories poison people with lies wrapped in truth. And just as Emily starts to break under the strain of a strange plot, David Rossi (Joe Mantegna) seems to be exponentially getting his mojo back.
The Operation to Nab Two of the Gold Star Killers Goes Sideways
The Central Case Only Gets More Unpredictable and Dangerous With Each New Episode
The big FBI operation in “Conspiracy vs. Theory” comes when Voit and the BAU travel to Iowa in an attempt to capture Damien Booth (David Garelik) and Jade Waters (Liana Liberato). They are two of the five kids from the mysterious Steward House who collectively operate as killers under the Gold Star name. A third member of the crew, Aiden Keller (Matthew Erick White) was killed in the second of the Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 2 premiere episodes. Interestingly, while talking with Jade, Damien says he was killed “trying to stop it from happening again.”
The BAU continues to try to profile these kids, suggesting that whatever was going on at Steward House trained them to be killers. Lewis suggests at least Damien was motivated to kill because he was sent on missions that mirrored his own trauma. This is tied into the enucleation of the Gold Star victims, regardless of which of the kids are the perpetrators. While their individual methods differ slightly, such as Jade tattooing herself for each victim, taking their victims’ eyes and using bullets with a gold star grafted on the casing are methods they share.
Naturally, Damien and Jade are too smart to meet Voit in person. Instead, they strap a bomb vest to the chest of a gun runner they double-crossed. What’s interesting is that Voit seems as surprised by these methods as the BAU. He even taunts Jade, risking his own life in the process, thinking she wouldn’t detonate the bomb. It was only by the quick thinking of Penelope Grace Garcia (Kristin Vangsness) that Voit didn’t die. While it will eventually tie into the larger examination of conspiracies and conspiracy theories, the Gold Star kids suffered something terrible in the past but, through it, learned to become deadly and savvy criminal operators. It goes without saying that the Gold Star killers are possibly some of the most dangerous criminals that the BAU ever faced. The stakes have never been higher in Criminal Minds than now.
Emily Prentiss’s Career Was Sacrificed for Daniel Rossi’s Return
Emily’s Subplot Remains One of the Series’ Most Consequential Yet Unbelievable Developments
In the final minutes of Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 2, Episode 3, Emily agreed to meet Brian Garrity (Paul F. Tompkins), her neighbor, in a dark parking lot. While this would normally be a bad idea for any neighbors, Emily was trying to figure out how Brian , an online conspiracy theorist vlogger, found out about the Gold Star investigation. When she arrived, she saw a pair of goons beating Brian up, and she rushes over to stop them. They flee, and suddenly, local police arrive, too quickly than makes sense. When they ask Brian who assaulted him, he (literally) points his finger at Prentiss.
This is one of two major narrative elements of Criminal Minds: Evolution where it is difficult to suspend one’s disbelief. As the leader of the BAU, Emily should be well-known to local law enforcement in the area around Quantico. Qualified immunity and police corruption is no secret both in reality and in police prodcedurals like Criminal Minds. Put another way, it’s very difficult for any law enforcement officer to be arrested. Any cop would need far more than the word of some civilian to arrest a fellow cop, let alone the leader of a high-profile FBI unit. Brian does drop the charges, but the ruse was never about prosecuting Emily. In truth, it was all about getting Emily out of the way. Worse, this wasn’t because of Brian’s ulterior motives or Gold Star’s machinations, but the writers’ intent.
Just as the Gold Star investigation reaches a critical juncture, Politico apparently is tipped off about Emily’s arrest. This means the FBI Director (Clark Gregg) “benches” her and takes her off the Gold Star case. “Conspiracy vs. Theory” finally helps viewers understand what this tough-to-buy storyline is really about. By sidelining the BAU’s leader, it means that David has to step up and take the reins on this investigation. After being held captive by Voit in Evolution Season 1, Rossi has been struggling with that trauma. Ironically, being paired with the real Voit seems to be helping the old profiler get his groove back. While it’s nice to see David back in action complete with a semblance of his old self, the circumstances that led up to this still feel contrived and unearned.
David Rossi Has to (Literally) Confront His Demons to Catch Gold Star
The Episode Missed the Chance to Give David and Elias a Truly Interesting Meeting
The relationship between Elias and David was one of Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 1’s best plot twists. David is known for being a risk-taker and lone wolf, but this backfired horribly when his impulsiveness allowed Elias to easily capture him. David was eventually rescued, but only after he was certain that he was going to die horribly. Season 2 revealed that since his abduction, he’s been hallucinating a version of Elias. David even calls himself out on this in the episode, noting that he’s been talking to himself this whole time and not with the real killer. David says this is how he profiles, but Emily notes that this quirk usually ends with the case. Meanwhile, Elias has been haunting him like a ghost long after his captrue. With the real Elias in the BAU offices and actively working on the case, David has to come face-to-face with his tormentor.
Instead of having a moment where David thinks he’s talking to the real Elias only for it to be a hallucination (or vice versa), the Elias apparition is nowhere to be found. On the jet and in the field, David wears his “game face,” betraying no emotional fallout from his captivity. Evolution surprised viewers with David’s cool demeanor after portraying him as fragile and on the edge earlier in the season. Although David and Elias’s interactions are amazing to watch, the episode still missed the opportunity to play with David’s visions and Elias’ potential reaction to them. For what it’s worth, the scene in which Elias taunts David about his fear and then apologizes is well done. Rather than accepting his apology, David says he’ll let him know on the ride back to Quantico. There’s a double-meaning to this reply as well.
Elias likely thinks Rossi said this because he expects the serial killer to try to escape. However, in a dark moment for both Emily and David, she effectively encourages her colleague to use any escape attempt as an excuse to execute Elias on sight. It’s unclear if Elias anticipated this or if he’s just trying to play both angles when, instead of running, he surrenders to officers after the failed attempt to nab two of the Gold Star killers,. As Emily and the rest of the team start to crack under pressure, David not pulling the trigger on Elias shows he might be the right guy to lead the BAU.
The BAU Continues to Break Under the Worsening Strain of the Gold Star Case
Conspiracy Theories and Paranoia Drum up the Series’ Tension and Stakes
The cast of Criminal Minds: Evolution are all struggling to deal with the fallout from this case. David’s visions, Emily’s arrest, the “BAU-Gate” deepfake porn site and all the other elements of this season are weakening the resolve of the characters. As Emily is sidelined, she tearfully collapses into David’s arms. She also tells him that everyone is nearing their breaking point. The problems the team faces are analogous to how conspiracy theories and misinformation erode the trust and, sometimes, the sanity of people infected by these poisonous ideas. While Elias could be the mastermind, it seems like these cases could even be a smokescreen for a larger and more devastating attack on the BAU itself. Never has Criminal Minds been as timely and relevant as this episode.
Even Elias may not be as certain of himself as he pretends to be. From the second he arrived at the BAU, he taunted them all, including shouting out to David. He’s even traumatizing fans by sitting at the desk of Spencer Reid (Matthey Gray Gubler), who isn’t in the revival series. Yet, in the previous episode, Elias saw his daughter Hollie showing warning signs of becoming like him. Elias was raised by his uncle, a serial killer, and the man who may (or may not) be Sicarius seemed genuinely worried for her. Despite his mockery and smugness, he has to help the BAU in order to get Hollie specialized treatment. The second most unbelievable storyline in Evolution is how much the Criminal Minds team endures in order to secure Elias’s cooperation, despite them having him dead-to-rights for the murder of an FBI agent. Why Elias still has the BAU in the palm of his hands when they have enough evidence to either imprison him forever or even sentence him to death has yet to be properly justified.
The BAU believes that Damien and Jade were manipulated by similar lies into becoming killers. However, as Elias explains in the episode, there is a difference between a conspiracy theory and a plain-old conspiracy. Damien tells Jade that “people are waking up to the truth of what happens to kids like us.” Perhaps instead of something like “pizzagate,” which Lewis cites as an example of a conspiracy hoax, what the kids trapped in Steward House endured was something far more real and dangerous. After all, the law enforcement officers they killed were hitmen paid to kill these kids. If what created and motivates the Gold Star killers is that disturbing, the cracks in the BAU’s façade may shatter the agents altogether when the full truth comes out. Needless to say, and despite a few missed opportunities and setbacks, Criminal Minds: Evolution’s latest episode continues to keep tensions high in the best (and scariest) ways imaginable.