Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 2 has been a harrowing ride for the members of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), and the season’s eighth episode, “North Star,” is no different. Even though they capture one of the Gold Star killers, the BAU still ends up losing. With a strict focus on the overall Season 2 story, Criminal Minds’ ongoing revival is running headlong into its endgame, even as the true villains have yet to reveal themselves.
The previous episode centered on a Criminal Minds stand-alone case that was deeply disturbing but disconnected from the Gold Star killers and the suspected “Sicarius” killer. Eilas Voit (Zach Gilford, who also directed “North Star”) may prove to be the true villain of this season, despite being incarcerated since the premiere. Newcomer Doctor Jill Gideon (Felicity Huffman) is more than just the ex-wife of Criminal Minds character Jason Gideon (Mandy Patinkin), but an important part of the BAU’s history as well.
Jill’s motivations are revealed in this episode and are unique from those in the unit who profile unknown subjects to capture or kill them. Unlike the other characters, she wanted to save people differently, specifically by preventing them from becoming “unsubs” in the first place. While she couldn’t do that with Damien (David Garelik), she still tried to save him. Instead, he chose to end his own life with some help from his lover and accomplice, Jade Waters (Liana Liberato).
Dr. Jill Gideon’s Importance to the BAU Goes Back to the Beginning
A Major Retcon to Criminal Minds’ Canon Raises Real-World Historical Implications
“Well, back then, Jill probably had to stay in the shadows while two men took credit for her work,” – Jennifer Jareau to the BAU staff.
Given the reason Mandy Patinkin left Criminal Minds, it was clear that his character, Jason, would never return. This is why the show killed him off. Bringing in his ex-wife — who existed by implication since Criminal Minds Season 1 — was a smart narrative move. David Rossi (Joe Mantegna) only joined the show after Jason’s departure, but the two were supposed to be old friends and partners who were jointly responsible for the creation of the BAU.
Jill is a psychobiologist, who looks at physical factors for the manifestation of certain psychological issues. In this season’s specific case, she’s keen on examining the predisposition to become a serial killer. Evolution suggests Jill’s work was always hidden in the background of Criminal Minds, and that she left the BAU when she split with Jason. Both real-life history and Criminal Minds haven’t always treated the women who contributed to the BAU’s success fairly. In “Message in a Bottle (Evolution Season 2, Episode 6),” both Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster) and Jennifer Jareau (A.J. Cook) discuss their departures from the series and their return through this lens.
While the addition of Jill adds another element of gender balance to the BAU and its history, she has more to do in the story than this. In fact, Jill allows herself to be captured by Damien in an effort to try to rescue him from the cycle of violence that trapped him. She was the one who leaked the controversial whitepaper used to create the Gold Star program at Stuart House. She thought it would allow people to intervene and protect kids who showed risk factors for “breaking bad,” so to speak. Instead, a slew of doctors (all murdered by Damien and Jade) use it as a blueprint to mold these kids into methodical, efficient killers.
These major revelations don’t only deepen the central Gold Star case, but also expand Criminal Minds’ lore in some interesting if unflattering ways. The BAU’s recently exposed unsavory past isn’t a bad thing, since it reflects real-life systemic prejudices. If anything, these plot points only make Evolution more topical while also acknowledging the original Criminal Minds’ shortcomings in both a narrative and real-life way. Additionally, this also gives the characters a chance to realize and make up for their predecessors’ mistakes.
David Rossi’s History With Dr. Jill Gideon Clarifies Criminal Minds Mythology
Her Arrival Answers an Old Mystery and Implies a New Future
“I could never get it right with anybody, and it started with Jill,” David Rossi to Emily Prentiss.
The other addition Jill makes to the mythology of Criminal Minds is further explaining why David left the BAU and Jason behind. The first meeting between David and Jill is explosive, and she even blames him for Jason’s death. It’s a low blow, and one she apologizes for. Later, when she and David calmed down and are working together again, she kisses him. While this is partly a ploy to get him to leave (so that Damien could kidnap her), it also suggests the two could feature in a romantic storyline in Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 3.
Despite leaving after only a few seasons of Criminal Minds, Jason had a massive impact on the series and its characters. David’s revelation that he and Jill would lean on each other for support when either of them butted heads with Jason is a surprising twist. Even though Jill and David never acted on romantic impulses, David confessed that he didn’t think Jason “was good enough” for her. This, more than anything, was why he left the BAU behind until Jason’s departure. Some fans may feel it cheapens the BAU’s history to have their falling out be centered on a relationship, but it is a very human notion just the same. Even though this is their first time sharing scenes, Mantegna’s and Huffman’s chemistry works well and they give their characters some much-needed vulnerability. The best thing this does for the cast, besides finally putting some of the show’s most enduring questions to rest, was greatly humanize the BAU’s senior members.
It’s unclear if she’ll stick around on Evolution, but if she does, Jill is the best character to be paired with Rossi. While Emily and David have some chemistry, their partnership works best on a friendly, professional level rather than being one of Criminal Minds’ romantic storylines. Bringing in Jill as someone David cared for in the past but never got the timing right with could give him the “happy ending” he wants, but never seems to get. Jill could also add a new, more empathetic perspective to the BAU going forward. That is, if she survives Evolution Season 2.
“North Star” Makes the Killers the Heroes of Their Own Stories
The Gold Star Kids Are Nearing the End of Their Mission
“Fortunately for us, even FBI patsys like him have value,” Damien Booth to Jade Waters about Elias Voit.
“North Star” opens with Damien and Jade chasing down the last doctor (other than Jill) who ran the Stuart House program. Elias told Rossi that the north star lead was just a “hook” to capture the two killers for the botched FBI operation. However, this episode reveals that the lead was more real than false, as Jade and Damien hunt down the doctors responsible for their torturous experience at Stuart House. It’s this part of their mission that brings them to Dr. Jill’s door. It’s also central to the way in which Voit or someone else manipulates them.
These kids are pretty well broken, even when momentarily ignoring their penchant for gruesome, serial murders. In one scene, Jade awakens screaming from a nightmare. She is afraid to even let Damien touch her, but he’s nonetheless able to calm her down. While they are unquestionably villains, they are also victims, too. This is what Jill realizes and it’s also why she risks her life to try to “save the little boy” inside Damien. Her plea even works, but Damien then allows Jade to kill him rather than be taken into custody.
After waking from her nightmare, Jade makes him promise that neither of them would be locked up ever again. Later, when meeting with Voit’s attorney, Victor Orlov (Brian Whilte), Jade reveals a hand-signal code they use. While Damien is hiding with a sniper rifle, he would take a kill-shot if Jade closed her raised hand into a fist. When the FBI is ready to arrest Damien, he willingly surrenders without hurting Jill. Yet, as his hands are raised, he closes one into a fist, and Jade shoots him dead before escaping. It’s a tragic ending, both for Damien and Jill who desperately wanted to help him.
Actors Liberato and Garelik expertly bring their respective Gold Star killers to life in some of the series’ most chilling yet tragic moments yet. While this isn’t the first time Criminal Minds gave the spotlight to a serial killer or two, Damien and Jade were notably more human and vulnerable than their predecessors. It’s also worth noting that, unlike before, Evolution went out of its way to humanize these killers as more than just dangerous monsters for the BAU to stop. This may be the end of Garelik’s time on the show, and will surely be missed.
“North Star” Finally Reveals Season 2’s Central Conspiracy Theory
Elias Voit May Be the True Mastermind of the Gold Star Killers
“[Voit] had this network where he talked about social contagion with his followers, and he gave me the whole rundown of how generations are being raised to see life through lens of conspiracy theories,” David Rossi to Jill Gideon.
Throughout Evolution Season 2, conspiracy theories were a recurring theme. For example, Prentiss is framed by her neighbor, Brian Garrity (Paul F. Thompkins), an online conspiracy theorist. That being said, it’s only now that these seemingly disparate conspiracies and elements finally tied up together. “North Star” makes it clear just how conspiracy theories relate to the Gold Star case. Part of the way these kids were manipulated into becoming serial killers was by the lie that doing so would protect other kids from suffering the same fate. This is why Damien went with Jill to the cabin. Specifically, she promised him that he could rescue a little boy suffering a similar fate as him.
All season long, Elias denied that he was the actual “Sicarius” killer from Season 1. However, everything from the way Damien talked about their conversations on the Sicarius network to the package Orlov delivered points to Elias as mastermind. Elias talked about how anyone could be manipulated by conspiracy theories, and the season showed how undeniable his thesis was. There is just enough truth in the Stuart House situation to convince Damien, Jade and whichever other kids may still be out there to become the killers they were forcibly made to be. After all, violence against children is at the center of some of the most infamous conspiracy theories of the modern day.
The worst that could be said about Elias’ reveal is that some viewers will find this predictable. After all, he’s far from the first fictional genius serial killer who orchestrated a complex scheme while stuck in prison. Although this payoff could be a bit polarizing, it’s nice to know that Evolution is now in the process of tying up its remaining loose ends and gearing up for the final, ultimate confrontation between Elias, David and the BAU. This is what the seasons took quite a while to build up towards, and it’s finally coming to fruition.
With Damien dead and Jade left alone, it almost seems like there simply isn’t enough story left for the Gold Star Killers. This could mean that Evolution Season 2 may go deeper or even beyond these kids who are used as weapons. The season may finally be gearing up to expose the real villain behind it all. Whether it’s Elias himself or someone else, there is more to this case than viewers have already seen. How it fits into this season’s story and what will be held over for the following season is an open question.