'Criminal Minds: Evolution' Gets Premiere Date

By Stephen Andrew

Fans have been eager for Criminal Minds: Evolution, a continuation of the hit CBS crime procedural, and now the new series has an official premiere date. Deadline reports that the 10-episode season of Criminal Minds: Evolution, a Paramount+ exclusive, will premiere with two episodes on Thursday, Nov. 24, Thanksgiving Day. Following its premiere, the show will debut new episodes weekly, also on Thursdays, until a mid-season finale to launch on Thursday, Dec. 15. 

Criminal Minds: Evolution will then pick back up on Thursday, Jan. 12, with new episodes, again, dropping weekly, until the season finale on Thursday, Feb. 9. Speaking to reporters during the Television Critics Tour, on Wednesday, series showrunner Erica Messer explained, "We never wanted to go away to begin with. We knew there were plenty of stories to tell. You can fill behind the scenes is a show is lagging, or creatively the scripts aren't hitting. That never happened to us." This is in reference to the show being canceled in 2020, after 15 seasons. Fans were devastated to see the series end, but just months after its finale, Paramount+ revealed plans for a 10-episode revival series.

The new show will bring back original cast members reprising their roles including Joe Mantegna, A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Aisha Tyler, Adam Rodriguez, and Paget Brewster. Together, the team will be facing off against franchise newcomer Zach Gilford (Midnight Mass, Good Girls) who plays Elias Voit, "an operations analyst for a global cyber-security firm who has a dark side and obsession with death." While the move to Paramount+ can imply that the show will be able to get away with certain things that wouldn't go over on broadcast TV, Messer explained that they have no intention of pushing the envelope much more than the show already had been doing.

"I'm very aware that teenage kids watch this show, "she said. "Because I'm aware of that, I never wanted us to go into full rated R, with extra violence or anything that would suddenly feel like a very different series. [Instead] we live in the world longer. You get to live and breathe in this space and it can be a disturbing space to be in."

Notably, while many of the show's original stars are returning, there are some notable absences. Currently, neither Matthew Gray Gubler nor Shemar Moore are set to come back. Gubler played Dr. Spencer Reid and Moore portrayed FBI Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan. Daniel Henney, who appeared as Matt Simmons on Criminal Minds, is also not returning. However, he has said that he'd be open to making a guest appearance on the revival. 

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