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Criminal Minds: Evolution season 18 premieres on May 8, 2025. With many unresolved storylines and Voit still manipulating from the inside, the team is far from finished. Season 18 is expected to further explore the origin of Gold Star, the fallout from season 17, and the BAU’s darkest challenges yet.
Criminal Minds: Evolution season 17 delivers one of the darkest and most intense storylines in the series to date. Picking up two weeks after the explosive events of season 16, the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) is thrown into a nationwide manhunt involving a covert program known only as Gold Star.
At the center of the mayhem is Elias Voit, serial killer Sicarius, whose return is in an unexpected capacity. Rather than being an enemy, Voit is a reluctant consultant, exchanged into federal custody in a bargain that places him within arm’s reach of the team he once terrorized.
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Though Voit provides information about the Gold Star murders, his presence brings psychological tension, especially for agents such as David Rossi, whose traumatic experiences during season 16 are still unresolved. His function is crucial but manipulative, keeping the BAU—and viewers—on edge.
Criminal Minds: Evolution: The Gold Star case unfolds
Season 17 begins with a murder in Bristow, Virginia, where the body of the wife of a police officer is found mutilated. The murderer leaves a star-marked bullet and blinds the victim—symbolic actions that connect this case to a series of murders across the country. As the BAU delves deeper, they learn that these murders are connected to a secret government program called the Gold Star.
While the series never explicitly refers to the Gold Star as a black-ops psychological operation, it does suggest that the operatives have been trained through a secret behavior conditioning program. Two of the trained assassins—Jade Waters and Damien Booth—surface as deadly and volatile forces, killing with the precision of the military and avoiding capture.
Criminal Minds: Evolution: Return and manipulation of Elias Voit
Elias Voit, now protected by the federal government, asserts that he has information regarding the Gold Star. The BAU grudgingly enlists his help, and though his intel is helpful, it also becomes obvious that he’s not divulging everything. Voit employs his attorney and obfuscatory messages to play games with his kidnappers and with the killers outside.
His psychiatric game of chess is largely played out between creepy exchanges with Rossi and Emily Prentiss, who have both been traumatized by past choices and new threats. When Voit becomes further engaged, his presence compels the team to look at their weaknesses. His interactions with Rossi result in a climactic psychological confrontation, leading to Rossi fighting his residual PTSD.
Criminal Minds: Evolution: Internal conflicts
As the outside threat grows, tensions within the BAU are not far behind. Emily Prentiss copes with pressure from the agency and rising fatalities, as well as fallout from a botched raid related to the Gold Star. Penelope Garcia, welcomed back into the fold, serves as technical support that proves crucial in deciphering encrypted cell phones and cyber-based evidence.
Tyler Green and Rebecca Wilson are both heavily invested in the pursuit of Voit’s network. The group also consults with Dr. Jill Gideon, widow of the deceased Jason Gideon, introducing a further level of emotional depth and inheritance to the season.
Criminal Minds: Evolution: The explosive finale
Season 17 episode 10, Save the Children, sees the reveal of the last Gold Star operative's identity. Prentiss is kidnapped by Jade and her accomplice in a desperate attempt to muzzle the BAU. Though she survives the experience, it leaves her severely shaken. In the closing seconds, Elias Voit is assaulted while in prison, and though his fate is left uncertain, what it means for the next season is terrifying.
Season 17 concludes with several important questions still left unanswered and a vulnerable BAU struggling with both physical and emotional trauma. With Criminal Minds: Evolution season 18 officially scheduled to premiere in May 2025, fans can look forward to even more revelations, repercussions, and perhaps the return of long-lost characters, including the already confirmed return of Spencer Reid.
Catch the latest episode of Criminal Minds: Evolution streaming on Paramount+.
