Criminal Minds: Evolution Showrunner Teases A Major Shift In Voit's Battle With The BAU
"Criminal Minds: Evolution" returned this year with a fresh, new slate of killers, along with a unique system created by Elias Voit (Zach Gilford), a family man with a very dark side. Inspired by the lockdowns during the pandemic, Voit has created a network for serial killers to use, a tool that allows them to coordinate and help each other get away with their crimes and sadistic fantasies.
Many fans have become aware that several of the series' villains are based loosely on real-life murderers. Some think Voit resembles Israel Keyes, who was known for burying containers all over the country containing killing tools, just in case the urge came up while he was traveling. But Voit's predilection for keeping his victims in shipping containers seems inspired by the Amazon Review killer, Todd Kohlhepp, who had turned a shipping container into a makeshift prison for his victims.
What has been unexpected so far this season is how Voit has been one step ahead of the BAU team, a change that showrunner Erica Messer teases won't last much longer.
Voit will soon start to lose his battle with the BAU
Messer is pretty excited about the Voit storyline and that Elias Voit hasn't been caught yet. But, she warns that as the show reaches the midway point, Voit is going to start to feel the walls closing in, and part of his downfall will be his own doing, thanks to his set of rules that he insists on sticking to. "We are gonna notice a big shift in him[Voit] the later half of the season," she tells TV Insider. "I've structured this year to be the first half of the season in the battle between the BAU and Elias Voit, Voit is winning, and then in the last half of the season, the tables have turned and now the BAU is winning."
Messer credits the shorter season for allowing the writers to ramp up the tension and allow the criminals to thrive for a longer period of time before they're caught. "It's not often that we can have a bad guy beat our heroes, for very long anyways," Messer says. "This is something that we were never able to do in a 22-episode order because we could never have a bad guy be defeating us, week after week after week."