Felicity Huffman's Criminal Minds: Evolution Role Has A Huge Link To An OG Character

Contains general spoilers for "Criminal Minds: Evolution" Season 2

It looks like "Criminal Minds" fans are set to meet a familiar face — and one who, in the show's universe, is definitely familiar to a former team member.

Deadline reports that Felicity Huffman will join the show's cast for Season 2, and she'll be portraying Dr. Jill Gideon. Yes, that's right, Gideon — as in Jason Gideon (Mandy Patinkin). Jill is Jason's ex-wife, and that very fact makes her reluctant to work with the Behavioral Analysis Unit. But she soon figures out that she's the only one who can help the team figure out who's behind the Gold Star mystery — a murder-centered conspiracy theory that will serve as the team's latest case. Huffman will be playing a guest role, and there's no word as to how many episodes she will appear in as of press time.

While Jill's story remains unwritten, Jason's has a definitive ending — one that came about because Mandy Patinkin chose to leave the series at the foot of Season 2. 

What happened to Jason Gideon on "Criminal Minds?" The character disappears at the beginning of Season 3, but his death isn't confirmed until Season 10, Episode 13, "Nelson's Sparrow," where the team learns he was shot to death by serial killer Donnie Mallick (Arye Gross). They decide to bring Mallick in once and for all as a tribute to Gideon.

Mandy Patinkin left "Criminal Minds" after two seasons of work because, per a profile with New York Magazine published in 2012, he regretted ever signing on for the project in the first place after realizing what sort of effect it might be having on viewers. "The biggest public mistake I ever made was that I chose to do 'Criminal Minds' in the first place. I thought it was something very different. I never thought they were going to kill and rape all these women every night, every day, week after week, year after year," he declared. Patinkin felt the experience was so harmful to his soul that he didn't think he'd do another TV show until he was offered "Homeland."

While this means Jason and Jill will never get to see each other again, at least Jill will have the comfort of working with people who cared about her husband — and ultimately helped bring the unsub who killed him to justice.