When the first season of Criminal Minds: Evolution wrapped up, Zach Gilford’s super-chill serial killer ringleader Elias Voit made reference to the Gold Star mystery, and since then, one of the only things that fans have learned about the strike-delayed Season 2 production is that Josh Stewart won’t be returning. Now, though, a pretty huge update was revealed in the form of Felicity Huffman, who will show up in a guest-starring capacity, playing a character with huge connections to the former BAU chief Jason Gideon, his ex-wife! Cue a quick zoom-in on Mandy Patinkin’s worried face.
At some point after Season 2 is available to stream with a Paramount+ subscription, Huffman will arrive on the scene as biological psychiatrist Dr. Jill Gideon, who has a pretty formidable brain on her shoulders. According to Deadline, Jill steps in to offer assistance to the FBI and Team BAU in connection with a conspiracy theory turned deadly, although it’s not a task she’s particularly jubilant about, as the job presumably had a part to play in their dissolved marriage.
But it doesn’t just stop there. While Jill is working with Rossi, Garcia and the rest, she comes to understand that she could be a big help when it comes to the investigation into the aforementioned Gold Star mystery. It’s not clear exactly how many episodes Felicity Huffman is signed up for in a guest star capacity, but it sounds like this could be more than just a one-episode appearance. And if that’s the case…
I Hope We Get Another Flashback With Ben Savage
As many fans are aware, Mandy Patinkin starred as Jason Gideon when Criminal Minds began its lengthy run on CBS, but the actor's distaste for the violent subject matter led him to exit the series in the early days of Season 3. Years later, in Season 10, it was revealed that he'd be killed in an off-screen incident, with Ben Savage portraying Gideon as a younger, fresher-eyed agent. The Boy Meets World vet returned in the final season as well for a seemingly final sendoff for what was meant to then be the end.
But now that we'll be two seasons into the streaming expansion, it would be great if showrunner Erica Messer and the creative team could find a way to tie in a flashback with Savage back in Gideon mode. The additional hope would obviously be to have the now-former couple sharing a scene or two together to get a hint of what their dynamic was like, though another actress may be needed to play younger Julia, depending on how far back into the past they'd go.
Granted, I would love even more if Mandy Patinkin himself returned in a flashback, but I don't think that ship was ever sailing back into this harbor.
I Hope We Also Get To Meet Stephen Gideon
Considering Julia Gideon didn't properly exist as a fleshed-out character until now, it might not be out of the question to expect Criminal Minds: Evolution to add in another member of the family that was referenced but never introduced: Gideon's son Stephen.
Mainly the only thing we know is that their relationship was shattered by the agent's devotion to the FBI, and that rift kept them estranged from one another. I'm honestly not even 100% sure if it was solidified that the ex-wife was Stephen's mom, but it seems likely enough. Not that having a cocksure psychologist makes fure surefire parent-son bonding success, but they'd likely have more complex emotional issues than just feelings of abandonment. Here's hoping!
We also know that Voit's former follower Tyler Green, portrayed by Ryan-James Hatanaka, will be back in a bigger capacity for Season 2, where his burgeoning relationship with Garcia will potentially get even more hot and heavy. But, hear me out, what if Stephen Gideon shows up, and he's all hot as shit, and that whole thing becomes a love triangle? Okay that's taking things too far, probably. Or maybe too far would be to have "Stephen" show up for part of the season, and then later, he takes off a mask and it was actually Matthew Grey Gubler's Reid who returned.
Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 2 doesn't yet have a release date locked into the 2024 TV schedule, but it'll be a Gold Star kind of year, I think.
