Everyone's favorite FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit is back, with Criminal Minds: Evolution officially premiering on Thanksgiving day. Tecnically the 16th season of the beloved CBS procedural, the revival has the BAU’s elite agets returning to the small screen after 2+ years with a season-long mission centering on a deadly and influential UnSub. Showrunner Eric Messer has opened up about shifting from network TV to streaming, and the surprisingly easy transition she and the crew had putting out longer episodes.
Criminal Minds star Joe Mantegna recently opened up about being able to swear a lot more for the revival, and considering the streaming eps are around 10 minutes longer than the weekly broadcast installments, that definitely gives Rossi more to bitch about. One might also think essentially a 20% increase in runtimes would involve a pretty hefty uptick in behind-the-scenes efforts, but Messer explained to Deadline how much things actually stayed the same, more or less. Though the runtimes may be different, the production and filming process didn't change very much, which allowed the actors and directors more time to live in the scenes. In her words:
What was wild is that we still shot it in eight days, and it was still like a 50-page script with 50 scenes, and it plays at 53 minutes. We live in the space a little bit longer. You get to be in the creepy moments longer and be in the emotion longer than you would on broadcast. I feel like our directors cuts are really getting to live in a way that they couldn’t before because we couldn’t air all 53 minutes. It’s been a really fun thing, but we didn’t change the structure of the show.
With the episodes being noticably longer, fans are able to settle more into this somewhat darker season, but without the need for another 3-4 big action sequences or dialogue scenes. Instead, the camera is allowed to linger that much longer on Rossi or Prentiss' face after they hear terrible news, and the measured and methodical introduction of Zach Gilford's freaky UnSub is that much more effective, without the need to chop scenes to just the meatiest moments. For a tension-hinging show like Criminal Minds, that's a huge advantage over broadcast network restrictions.
A growing number of shows have shifted from network TV to streaming in recent years, and it’s always eye-opening to learn how the process differs from platform to the next, regardless of genre. It sounds like Messer and her creative team are using the extra runtime advantageously. Whether we're getting more shots of body parts in jars, or more or Garcia and Alvez's quasi-fliring, the crime drama having more wiggle room is a plus for everyone on both sides of the screen.
Just two episodes in, Criminal Minds: Evolution has already proven its subtitle to be true, with the characters each going through their own ups and downs beyond the case, and more room to explore those ups and downs in meaningful ways. And since Season 16 is as disturbing as ever, these early days are probably when the BAU is the least doomed, so beware the future.
With Criminal Minds: Evolution having premiered for those with Paramount+ subscriptions, fans can look forward to seeing their BAU favorites weekly once again, albeit minus Matthew Gray Gubler’s Dr. Spencer Reid and Daniel Henney’s Matt Simmons. (Expanding other characters' narratives is probably also a little easier with two of those characters being gone this time around.)
Criminal Minds: Evolution debuts new episodes on Paramount+ every Thursday, and head to our 2022 TV schedule and our 2023 premiere guide to see all the other new and returning shows that are yet to arrive.
