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Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 3, Episode 9 Ending Explained: Voit Becomes The Prey
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3, episode 9, “CollateRal.”
Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3, episode 9 leaves more questions than answers heading into the finale. After the surreal dream respite of Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3, episode 8, this episode expands the number of Sicarius Network followers with agendas of their own, doubling down on Voit’s importance to the story.
No one in the cast of Criminal Minds: Evolution has been safe this season, but Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster) pieces together too late who the next target is. Emily may have jinxed the team when she said they were finally one step ahead of the Sicarius Network, and now two characters’ fates hang in the balance.
Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 3, Episode 9 Kyle Mackey’s (aka The Gravedigger) Interrogation Explained
Luke Alvez’s Fugitive Task Force Expertise Impresses Even Garcia In The Virtual Hunt For The Missing Kyle
Luke Alvez’s (Adam Rodriguez) previous experience in the fugitive task force comes in handy when Kyle Mackey (Aaron Stanford) – aka The Gravedigger from Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3, episode 6 – goes missing. Even Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness) begrudgingly admits Luke was helpful. Criminal Minds should remind audiences of the individual skill sets of each team member more often.
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Main Cast of Criminal Minds: Evolution |
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|---|---|---|---|
|
Actor |
Character |
Seasons |
Role |
|
Paget Brewster |
Emily Prentiss |
2-18 |
BAU Unit Chief, formerly Interpol |
|
Joe Mantegna |
David Rossi |
3-18 |
Founding Father of the BAU |
|
A.J. Cook |
Jennifer “JJ” Jareau |
1-18 |
Formerly BAU Communications Liaison |
|
Kirsten Vangsness |
Penelope Garcia |
1-18 |
Technical Analyst |
|
Aisha Tyler |
Dr. Tara Lewis |
11-18 |
Forensic Psychologist |
|
Adam Rodriguez |
Luke Alvez |
12-18 |
Previously FBI Fugitive Task Force |
|
Ryan-James Hatanaka |
Tyler Green |
16-18 |
Former military intelligence officer, sister was an early Sicarius victim |
|
Zach Gilford |
Elias Voit |
16-18 |
Sicarius |
Kyle is as self-serving as any other BAU unsub, only giving up what little knowledge he has if there is something in it for him. His ex-wife, Lainey Torres (Alicia Urizar McCallum), is the one to break Kyle, empowering her beyond just another victim. Watching Kyle’s face drop when Lainey walks in the door is so satisfying.
Kyle gives Emily Prentiss his limited information on Project Checkmate – a very unsubtle code name – and The Engineer. Introducing a new villain in the last two episodes of the season feels a bit rushed, but leads to an exciting cliffhanger ending and two potential main antagonists for Criminal Minds: Evolution season 4.
The Sicarius Network Is Going Scorched Earth – But Has An Unsub Working Towards A Different End
The Engineer Has Beaten The Disciple To Voit
Kyle explains many of the moving parts of Project Checkmate include the Network going “scorched earth” and eliminating all loose ends. Criminal Minds: Evolution’s newest happy couple has a theory that The Disciple is a female, based on how they’re deviating from a true scorched earth to protect a child.
The Engineer is a member of the Sicarius Network with mechanical prowess. Kyle knows him from his advice on how to rig the explosives in his graves, and it’s Kyle’s specific knowledge of the material The Engineer used to build his custom silencer that helps the BAU start their search.
There is a wealth of new information, but not much clarity. Kyle believes The Engineer will be killed by The Disciple as the final loose end. Emily realizes that her team is being intentionally spread thin so that Elias Voit (Zach Gilford) is left vulnerable. We don’t see who takes Voit, but we see their custom silencer.
The Disciple’s goal is to reawaken the “real” Voit, but we don’t know The Engineer’s endgame. If he is as high up in the network as Kyle, he must also realize he is a target now, so he could be taking Voit as a bargaining chip.
Who Is The Leak In Doctor Ochoa’s Office?
Voit Is The Leak, But The New Nurse Is Part Of The Sicarius Network As Well
JJ (A.J. Cook) pinpoints Voit himself as the leak in Dr. Ochoa’s office when she remembers him giving prescient advice to his wife in the past, anticipating law enforcement’s moves. However, Voit having the phone in his possession at all is confusing, given that Nurse Monica Luna’s (Ariel Jackson) SIM card also pinged on Penelope’s scan.
Related
Thank You Prentiss For Finally Saying My Biggest Gripe About Criminal Minds: Evolution
Emily Prentiss has always been one of Criminal Minds: Evolution’s main voices, but one line from season 3, episode 8 reflects its biggest issue.
Nurse John Perry (Ian McQuown) is part of the network – we see him kill Kathy Wolner and kidnap her son Andrew – but his phone does not register on Penelope’s system. There are a lot of moving parts that haven’t been fully explained. The Engineer masterminded intercepting Monica’s phone, but Voit just happened to stumble across another phone left out? It doesn’t add up.
Maybe Nurse John switched his SIM card with Monica’s offscreen; otherwise, it’s not entirely clear what is happening. The leak predates John’s employment in Voit’s unit, so maybe Voit is lying about how he came into possession of the cellphone JJ found under his mattress.
Is Voit Finally Convincing Rossi That He’s A Truly Changed Man?
The Same Act From Voit Proves His Goodness To Rossi While Convincing Dr. Ochoa Of His Wickedness
We know – and Voit knows – Dave Rossi (Joe Mantegna) is not on a social visit, he’s only there to get Voit to talk. Nevertheless, I believe Rossi when he says he thinks Voit might be lonely. Their paper football game was adorable, and it’s an astute observation on Rossi’s part that Voit probably played it with his daughters.
While Voit did break the rules by using the phone, Rossi knows his entire history and sees that Voit went “chaotic good” to save a woman and child, even if it was at the expense of his own comfort and the BAU’s case. Rossi admits that Voit is a reformed psychopath in the Criminal Minds: Evolution episode, something he’s never seen.
Dr. Julia Ochoa (Aimee Garcia), who has only known Voit as a damaged blank slate, is so hurt by his transgression that she informs him she is transferring him back to prison. Where Rossi sees empathy, all Ochoa sees is lying. This feels like an abrupt heel turn, but she’ll be grateful to have his cunning on her side in the finale.
Who Is Tessa Lebrun & How Can She Change Voit’s Overall Story?
Tessa Is The Disciple Of Both Voit & Cyrus
We don’t know much about Tessa Lebrun yet – even Voit was stumped when the BAU asked him if his uncle, Cyrus, could have had a child. In reviewing old case files, the team finds that 20 years ago, a 20-ish woman identifying herself as Cyrus’ daughter Tessa gave a statement to the police.
This now 40-something woman shares Voit’s computer wizardry. She was clever enough to infiltrate Voit’s network like Tyler Green (RJ Hatanaka) – so whether she is Cyrus’ blood, she has his darkness. The show seems to be setting up this mysterious Tessa as The Disciple to be the next big unsub in Criminal Minds: Evolution season 4.
Having a blood relative would explain how The Disciple had such specific knowledge of Voit – she would have been raised by the same abusive man. Tessa is more theatrical and unrestrained than Voit was, but she has a conscience of sorts – taking care of Andrew Wolner (Jack Jewkes) as best she could.
New episodes of Criminal Minds: Evolution stream Thursdays on Paramount+. The season 3 finale “The Disciple” airs July 10, 2025. Stream all episodes of Criminal Minds on Paramount+. The show has already been renewed for season 4.
Voit has thus far been able to resist the temptation to return to the dark side – even after seeing the Sicarius spiders. However, Tessa is The Disciple of both Voit and Cyrus, so if anyone can flip Voit in Criminal Minds: Evolution, it’s her.
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8/10
- Release Date
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September 22, 2005
- Showrunner
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Erica Messer
- Directors
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Félix Enríquez Alcalá, Rob Bailey, Matthew Gray Gubler, Joe Mantegna, John Gallagher, Douglas Aarniokoski, Guy Norman Bee, Larry Teng, Nelson McCormick, Alec Smight, Charles S. Carroll, Rob Spera, Charles Haid, Diana Valentine, Rob Hardy, Tawnia McKiernan, Bethany Rooney, Karen Gaviola, Sharat Raju, Thomas Gibson, Aisha Tyler, Anna Foerster, Gloria Muzio, John Terlesky
- Writers
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Bruce Zimmerman, Virgil Williams, Edward Allen Bernero, Janine Sherman Barrois, Chris Mundy, Simon Mirren, Debra J. Fisher, Kimberly A. Harrison, Jay Beattie, Dan Dworkin, Karen Maser, Oanh Ly, Stephanie Sengupta, Aaron Zelman, Kirsten Vangsness, Erica Meredith, Andi Bushell, Holly Harold, Alicia Kirk, Jeff Davis, Randy Huggins, Edward Napier, Jayne A. Archer, Chikodili Agwuna
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Kirsten Vangsness
Penelope Garcia
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Matthew Gray Gubler
Dr. Spencer Reid
