Editor’s note: The following recap contains spoilers for Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 3 Episode 7 I am officially declaring a battle against <em>Criminal Minds: Evolution</em>. This gripping series has resurrected the spider-MO, introducing a new unsub who seeks to “honor” Voit’s (Zach Gilford) uncle Cyrus Lebrun (Silas Weir Mitchell), Voit’s former serial killer mentor. In a chilling twist, the new unsub forces Sicarius spiders into his victims via multi-layered condoms, which ultimately rupture, allowing the spiders to poison the victims as they attempt to escape their confines. While this series has showcased many gruesome methods, this particular approach is uniquely sinister.
This unsub has seized control of Voit’s network, channeling Cyrus’s influence to summon the “true” Sicarius and hinder Voit’s cooperation with federal authorities. As the network intensifies its maneuvers, Voit evolves into a crucial player in the BAU’s investigative efforts—something his new lawyer aims to leverage for a better immunity deal, aiming to reduce Voit’s potential prison sentence.
The network is resorting to drastic measures to reach Voit, culminating in a shocking incident that leaves one of our team members in dire straits at the episode’s conclusion. A leak within the BAU is evident, and the team must swiftly uncover the new unsub’s ultimate intentions.
Unraveling the Sicarius Network’s New Leadership in ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’
Once the first victim is discovered, Garcia (Kristen Vangsness) embarks on a quest to track down recent purchases of illegal South African spiders, but her investigation yields no results. Meanwhile, J.J. (A.J. Cook) uncovers a rare chemical residue found beneath the victim’s fingernails, indicating that the unsub has some connection to fertilizer. With this critical clue, Garcia pivots her focus from spiders to identifying individuals linked to fertilizer who have gone missing recently.
This leads her to a potential suspect—a trucker operating in the D.C. metro area. Garcia successfully locates the suspect’s truck, which directs the team to Tate Andrews (Mustafa Speaks), who is found bound to an explosive device in an abandoned truck bed. He is discovered to have a multi-layered condom filled with Sicarius spiders lodged in his stomach, which the unsub threatens to release remotely unless his message is delivered to Voit. Fortunately, the team has brought Voit along for the operation and manages to hand him the unsub’s iPad.
The unsub uses a deep fake filter to present himself to Voit as his uncle Cyrus, triggering traumatic memories from Voit’s childhood. While Voit believes he killed Cyrus years ago, this unsub has an unsettling knowledge of Voit’s past, leaving Voit bewildered about his identity. The unsub reveals his takeover of the network, motivated by Voit’s conversations with the authorities, and insists that his actions are geared towards reuniting Voit—or Sicarius—with the network.
As Voit grapples with the situation, Alvez (Adam Rodriguez) realizes that the explosive device connected to Tate is merely a decoy. The team rushes to get him to an ambulance to remove the spiders, while Garcia works tirelessly to sever the remote connection between the unsub and the spiders inside Tate. In a shocking turn of events, Garcia’s normally flawless hacking skills malfunction, leading to the detonation of one spider, resulting in a horrifying scene where the condom bursts and the spiders inflict fatal wounds on Tate as they try to escape. This brutal death will haunt Garcia for quite some time. As noted, this unsub is exceptionally twisted.
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Discovery of a Mobile Truck Housing Victims
Before Tate succumbs to his injuries, he shares that he has been holding seven or eight other men captive. This revelation assists the team in refining their profile, leading them to realize that their unsub is operating a mobile truck filled with victims, distributing them to his foot soldier unsubs in exchange for delivering messages to Voit when they are captured.
After some intense investigation, Garcia cleverly utilizes the internet signal obtained from the truck where Tate was held hostage to identify a second truck containing additional victims. Just as the new disciples are about to vacate, the team successfully intercepts the truck and apprehends two of the foot soldier unsubs. Tragically, they also discover the lifeless body of Voit’s former lawyer, Vincent Orlov (Brian White), in the truck. The implications of this development are severe; if the new network accessed Orlov, they possess a treasure trove of personal information that could lead them to Elias. On a positive note, the team manages to safely return seven men to their families, but this day has proven to be exceptionally challenging.
As if this situation weren’t alarming enough, the new leader of Voit’s network demonstrates a readiness to take preemptive action against the BAU if it means reaching Voit.
Tara Faces a Life-Threatening Situation in ‘Criminal Minds’
Tara (Aisha Tyler) and Rebecca (Nicole Pacent) are summoned to meet with Voit’s current attorney to discuss a pressing issue concerning the Voit case. This situation raises alarms for both Tara and Rebecca, especially since Rebecca had been removed from the case due to their romantic involvement. The new liaison, Evan (Geoff Stults), assures them that the meeting is not about the conflict of interest.
As the trio engages in light banter about negotiating with unsubs versus lawyers, Tara suddenly notices one of the foot soldier unsubs lurking in the garage, armed and dangerous. Acting quickly, she shoves Rebecca out of harm’s way, but both Tara and Evan sustain gunshot wounds to their chests. Tara loses consciousness as Rebecca crawls to her, while Evan’s condition appears even more dire. This shocking attack marks a direct assault on the BAU team, raising the question of why the new network leader specifically targeted Tara instead of more obvious choices like Green (Ryan-James Hatanaka) or J.J.
The situation clearly indicates that this new adversary is a significant step up from the previous unsubs the team has encountered this season. The looming question is whether he can revive the old Sicarius or if Voit will remain the BAU’s greatest asset.
Criminal Minds: Evolution airs new episodes every Thursday on Paramount+.
Criminal Minds
- Release Date
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September 22, 2005
- Network
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CBS, Paramount+
- 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
- We’re uncovering deeper mythology surrounding the new network
- The stakes have become alarmingly real
- The team now possesses personal motivation to take down this unsub
- Spiders crawling from the victim’s mouth was excessively graphic
- Traumatizing Penelope after she has already endured extensive spider-related content is cruel
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