Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 1 Episode 4 Review: Pay-Per-View

The BAU may have one specific serial killer they want to catch but that doesn’t mean there aren’t others running amok. Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 1 Episode 4, “Pay-Per-View” throws it back to the classic days of the show with a twisted case of the week alongside the Sicarius investigation. 

Tyler Green, the vigilante working against Sicarius, brings out the best in the team when they try to gain his trust. Once again, Garcia proves she’s grown the most as a character when she tries to connect with him in a different way than her past self would have.  

Instead of letting Green walk all over her, she’s blunt with him about how his sending her the encrypted data pulled her into work she didn’t want to be doing and how she’s not going to try to help someone who doesn’t want to be helped. It’s this honesty and tough love that breaks through to him and gets him to open up to the team.

For viewers who remember Garcia’s own guilt over losing family members, and her struggle to move past it, the self-assuredness she demonstrates in this scene is particularly affecting.

Even without that context, Kirsten Vangsness’s emotional performance fills in the gaps enough that you sense there’s a backstory to her plea that makes it more impactful.

In the chaos of the Sicarius case, Garcia and Green find an unlikely human connection. When he later requests they take Garcia off the case, showing his guilt over bringing her into this mess, you see how much their interaction affected him.

During his cognitive interview with Alvez, Green’s emotional breakdown about abandoning his sister the night she went missing on her date with a man who may be Sicarius is equally compelling. Ryan-James Hatanaka shines as a guest star through his emotionally vulnerable portrayal of the tortured veteran.

The show doesn’t always have much time to spend with the victims’ families, but here we see the lasting impact these murders have on others. The fact Criminal Minds: Evolution has the space to slow down and spend time with Green, instead of rushing the hunt for Sicarius, is yet another example of why the show is thriving with its focus on a season-long arc.

Sicarius gets less screen time on this episode, but we do see him hallucinating a man who claims to have taught him his rules of killing, indicating there is more to his backstory. Slowly unpeeling the layers of Sicarius creates a tension that’s sustaining this season.

The most uneven part of the episode comes with the focus on JJ and Will. I expected Criminal Minds: Evolution to share the love when it comes to exploring the teams’ personal lives, but JJ gets the most off-duty screen time so far this season.

If things seem a little off with the couple, that’s intentional because we learn Will received abnormal blood test results which could mean he has cancer. This sad twist, after the season already started with one team member mourning their spouse, is disappointing.

Do we really need a second team member to potentially deal with such a devastating loss this season? The results may be a misdirect since he has not gotten a conclusive diagnosis yet, but it’s laying it on a little thick for the sake of creating personal drama for JJ.

The case of the week featuring two brothers who stage a series of home invasions and murders of security guards to act out vengeance on their security guard father is very “classic” Criminal Minds. The profile about their shared trauma, the older brother being the dominant UnSub, and Garcia’s too-good keyboard wizardry in quickly finding their identities ticks some well-worn boxes.

By the end of the case, things play out like the old days with the team successfully profiling the killers and stopping them before they kill their final victim. Finally, they’ve taken one of the network killers alive!

Except they haven’t because these two just happened to operate in the same area as the missing kill kit. A surprising conversation with the surviving UnSub proves they weren’t working with Sicarius after all. 

It does explain why these killers are the most sympathetic of the ones featured so far since they aren’t members of the network and are just two messed-up kids corrupted by their trauma. You have to laugh a little when Rossi expresses his disappointment with the case feeling like a “loss” because it really is ironic to be so disappointed after they prevented a murder!

Once again, Criminal Minds: Evolution zigs when you expect it to zag. For a procedural that’s been around for almost two decades, the revival knows how to keep fans on their toes.

The twists are appreciated, but it does beg the question of how many more it can pull off without it feeling like it’s delaying the inevitable. There are only two kill kits left and six episodes remaining in the season.

Eventually, the team is going to have to go head-to-head with Sicarius, but for now, fans can just enjoy having the BAU back and solving cases.

Additional Thoughts:

• The constant reminders of the pandemic through forced dialogue, like with the couple on vacation, are getting a little cringe. There’s no need to bring it up if it’s going to be inorganic, the audience hasn’t forgotten!
• JJ and her husband are so worried about the security of their house but apparently don’t believe in closing their blinds.
• Thank you Garcia for showing senior cats some love! Also, the fact Alvez cat sits for her is adorable!
• The team spends a lot of time in the DC area this season when the killers could have been placed anywhere. Is it because they don’t have the jet anymore and the show wants to keep them together in one place?

What did you think of this episode of Criminal Minds: Evolution? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Criminal Minds: Evolution is now streaming on Paramount+. Try 1 month free with promo code EVOLUTION!

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