Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 1 Episode 7 Review: What Doesn’t Kill Us
FBI Deputy Director Doug Bailey hasn’t exactly been a fan-favorite or even fan-liked character. That may change with Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 1 Episode 7, “What Doesn’t Kill Us.”
After a tense meeting where Prentiss threatens to quit the FBI, the team is grounded awaiting a decision from the Attorney General on whether they can continue the Sicarius case. In the meantime, they are back to work on another twisted case, and Director Bailey wants to get in on the action.
Criminal Minds: Evolution adds much-needed depth to Bailey, who debuted as a one-dimensional bureaucratic villain. Although Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 1 Episode 5, “Oedipus Wrecks,” which featured him having a connection to the victim, was a nice start this storyline unpeels more layers.
From standing up for the BAU in their meeting with the Attorney General to revealing his daddy issues (his father is anti-government), we see there is more than meets the eye to the director who once seemed more concerned with his career than anything else.
It all culminates when he goes into the field with Prentiss and tenderly comforts a severely injured victim as they wait for the ambulance. It’s a touching performance by Nicholas D’Agosto and extra heartbreaking as the paramedics take the victim away and all the certainty on his face fades as he’s left standing there shaken and covered in blood.
Despite his fear and limitations, he steps up when needed and earns the respect of the BAU and fans of the show.
It’s not just Bailey’s story that lets this episode pack a punch. Although kidnappings might be standard fare in the world of TV serial killers, watching the victims of this killer crawl through air vents just to meet their torturer on the other side will give even the most desensitized viewer claustrophobia and panic.
This sadistic case reminds you just how creepy and nightmare-inducing Criminal Minds has always been, even back when it was on network TV.
The killer of the week is no Sicarius but his pathology as an “injustice collector” creates a compelling story. Compared to some of the “network” killers featured earlier in this season, this UnSub gets a little more development and backstory which helps him stand out among all the many horrors we’ve seen.
Although the BAU is officially off the case thanks to a negative ruling from the Attorney General, that doesn’t mean Sicarius is in the clear. The encounter with Cyrus leaves him unraveling to the point he lashes out at his family and ends up leaving after his wife confronts him for lying about being fired.
The fact he’s now daydreaming of murdering his own family is terrifying and proves there’s an escalation. The team gets footage of him at the hardware store thanks to finding Moose the dog’s tracker in the burned storage unit and then tying Sicarius to the owner.
I have a strong feeling the BAU is too close to nailing Sicarius to actually let this one go.
It would be a tragedy to not discuss the end credits scene, which is a shock and not just because the franchise has never done an end credits scene. Seeing Garcia answer her door and then return to the kitchen with Tyler laying on the counter covered up only by cookbooks is quite the sight.
Garcia fails at Prentiss’ request for her to dump Tyler since dating a material witness could compromise their case. Can you blame Garcia after Tyler’s speech about how she gave him a reason to live again by showing him good people exist?
In addition to proving more blood and curse words aren’t the only things Criminal Minds: Evolution is interested in adding now that it’s on a streaming home, it’s just an unbelievably fun scene. I am really enjoying this more assertive version of Garcia, and it’s obvious Kirsten Vangsness is too.
With another strong episode and a recent renewal announcement, it’s a good time to watch Criminal Minds: Evolution.
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 airs Thursdays on Paramount+.
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Breeze Riley
Breeze Riley is a pop culture enthusiast who decided to turn her love of watching too much TV into a hobby writing about it. Although she's a convention-going sci-fi and fantasy nerd, she's just as likely to be watching an off-beat comedy or period drama. She is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic.