Criminal Minds brought Voit out of his coma with a crazy twist — but is it a trick?
During the Thursday, May 15, episode of Criminal Minds: Evolution, Voit (Zach Gilford) is awake but he isn’t the dangerous (alleged) serial killer like the BAU remembers. Instead, Voit has appeared to suffer a head injury that caused significant memory loss — and might have even taken away his psychopathic tendencies.
“[Showrunner] Erica [Messer] talked to me about the vision for this season. She was like, ‘We really want to mess with the viewers’ heads and make them feel bad for you,’” Gilford, 43, recalled during an exclusive interview with Us Weekly. “She’s like, ‘In season 1, the trick was we didn’t really see you do anything bad and showed you as a family man and a good guy.’ So people liked him but he’s a bad guy. Season 2, I was just the annoying kid at school who was just messing with everyone.”
Season 3 of Criminal Minds: Evolution will introduce the audience to a Voit they haven’t seen before.
‘Criminal Minds’ Cast: Then and Now
“Erica said, ‘Now everyone knows everything about you and now we want to find a way to make everyone feel bad for you.’ It’s funny too because the progression you’ll see Voit goes through in the first episode. I can talk and I can move,” he noted. “But going through that and trying to figure out how to track it in each episode, how much development or recovery I’d done.”
Gilford also teased some “heartbreaking” scenes for Voit, adding, “A lot of it is this guy who remembers nothing finding out — or realizing — everything he’s done and not being that person. He is just trying to come to terms with, ‘How could I ever have done that? How could anyone do that — let alone how did I do that?’ Which is a pretty messed up concept.”
The first season of Criminal Minds: Evolution (a.k.a season 16 of OG Criminal Minds series) introduced Voit as the main antagonist. The BAU spent the entire season hunting down the prolific killer, who they nicknamed Sicarius after linking him to 62 murders — and for being the mastermind behind setting up an online network of fellow serial killers.
After Voit was arrested — for a single murder — he became a professional criminal consultant for the BAU. While Voit is now no longer the villain, whether his memory loss is real or an act remains to be seen.
“That was the thing I constantly had to ask as well. Is he faking it? Is this for real? What’s going on? Actually, everyone else would ask me,” Gilford recalled. “Everyone would be like, ‘I think he’s faking it.’ I’m like, ‘No, he is a good guy.’ You never know what’s going to happen in four episodes from now. So I always just try to play what I have unless they tell me this is what’s going to happen.”
Gilford pointed out that Voit’s brain scans confirmed that he was a changed man, adding, “This is what I love about it is his brain patterns. His brain is literally physically changed. So in theory, he is a good person and he is a normal person now. But he still has done all those things.”
He continued: “It’s a really cool concept that even though neurologically this person would never do this again — he has done it. It is just such a crazy concept that there’s no real right answer to. Ultimately I’m like, ‘Well, he did do it all … allegedly.’”
Gilford’s costar Adam Rodriguez had a different take while speaking to Us.
Shocking 2024 TV Moments: ‘Bridgerton’ Gender-Swap to ‘Monsters’ Backlash
“Voit is always lying. I don’t trust Voit at all. I don’t trust the brain scans. I don’t trust the fact that he couldn’t be in cahoots with the doctor or somebody else at the hospital,” Rodriguez joked. “He is possibly working with someone in the radiology department who is also part of his network. I don’t trust any of it. I’m really resolute about the fact that I don’t buy it. Even if it is true, I still don’t care.”
The best part of the twist, though, is the new version of Voit deciding that Rossi (Joe Mantegna) is his father. As a fan of Mantegna, Gilford took any chance he could get to share more screen time with his costar.
“I was so nervous to meet him. I was so nervous to work with him when he directed me and gave me a note. I was like, ‘I’m the worst actor in the world.’ All he was doing was giving me a note. Then he was the main person I got to interact with — especially in season 2,” Gilford recalled. “Now in season 3, it’s just taking this character whose job and life is identifying and putting away serial killers. Now he has to help one in a sense.”
Gilford is thrilled for fans to see where the story goes from here.
“It’s that theme of Rossi being the audience as well. He asks, ‘Is this guy faking it? I hate this person but I see a human suffering here.’ So it’s that very human empathy part of Rossi that isn’t just like, ‘F*** this guy.’ It’s presented under this means to an end,” he told Us. “I’m excited for this season. I liked the arc and where it goes. It was just so good.”
New episodes of Criminal Minds: Evolution air Thursdays on Paramount+.
