The BAU is saying goodbye to a character in Criminal Minds season 19.

After originally running on CBS as an annual show for 15 years, Paramount+ brought back the project not too long after it went off the air. Criminal Minds: Evolution is a rare case of a successful revival and move to a streaming platform, with the service clearly happy with its viewership performance for them. Featuring mostly characters from the original BAU team, Criminal Minds: Evolution has subjected every single main profiler to their own challenges. All of that while resolving the complicated case of Elias Voit aka Sicarius.

Unlike their previous missions, the profilers faced a whole network of serial killers led by the elusive, Voit — a Seattle-based tech specialist, he lives a double life being a devoted family man and a ruthless murderer. The matter has evolved into something more complex than hunting down a criminal, as new details and players have been introduced to the plot. At the end of Criminal Minds season 19, Voit is finally reprimanded, but considering his past, there has been doubts about whether he’s really going away.

Zach Gilford officially clarifies his character’s fate in a new interview with TVLine, confirming that he is done playing the serial killer in Criminal Minds. While he has been taken into custody by the FBI and is now locked up where he will spend the rest of his sentence, the actor keeps the door open, however, for a possible return. If that ever happens, however, it will not be in the immediate future. Read his full quote below:

I’m done, definitely for now, sadly, I think for the BAU it means they’re not gonna solve any crimes. [Laughs] I don’t know what they’re gonna do.

When Criminal Minds rebranded to Evolution, the idea was to make the network show darker, which it accomplished. However, the format change from 20 episodes to just 10 also altered its storytelling approach, making it more serialized after being a procedural for so long. Despite the shorter run, every season was supposed to be devoted to one main villain, which hasn’t really been the case since Voit’s story extended to four cycles.

Now, Voit’s era in Criminal Minds is officially done, sky’s the limit for what comes next for the BAU. Ahead of Evolution season 4, the crime thriller has already renewed it for its fifth, effectively proving that it is fully committed to continuing the story of the profilers. Showunner Erica Messer and her team have to figure out what comes next to the BAU after spending the last four years trying to make sense of Sicarius.

As Criminal Minds enters a new era, it’s curious how much of their experience dealing with Voit will impact the way BAU approaches their upcoming cases. He developed a unique dynamic with almost every member of the team, but he was particularly connected with Dave Rossi. Hopefully, the show is able to revisit that moving forward, which effectively keeps the door open for Gilford’s return as Voit.

Criminal Minds

8/10

Release Date

September 22, 2005

Showrunner

Erica Messer

Directors

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

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  Kirsten Vangsness

  Penelope Garcia

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  Matthew Gray Gubler

  Dr. Spencer Reid