Criminal Minds Evolution (3×06) Hell is Empty Review

For our review of the last episode of Criminal Minds: Evolution, click here.

The first episode of the second half of this season of Criminal Minds: Evolution is starting to put the pieces together. While there is definitely something going on with Voit’s serial killer network, evidence seems to indicate that he may no longer be the ringleader, hence setting up the main mystery left for the BAU to solve. At this point, just confirming what many viewers have probably suspected, the episode began to shed light on the how and the why of it all. With the writers placing Voit in this new lane has generated an interesting perspective. Not forgetting who he was by any means, he has essentially become a compass of sorts. However, the caveat remains when it comes to utilizing him in a way that doesn’t push him over the edge, where he becomes the person he once was or worse. Throwing almost every character at him to get him to remember, the latest pairing of he and Garcia seemed to make some headway, if only as an excuse to give Kirsten Vangsness more to do (a notion that no one should be against).

Now one would be remissed without mentioning the cliffhanger that ended last week’s episode, the message Ronald Graber a.k.a. The Brutal Man (Winter Andrews) was about to give to Voit. It should not come as much of a surprise that the message is the title of the episode. Hell is indeed empty and all the devils are out (The Tempest Scene 2, Act 1 for those who are curious). The symbolism of those words should be rather obvious but the extent of what that statement holds will take the BAU ny surprise. Meanwhile, how Voit could turn on his evil persona to get Graber to spill that message was scary. Remembering the details of their relationship, Voit got him to open up. For those concerned about Voit, at least for now, he has not changed back, but that exchange took a lot out of him. From there, the dilemma with the BAU was how to use him moving forward. 

The three unsubs so far this season, were part of the outer ring of Voit’s network, thus giving the season a pool to choose from and presumably representing the devils that are now out. The next step would be trying to find the next one but that looked to be an unsub with a fascination with burying people alive. To do so, an avenue could be how these new unsubs are communicating with another. Joining Tyler for a chat with Voit, Garcia got her chance to vent (while Tyler got his own closure) before introducing her own strategy to get things going by appealing to his techy side. Opening up, the outer rings was a way to handle the traffic his pandemic-born, serial killer outlet, network had been getting. Making quite the team, they discovered that Voit’s network experienced some changes since he had created it, suggesting someone or something else taking control.

Leaning on Voit regarding the current unsub, they key lied in Graber’s chat logs. Similarly, the outer ring unsubs held a personal connection to him. Combing through the chat log archive using select keywords based on the case, finding the unsub was simple, Kyle Mackey (Aaron Stanford) buried his young daughter to get back at his ex-wife. Garcia, pulling her Garcia magic, would find a way to save the day, with Voit’s help. Not taking his own life, Mackey destroyed the BAU’s theory of the demise of one unsub triggering the next with the implication that more than one could be triggered.

Somehow putting another subplot in the midst of everything else, a figure from Rebecca’s law school past (Geoff Stults) reemerged as Graber’s lawyer. Threatening to become a third wheel in her and Tara’s relationship, that drama was spurned by a misunderstanding of his intentions on the part of the latter. The connection is unnecessary, but it is a way to keep Tara involved somehow.

A mysterious package left the BAU on lockdown at the end of the episode. That package contained a mask like that of Graber’s, perhaps a clue as to the new ringleader of the network, an one who is calling the shots with this new batch of unsubs.

Score: 82/100

*still courtesy of Paramount+*

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