Paramount
Published Jun 21, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT
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Warning! Spoilers ahead for Criminal Minds season 19.Two decades after it debuted, Criminal Minds has officially found the perfect replacement for its best character. Paramount+'s rebranding of the CBS show has some key differences, including its storytelling format. Instead of doing weekly cases, the BAU has the whole season to work on a big case, allowing the show to delve deep into the psyche of their unsub, who is still primarily Zach Gilford's Elias Voit. Beyond that, however, Criminal Minds: Evolution is simply a continuation of the beloved procedural, which means that it's so much better for people who followed the network show before its revival.
Now in its third season, Paramount+ has preserved the core Criminal Minds: Evolution cast, with the majority of them coming from its network TV predecessor. Some of them have been on the series for so long, although there's only one original character left — AJ Cook's Jennifer Jarreau, who also happened to be its best character. The past couple of years have been extremely rough for her, with Will LaMontaigne's death and the chaos of BAUGate. As she goes through a period of difficulty, Criminal Minds season 19 has found her best replacement option.
Tyler Is The New Proper Newbie Of Criminal Minds (Succeeding JJ)
JJ was part of the inaugural cast of Criminal Minds, but she didn't start as a profiler. She was the team's communication liaison, meaning she handled the publicity for the cases, facing the media and making the announcements for the BAU. Eventually, she moved to become a a Special Agent, but that was a process. She had to go through the difficulty of learning to be on the ground during the team's operations, which was something that she wasn't used to. JJ also had to learn to think like a profiler, shifting her mindset from handling PR to being an official member of the squad.
Ever since JJ's move to become a Special Agent, Criminal Minds hasn't had a proper newbie. While the show has introduced several additions to the team since then, including Tara Lewis, Luke Alvez, and Matt Simmons, all of them were already veterans in their field in relation to profiling, so joining the squad didn't require much molding.
Criminal Minds season 19 bucks that trend with Tyler Green. Ryan-James Hatanaka's character was previously a former Army intelligence officer who was roped into the Sicarius case because of his sister's ties to it. Despite being in the team for a while now, Evolution season 3 makes it clear that he is still out of his depths when it comes to profiling — something that he admitted himself to Dave Rossi.
How Being JJ's Successor Solves Criminal Minds' Tyler Problem
The closest Criminal Minds came close to this was when Ashley Seaver joined as a probationary agent, but that story was cut short when Rachel Nichols left the series. Now, Evolution season 4 sees Tyler being more actively mentored not just by Rossi, but by Emily Prentiss as well. It makes for a great story, especially since it had been so long since the series had someone to develop from the ground up. More than anything, however, this solves Criminal Minds' storytelling issue with Tyler.
Related
Spencer Reid Is Officially A Bad Guy In Criminal Minds
While the BAU's affairs continue to revolve around Voit, an overlooked narrative in Criminal Minds season 19 officially makes Spencer Reid a bad guy.
After the case of his sister was officially solved, it felt like he was severely underutilized. Leaning into being a newbie gives him a compelling narrative without deviating much from the procedural's format. Criminal Minds doesn't have to create an entirely new subplot to make him an important player, as this is baked into the professional aspect of the series. As he gets better, viewers can be more invested in him individually, the same way they are for every main BAU member who has been in the project.
Release Date September 22, 2005
Showrunner Erica Messer
Writers Bruce Zimmerman, Virgil Williams, Edward Allen Bernero, Janine Sherman Barrois, Chris Mundy, Simon Mirren, Debra J. Fisher, Kimberly A. Harrison, Jay Beattie, Dan Dworkin, Karen Maser, Oanh Ly, Stephanie Sengupta, Aaron Zelman, Kirsten Vangsness, Erica Meredith, Andi Bushell, Holly Harold, Alicia Kirk, Jeff Davis, Randy Huggins, Edward Napier, Jayne A. Archer, Chikodili Agwuna
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Kirsten Vangsness
Penelope Garcia
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Matthew Gray Gubler
Dr. Spencer Reid
English (US) ·