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Season 2 of Criminal Minds: Evolution is officially underway, but something is off with a key member of the Behavioral Analysis Unit. What’s wrong with David Rossi on Criminal Minds: Evolution? We have all the details below.
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What’s wrong with David Rossi on Criminal Minds: Evolution?
The Season 1 finale of the Criminal Minds revival ended with the BHU finally capturing serial killer Elias Voit (Zach Gilford). Season 2 picked up right where the Paramount+ series left off, but even with Voit in custody, Special Agent David Rossi (played by Joe Mantegna) can’t seem to get the man who kidnapped and nearly killed him out of his head.
In the two-part season premiere, which was released on June 6, viewers learned that Rossi has been seeing and talking to a version of Voit. The special agent has yet to tell his team about the hallucinations, but he did admit to Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster) that he’s seeing something.
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It’s unclear what is causing the hallucinations or if Rossi has some sort of neurological illness, but he has endured his fair share of trauma at Voit’s hands. It’s very possible that Rossi is suffering from PTSD or that the events of the Season 1 finale has affected his psyche. “We felt like Rossi’s got a lot of unprocessed trauma after being abducted by Voit, and so he’s not quite ready to see him for real, but these conversations that he keeps having in his head are really telling, right? God, [Voit]’s so arrogant. He’s winning right now. I feel like he is such a weasel and he is getting what he wants and all that,” showrunner Erica Messer told TV Insider of Rossi’s hallucinations.
Mantegna added that it’s “refreshing” to see someone who is as experienced as Rossi go through something like this. Meanwhile, Gilford referred to the scenes as “ghost Voit” and called them “fun” to play. “Voit had an aloofness around him at the end of last season, and that’s sort of the vibe that he’s playing whenever he is in [Rossi]’s head because that’s what Rossi knows of him,” the actor explained, noting that the real Voit has “a whole other side of him where he is even more of a s***head than he was.” Gilford continued: “I think his approach now is just getting under people’s skin and manipulating them in any way he can. And it’s almost more playful, which is fun. It’s cool to play those two different aspects of him.”
This is not the first time Rossi has experienced hallucinations. In the Season 1 finale, when Rossi was trapped in the bunker and about to be killed by Voit, he saw a vision of his late wife Krystall (played again by Gail O’Grady). In the original series finale, Rossi saw a younger version of his late partner Gideon (this time played by Ben Savage).
Rossi’s hallucinations might stop when he finally comes face-to-face with Voit again, but since the special agent has a history of having visions, we don’t expect these apparitions to stop anytime soon.
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Mantegna first joined the original series in Season 3 and starred on the show up until its final season in 2020. He was one of six cast members to reprise his role on the 2023 revival, along with A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Paget Brewster, Aisha Tyler, Adam Rodriguez and Josh Stewart, the latter of which has since left the show. The 15-season CBS series also starred Shemar Moore as Derek Morgan;Matthew Gray Gubler as Dr.Spencer Reid; Thomas Gibson as Aaron Hotchner; Daniel Henney as Matt Simmons and Mandy Patinkin as the late Jason Gideon. So far, none of the actors have reprised their respective roles on the revival.
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Criminal Minds: Evolution follows a similar format as the original and centers on members of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit as they investigate a network of serial killers built during the COVID-19 pandemic. Season 1 focused on the BHU’s efforts to take down Gilford’s Voit, while Season 2 will see the unit team up with Voit to hunt a new serial killer, nicknamed Gold Star.
Criminal Minds: Evolution is available to stream on Paramount+.
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