Criminal Minds was a hit on CBS for 15 seasons. And now it’s become a hit again, on Paramount+. Not only that, it’s going to continue to be a hit.
On Tuesday, March 24, not only did Paramount+ reveal the Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 19 premiere date, guest stars — including Heated Rivalry‘s Connor Storrie, Justin Kirk, Yvette Nicole Brown, Clark Gregg, and Jeri Ryan — and first clip, but it also announced the renewal for Season 20!
Read on for everything we know about Criminal Minds Season 19, from its cast to the premiere date and more.
When will Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 19 premiere?
Criminal Minds Season 19 will premiere on Thursday, May 28, on Paramount+.
When was Criminal Minds: Evolution renewed for Season 19?
Renewals have come fast for the series since it returned with the Paramount+ continuation. The first renewal for Criminal Minds: Evolution, for Season 17, came the day it returned from its midseason break. The series was renewed for Season 18 one day before Season 17’s premiere. It was renewed for Season 19 on March 5, 2025, two months ahead of the Season 18 premiere date. And now the Season 20 renewal has come early as well, two months before Season 19’s premiere.
Is it Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 4 or 19?
In case you’re confused since it is also called Season 4 in some places, Criminal Minds‘ original run lasted 15 seasons on CBS. Then, this next chapter, Evolution, was picked up on the streaming service Paramount+. Technically it’s going to be coming back for the fourth season of Evolution but 19th season overall for Criminal Minds.
How did the Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 finale set up Season 19?
Just like the first two Evolution seasons ended in such a way that teased the following one, such is the case once again, in a way. The question remains how much of his serial killer Sicarius side remains in Elias Voit (Zach Gilford), who is, after he was attacked in prison, no longer a psychopath (the brain scans prove it!). In the Season 18 finale, he helped the BAU take down his former network, led by one of Cyrus’ (Silas Weir Mitchell) victims, Tessa (Jordana Spiro), then on his way to prison, he imagined himself killing another prisoner.
Who will star in Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 19?
Returning for Season 19 are Joe Mantegna (David Rossi), Paget Brewster (Emily Prentiss), A.J. Cook (JJ Jareau), Adam Rodriguez (Luke Alvez), Kirsten Vangsness (Penelope Garcia), Aisha Tyler (Dr. Tara Lewis), Zach Gilford (Elias Voit), and RJ Hatanaka (Tyler Green).
“The end of this season, I was like, ‘Well, what are we going to do next season? I’m under contract. What are you going to do with me?'” Gilford admitted, having read three scripts at the time, to TV Insider in June 2025. “It’s cool, it’s good, and it’s different. And I get to show another kind of side of Voit again — nothing drastic, but it is later and he’s been through some stuff and now he’s in a place… to be as vague as possible. But you’ll see me, I can tell you that.”
Matthew Gray Gubler returned as Dr. Spencer Reid for one episode of Season 18, and he’ll have Einstein on CBS in the 2026-2027 season, so we’ll have to wait to see if pops up again. Showrunner Erica Messer told TV Insider that there aren’t any appearances from him or other past cast members like Shemar Moore or Daniel Henney planned just yet, due to timing of the writers’ room and scheduling.
We know we won’t see Josh Stewart again as JJ’s husband, Will, after his shocking death at the end of Season 18 Episode 2. As AJ Cook told TV Insider, her character’s grief will continue to play out.
“We definitely touch on a lot of the grief phases. And it is not like we shoot one episode and she’s gone through all of it and it’s tied up neatly with a nice bow. That’s not how grief works. So this is going to be something that we’re going to see throughout the whole season. And then beyond that,” she shared. “This never goes away. This now has shaped her into this new single mother, and it will continue shaping her as she now learns to work through life this way. So I’m excited to see what that looks like for her. It’s been a journey already, and it’ll continue to be a journey in Criminal Minds form.”
Guest stars for Season 19 include Connor Storrie, Justin Kirk, Yvette Nicole Brown, Clark Gregg, Paul F. Tompkins, Cress Williams, Kofi Siriboe, Lyndon Smith, Richard Cabral, Jeri Ryan, Rob Yang, Nicholas Gonzalez, Inny Clemons, Nicole Pacent, Dash Mihok, Joseph Cross, and Cara Jade Myers.
Criminal Minds: Evolution is produced by 20th Television and CBS Studios. Erica Messer serves as showrunner and executive produces with Breen Frazier, Chris Barbour, Glenn Kershaw, and Mark Gordon.
What will Criminal Minds Season 19 be about?
Voit’s network is off the board, but he is now “a household name,” Messer revealed to TV Insider after the Season 18 finale. “He’s as famous as Ted Bundy. So what do we do with that character? And again, always reflected in, how are our heroes dealing with this new challenge? And now they’re dealing with a guy who’s essentially got celebrity status as a killer. He doesn’t like the spotlight. I think even old Voit wouldn’t have necessarily liked the spotlight, but the new Voit who’s struggling with these instincts that he has to kill, but he’s also got this conscience that’s louder than the instincts right now, it felt like we had another 10 episodes to explore that.”
As for the BAU and Voit’s dynamic going forward, the team “wants to get inside his brain and dissect it a little bit and do these interviews with him, which is what the BAU actually does with convicted killers,” the showrunner previewed.
She added, “Because of that sort of unwanted attention that he has, there’s darkness that sort of lurks in and becomes a part of this season. And our plan right now is that that darkness that sort of comes in that’s not network related but is sort of, Voit is a celebrity now, that would be finished by the end of this 10-episode run.”
There is going to be a year time jump between seasons. (No word yet on if we’ll see Tara and Rebecca’s wedding.) “In that year, there’s been healing, there’s things to celebrate,” Messer teased. “There’s always having to learn how to navigate something new. We’re all challenged every year with something we haven’t done before. So those things will happen. But I think it’s more like stepping a little bit into the unknown.”
For example, JJ is going to be dealing with her oldest son preparing to go off to college at the end of the season. “She didn’t have a chance to prepare when losing Will because that was sudden. But now what does that look like when you do know to cherish every moment?” according to Messer.
Michael Yarish/Paramount+
The showrunner also revealed that, like Season 18 focused on JJ and Tara, Season 19 will turn to Alvez. He “has a lot going on this season, and it really kicks off in the second episode of the season, which we’ve already shot. I think it’s his year to sort of grow and shine a little bit more. And Adam’s so good. I think there wasn’t a dry eye when we screened the second episode.”
After that focus on Tara, this next season will see her “thriving. She loves to pick apart the brains of bad guys, and so she’s getting to do a lot of that this season, which is really great,” Tyler told TV Insider in July.
Is there a Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 19 trailer?
Not yet, but there is a first-look clip, which you can watch above. It shows the team discussing a new case that could go back 30 years. Three people were reported missing and one found dead on a remote trail; his friends are still missing. The way his body was found matches that of another victim, from 1996. Is it the same UnSub? Was this wrong place wrong time? Furthermore, a couple went missing about a month ago, but are these cases connected?
Will there be a Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 20?
Yes! The same day that Paramount+ announced the Season 19 premiere date, it also revealed the good news about its future, that it will be back for a milestone 20th season, airing in 2027.
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