Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 2 has been a dramatic escalation of the Paramount+ thriller. The mystery of the Gold Star killings has kept the BAU shackled to the previous season’s villain Elias Voit, whose unique perspective and knowledge make him an invaluable asset. However, the strain of the investigation is wreaking havoc on the internal relationships of the team, which further complicates their mission. With the Season 2 finale now streaming, it’s all coming to a head.

During an interview with TVBrittanyF, cast members AJ Cook (who portrays Jennifer “JJ” Jareau), Aisha Tyler (Dr. Tara Lewis), Ryan-James Hatanaka (Tyler Green), Adam Rodriguez (Luke Alvez), Kirsten Vangsness (Penelope Garcia), and Zach Gilford (Elias Voit) discussed the character drama at the heart of Criminal Minds: Evolution season 2. They also reflected on the ways that Voit has impacted the show, and why they believe the latest episodes are among the long-running show’s very best.

Aisha, how did you approach the character balance of Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 2, juggling the romance drama alongside the crime thriller elements?

Aisha Tyler: The heart wants what it wants. I think a lot of people will relate to the idea of having to work with someone who makes you uncomfortable, and finding the professionalism of that. The stakes are very high for Tara, because people could die if she doesn’t get it together. I think it’s that nice, authentic idea of going to work with someone who is causing you emotional pain and having to suck it up and get the work done.

It’s very human, I think. This season, we’ve seen all of these characters really engage in really human pursuits. It has the vulnerability, the fallibility, the pain of doing this really tough work, and the effect that has on them. We see the effect it has on their personal lives and professional lives. It’s a really human season.

Ryan, what excited you about getting to see Tyler’s version of that drama this season with Penelope?

Ryan-James Hatanaka: Tyler made some mistakes [in Criminal Minds: Evolution season 1]. He got punished pretty well because of them. Coming into this year, I think it was such an interesting thing. He’s a guy who isn’t used to working in a team setting. He found a lot of connections with Penelope, but that didn’t end super well.

He’s coming into this very fraught environment, and I think there’s there’s a lot of learning that he does this year. There’s a lot of watching that he does this year because he finds himself coming in this team and having these individual relationships with every character in its own way. The writers have done an amazing job of crafting those throughout the season.

AJ, how did you approach JJ with the unique kind of dynamic that comes from Elias being such a factor in this season?

AJ Cook: I think that’s hard for our team to have to deal with him on our level, because we know he is a serial killer. We know he’s killed so many people, and that he would continue to do so if he wasn’t locked up. I loved getting to shoot those scenes, because truly everything is stripped away. It’s just these bars between them. The characters just kind of go head to head, and there’s a real smartass attitude between [JJ and Voit], which I love.

I think that was a serious choice for me, too. JJ lives in a house full of boys. This is not the first time she’s had an attitude or a smart-ass remark thrown at her. She can do this all day. And I think it turns into something really interesting. I like the weird chemistry between [JJ and Voit] and their smartass comments toward one another. It somehow works. It was great fun to get to do.

Zach, you’ve really gotten to play a completely different Voit this season. What excited you the most about getting to explore this kind of dynamic with the rest of the cast?

Zach Gilford: I feel so lucky. A lot of times when you’re on a show, you’re playing the same character for years and years. You have different storylines and stuff, but I feel so fortunate because this year it’s a whole different side of Voit than we really saw last season. He was mostly the family man, trying not to get caught. Now, it’s about how much can I talk with these people? How annoying can I be? [The show’s creatives] gave me a lot of leeway to just kind of needle them as much as I possibly could.

It’s been fun watching you just needle everyone, especially Luke.

Adam Rodriguez: Man, it was such a relief to finally get to do that. [Laughing.] It was like, when I got to grab him, I had been waiting. Twelve episodes of just waiting to get my hands on him!

Zach Gilford: A little behind the curtains—the gate between myself and Adam wasn’t actually attached. Every time he grabbed me, it would move. So then we had to coordinate it, to the point where when he grabbed me, I put my foot on it to hold it in place. I’m simultaneously being shaken and hoping you can’t see the door shaking. [Laughter.]

Kristen, Penelope really finds herself in a lot of unexpected drama this season, too.

Kristen Vangsness: And that has continued all season, because RJ is a series regular on the show, which is great for us as a cast. In the show, Garcia couldn’t be more annoyed and angry by it. She thinks he’s useless and just wants him to go. Because we all have chemistry… you’ve heard the term love triangle, but we’re in a love rhombus, a love parallelogram, a love pentagram.

We’re doing shapes that people haven’t seen yet, which I think is one of the great appeals of Criminal Minds. It’s another one of those shapes. We’re just doing the shapes of love! Which is a testament to the show. I mean, we have this creeper over here that Zach plays, but he’s so compelling! Who do you know that played a serial killer and then became a series regular on the show? It’s bananas, but if you’ve got the chemistry, you can be part of it.

What were some of the biggest surprises you discovered this season?

Aisha Tyler: Season 17 is the best season of Criminal Minds to date. This has been the most hard-hitting, the most emotionally complex, and challenging. I think it’s been a great surprise, but I think we all felt that we were headed this way. Last season was just such an evolution—sorry to be punny—from the previous iterations. We could just feel the show was really growing and evolving and becoming more challenging, in a good way for everybody involved.

This season, everybody’s got incredible emotional work that they do. Joe [Mantegna] does such intense work that everybody bursts into applause on set. At the end of this one scene, we were all standing there—we got to watch this legend work in front of us. Seriously, a standing ovation from people who worked with him for years. Everybody on the show is doing great work. The writing is just on another level. Everyone’s getting to do really extraordinary stuff.

AJ Cook: This season is very cerebral. It’s very raw. We touch on a lot of very relevant issues that are happening on the daily… It just really gets into your brain, into your mind, under your skin, and into your bones. Just like what Aisha said, we’re very proud of this season and the work that the writers have done. They’ve really put this puzzle together and it’s truly a puzzle. It’s been a joy.

The Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 2 finale is now streaming on Paramount+.