A lot has changed for the BAU. But then again, some things have stayed the same. criminal mind Revival, Criminal Minds: Evolution, finally arriving on Thanksgiving Day, brought back six familiar faces: Davide Rossi, Penelope Garcia, Luke Alvez, Emily Prentiss, Jennifer “JJ” Jareau, and Tara Lewis. before you dive in Criminal Minds: EvolutionHere’s a refresher on what happened to these characters criminal mind ended two years ago.

David Rossi (Joe Mantegna)
towards the end of criminal mind In season 15, Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi begins to wonder whether he should retire from the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU). He was there with Jason Gideon (Mandy Patinkin) in the ’70s when the BAU made its debut and thought it might be time to step away from serial killer hunting. However, by the conclusion of the series, Rossi changed his mind and opted to stay.
Rossi is still with the BAU in revival, but his work has become somewhat of an obsession. In fact, she’s in a dark place, as Mantegna recently told Showbiz Cheat Sheet.
“Life isn’t perfect,” shared the actor. “Why should it be true for these particular people and this particular person David Rossi in particular? And so my feeling is it’s not how much he’s fallen, but how quickly or in what capacity he’s going to get up , you know? And when we join the show again, that’s where the journey begins.
Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Wangenes)
The One Who Finally Left the BAU criminal mind The finale was Penelope Garcia. After struggling with the dark and tragic nature of many of the cases, Penelope finally decides to find another job. She said she received about 100 offers but chose to work for a non-profit.
When Criminal Minds: Evolution begins, Penelope is still at her new job. Of course, when her old friends ask for help, she can’t stop herself from going back to her BAU team.
Luke Alves (Adam Rodriguez)
Luke Alves did not go through any career changes or struggles in the series finale. However, he notices a major romantic development: He asks Penelope out on a date. In Criminal Minds: Evolution, fans will see what happened to their night out. Rodriguez recently told Entertainment Weekly,
,[With Luke and Penelope], they can’t decide whether they want to be best friends or something more. There’s always that fine line. When you’re in a working relationship, you really have to be careful about which side of the line you’re on. I think we’re going to continue to ride that line and have a lot of fun doing it. We’ll see if we ever decide to cross it. The two characters together are so funny because they are so different. The audience will get to see something more in it.”
Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster)
Emily Prentiss, chief of the BAU unit, had her own romantic decision of when to criminal mind End. She was getting serious with her boyfriend, Andrew Mendoza (Stephen Bishop), and was considering moving to Denver with him. However, Emily also had a shot at a promotion to FBI Director. She doesn’t get the promotion, but Emily decides to stay with the BAU – and look for land in Denver to invest with Andrew. It’s the best of both worlds!
Jennifer Jareau (AJ Cook)
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another character who made a difficult decision criminal mind The finale was Jennifer “JJ” Jareau. She was considering moving to New Orleans with her family to play in the second division. However, Emily offers JJ the role of BAU Unit Chief if Emily decides to leave. In the end, both agents remained with the BAU in their current positions.
Tara Lewis (Aisha Tyler)
Tara Lewis became an official member of the BAU in criminal mind Season 12, and she has remained on the team ever since. As Tara returns with other characters Criminal Minds: EvolutionAccording to Tyler, fans will see that she throws herself into work after season 15.
“Tara was one of the people who didn’t leave the BAU at the end of season 15,” Tyler explained. metacritic, “And you can really see that she’s immersed in the work. She’s out in the field in just jeans, covered in dirt and working. You can see that the last few years have really affected her.” . I loved that. I didn’t want to see that change — that you weren’t picking the same shows in the same way.
new episodes of Criminal Minds: Evolution Drop by on Paramount+ on Thursdays.