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Shaking up the Criminal Minds formula worked well in the first Evolution season; bringing the Sicarius serial killer story to the forefront, as opposed to making it percolate in the background while the BAU solved different cases every week, gave the show a refresh. It’s almost as if Evolution was a new show, albeit with a well-regarded cast whose chemistry together is already established. Now the BAU is back for a second season (the franchise’s 17th overall), with a new season-long arc and a couple of interesting people helping with the case.

CRIMINAL MINDS: EVOLUTION SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: At the Bristow, VA, police department, two detectives chat. Suddenly, a man covered in blood walks in holding the bloody body of his wife; her eyes have been gouged out.

The Gist: As the local cops question the husband, who is one of their own detectives, they’re surprised when FBI agent Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster) comes in, asking if the bullet in the chamber of the man’s gun has a gold star etched on it.

What she’s looking for is evidence that the woman is another victim of an unsub killer that’s been nicknamed “Gold Star” due to his calling card. Since serial killer Elias Voit (Zach Gilford) was arrested after he killed Deputy Director Bailey (Nicholas D’Agosto) and kidnapped Agent David Rossi (Joe Mantegna), word has come out that Bailey knew about Gold Star. Another agent who knows is Rebecca Wilson (Nicole Pacent), but she can’t tell anyone, not even Tara Lewis (Aisha Tyler), her former girlfriend. Given how they broke up, she may not have wanted to tell Lewis, anyway.

While the rest of the BAU, including Rossi, Lewis, Luke Alvez (Adam Rodriguez) and J.J. Jareau (A.J. Cook), celebrates the birthday of Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness), Prentiss calls Lewis in to talk about Gold Star. His last victim, the wife of a cop, has broken the pattern they’ve seen so far; the previous two victims were cops.

As Prentiss gets more of the BAU involved in the case, they found out that Voit was moved to a supermax in Virginia; they find footage of FBI Director Ray Madison (Clark Gregg) making a deal with Voit, because Voit may have information about Gold Star, or at the very least knowledge of how the killer operates.

Rossi is just coming back from being abducted and almost killed by Voit, and the killer haunts him at every turn, but wants to dive right in on the Gold Star case. When he and Prentiss go back to Bristow to interview the cop whose wife was murdered, they find a man who’s catatonic, then manages to grab a cop’s gun through some deft fighting skills and do himself in. Prentiss and Rossi decide to bring in Tyler Green (Ryan-James Hatanaka) to look over the evidence, due to his military background. This puts Garcia on edge, given their history, but he gives them good information that leads them two two other victims.

But, much to the anger of Rossi, Madison orders the BAU to work with Voit to find Gold Star, whom the director considers a threat to national security. While they object at first, Rossi thinks that in his effort to show how much he knows, Voit may out himself and admit to more murders, negating the deal he has with Madison.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Paramount+ calls the second season of Criminal Minds: Evolution the 17th season of the original Criminal Minds (the just-picked-up third season is considered by P+ to be the show’s 18th season). But, given that Evolution is somewhat tonally different than the original series, we’re not sure if it’s really a continuation of the original.

Our Take: The second Evolution season looks to continue the formula the first season established, only with Gold Star taking the mantle from Sicarius (at least at first) as the mysterious killer the BAU will try to figure out. The emotional stakes are high because both Green and Voit are involved in this investigation, and that means different things to different members of the team. You can see that, for instance, Mantegna is reveling in his ability to give Rossi more layers, as he has to overcome significant trauma in order to work with the man who almost killed him.

But, because the characters are so well-established, everyone will get their moments within this story. Garcia has to now work with Green despite their past working and personal relationship, and her usually positive demeanor is tested by it. Lewis has to deal with working with Wilson, despite what went on between them, as well.

What’s going to be fascinating is seeing each member of the BAU take their crack at Voit, whom Gilford plays with a casual menace that is palpable. The way he manipulates them, and vice versa, will drive the action of the season and should be interesting to watch.

Sex and Skin: None, but there’s a whole lot of gore in the first episode.

Parting Shot: We see the first person to work with Voit walk into his cell; J.J. says to him, “Let’s get started.”

Sleeper Star: Clark Gregg has seemed to get a lot of “government official” roles since Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., and he plays them with just the right amount of assholishness.

Most Pilot-y Line: Prentiss tells the team that they’re going to use this opportunity to work with Voit “to bring the monster out” to anyone who doesn’t believe he’s Sicarius. “Hey, I’ll post it on YouTube myself. I don’t give a fuck,” says Rossi. “The point is, when it happens, there will be no deal in the world that will save his ass. Elias Voit is not getting out of prison. Ever.”

Our Call: STREAM IT. Criminal Minds: Evolution is indeed an evolution of the franchise; the cast seems to enjoy its meaty season-long mysteries, and it’s always good to see the group working together again.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.