And she was like, Okay, what are you doing?
And we were like, Dont worry about it.
Hes been wreaking havoc everywhere he goes for so long, and killing Bailey was definitely part of that.
Image via Paramount+
MESSER: Were maybe halfway through the writers room for the season.
Weve got quite a bit, but not everything.
Will we see Elias Voit again?
MESSER: Oh, yeah.
MESSER: Yeah, thats right.
Will we also see Jade or Pete Bailey or even Mila again?
Right now, were not seeing bringing them back, but I would never say never.
And like I said, were not done with the season break yet.
Thats where we are right now.
It just feels like we wanna have a clean break.
You just keep bringing on actors that are so good.
MESSER: I know.
Theyre all so good.
We didnt even meet Alex, who played Pete, until we were shooting the finale.
“I know what its like to be afraid of your own mind.”
Liana Liberato was so good.
MESSER: It was a little bit of both.
You wouldnt expect that guy to be the darkness that he is.
Last Season, Season 1 or Season 16, we didnt really have any female killers.
This year, we wanted to course correct that.
And then, you find out shes just fine.
Shes not just fine, shes a horrible killer, but shes going to take care of herself.
She isnt a cold machine.
And then, we wanted to see how long we could keep her around.
Image via Paramount+
Thats why, at the end of episode nine, it looks like maybe she blew herself up.
She was like, Oh, no!
And I was like, No, shell be back in episode 10.
We didnt want to kill that character.
MESSER: Yeah, absolutely.
And it was still happening.
Their mission to save the children, they actually did save children at the end.
What led to that moment?
MESSER: It all started in the finale last season when she felt the responsibility of Doug Baileys death.
Even though it was not her fault, she carried that guilt.
Little did she know that others blamed her for his death, too.
His brother carried that anger toward her, and so did so did Jade.
And so,it made the most sense for Prentiss to be the one having to endure the torture.
She mentally tortured herself, and now shes physically getting tortured.
Your brother wasnt protecting his secret.
Its an interesting commentary on the world.
People have different beliefs, and theres truth on both sides of every story.
‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ Co-Stars Paget Brewster and A.J.
How did that come about?
Could that have only existed on this version of the show?
MESSER: Yes, 100%.
That episode, in particular, was loaded with them.
We had the dream sequence that opened it up, where Prentiss gets killed by Voit.
We have Rossi really in a dark place and needing to have therapy with Lewis.
All those scenes were character.
The trick in that episode is it was actually a bottle show.
We did all of that on our set.
What would those two look like together?
We consulted with our FBI people to say, Is there a world where this could happen?
Cheetos have always been JJs weak spot.
It just was so much fun.
Was that all scripted, or was any of that improvised between the two of them?
MESSER: It was scripted.
But all those words were there.
Criminal Minds: Evolutionis available to stream on Paramount+.
Check out the trailer:
Watch on Paramount+
