Criminal Minds: Evolution season 19, episode 6 picked up where the last episode left off after the team discovered Elias Voit’s fan had abducted Lance Kingston. The team found him, unconscious but alive, and badly injured.
The Fan had taken Lance to a storage facility, where it turned out he had paid for it in cash using Lance’s name. He branded the words “pathetic” eight times on both of his arms. While Lance survived, he was traumatized and wondered if what happened with his ex-girlfriend, Laura, is why he was targeted. The team told him that it was likely the Fan had used Lance as a distraction.
The team tries to profile The Fan amidst a new case
They were able to determine information about the brand, which the Fan had molded out of old typewriter bars. Due to the keys used to turn a colon into an exclamation point, Garcia narrowed down the brand of typewriter to two areas, one in New York and one in Pennsylvania.
Plus, the leather belt used to restrain Lance was made out of stingray leather, and they were able to connect this M.O. to the murder of college student Veronica Everman, whose death was seen at the end of the first episode of season 19.
Because of what happened to Lance, Brian Garrity felt guilty and was ready to give up his podcast. That all changed, however, when his ex-wife, Sheila, paid him a visit. He learned that she had been in contact with someone named Lee Duvall, who told her about Brian’s podcast. Realizing Voit had called her to get to him, Brian visited Voit in prison.
Voit had recorded a message for his Fan, wanting Brian to air it on the podcast without telling the team. Instead, Brian brought it to the BAU, where they saw Voit urging his fan to talk to him and not give in to his urges. The team could see the manipulation, and Brian wondered out loud if this was a question of empathy that could impact a character's testimony given by a member of the team.
Confused, Emily Prentiss asked what he meant. Apparently, there had been a closed-door hearing where someone had supported the idea that Voit’s brain trauma meant he was reformed. It turned out Penelope Garcia had done the testimony, which had led Voit to being given life in prison instead of the death penalty. She had been afraid to tell anyone what happened, and the stress of the secret was causing her to lose sleep.
Despite her apologies, Dave Rossi was affected by what she did and stormed off. Only time will tell how this will impact their relationship moving forward.
Criminal Mind season 19 episode 6 focuses on the murders of cam workers
While they were dealing with the Fan, the team also had a case involving the murders of two cam workers. They had been restrained with leather belts and asphyxiated with thousands of dollars in bills.
At first, due to the use of the leather belts in the murders, they thought the Fan was involved. However, because of the difference in methodology and timing, they figured that their unsub was not the Fan, although they still needed to get their ducks in a row.
Through the investigation, they determined that the cam workers, including a third victim who was hired to take on some clients for the cam girls, were mainly talking to older men. They needed to figure out who was involved, and when they found out how much cash was used to cause the women to choke, they determined that the number they were looking for was the number underneath the amount usually paid out in social security.
After finding one regular user named Russel Kirkland, they learned he committed suicide a month prior. He had been using his social security payments to pay the cam girls because he was lonely after the death of his wife. When he couldn’t get his money back, that is when he took his life.
His son, Jace, was going after some of the women in revenge for his father. By the time the team figured it out, he was about to take his fourth victim’s life when they arrested him.
This episode left us reeling at the prospect of friction within the team because Penelope kept such a huge secret. How this affects their ongoing relationship, especially with how Rossi personally feels about Voit, is something we’re looking forward to as the team continues to hunt for the Fan.
Plus, with everything going on with Lance Kingston, we won’t be surprised if we see Lance again soon. Connor Storrie may not have appeared much in the episode, but he did a great job showing Lance’s vulnerability in the hospital scene.
He might have been rescued, but since it seems like he doesn’t have adequate support after what he went through, who knows how he will deal with his kidnapping and torture at the hands of the Fan. We’re looking forward to seeing how this impacts him in the future.
Criminal Minds: Evolution season 19 is streaming on Paramount+.
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