Criminal Minds: Evolution season 19, episode 8, was so eerie in all kinds of ways, especially with the case of the week involving a funeral director and his dead mother. How did the BAU solve this case while Tara and Rebecca figured out what was going on with Voit?
The case involved a mortician who was embalming his victims and embodying them in the image of his recently deceased mother. Each of his victims had different ages, from older victims to younger. He was also dressing them in clothes they were not wearing when they disappeared.
Criminal Minds: Evolution season 19 episode 8 had a chilling unsub
His latest victim was a young woman in her 20s, who was clearly a fighter and did her best to escape. Luckily, the BAU found her in time after discovering that Marvin Bancroft recently lost his mother. She had driven her car off the cliff, taking all her valuables with her, including photos she took every year on her birthday.
Marvin was trying to recreate these images through his victim, wanting to be closer to his mother. Before he could kill his last victim, the team rescued her and made their arrest.
While this case was ongoing, Tara and Rebecca received a request from Voit to make sure his family was safe. However, they weren’t ready to risk that and were trying to determine what his reasoning was. They found out through security footage of his most recent visitor, Joshua Ryan. However, he used certain types of eyewear that caused a light to shine on the monitor, shielding his face.
They discovered during his check-in that he had an anime keychain, which was a souvenir from his first victim. Plus, a talk with Alex Ryan, Voit’s victim’s father, led them to realize that the Fan was not actually Joshua and had used Alex.Â
The team needed to go back through the timeline, realizing the Fan was making them think he was going in one direction when he clearly was making a different move. He wanted them to think he was after Voit’s family, and this was not the case. Everything else about his movements suggested he wanted Voit to notice him, but they still did not understand his connection to Lance Kingson and Laura Boyd.
Lance and Laura also had no idea how they could be connected to the Fan, and if they were connected to Voit’s family, they would have figured that out. Emily and Rebecca knew they had to put Laura on protection detail, but by then it was too late. Laura got into her car while talking to her mother, and after hanging up, the Fan strangled her to death.
The Fan has been one step ahead of the team so far, and the lack of protection for Lance and Laura has now left one of them dead. Lance will likely not be in the killer’s crosshairs, but if the BAU does not keep an eye on Lance, will he go after the Fan in revenge for Laura?
As much as we love the team, they haven’t given Lance a reason to trust them, so he might just do something stupid to avenge Laura himself. Or there could be another way he is involved, and we just don’t know it. Either way, this storyline has been so exciting to watch, and I cannot wait to see Connor Storrie returning for the next episode!
Other fun tidbits about the episode were watching JJ’s son, Henry, prepare to leave for college. We also got a Reid mention as JJ told Emily he was still willing to call Caltech if he changed his mind about where he was going, a nice callback to when Henry was born and JJ named him his godfather.Â
Plus, when talking about WitSec, Tara mentioned knowing someone who went into protection as well, which alluded to former BAU Agent Aaron Hotchner. While we would still love to see the return of former characters, it’s fun to at least get a mention of hearing how they are doing.
Criminal Minds: Evolution streams Thursdays on Paramount+.
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