Criminal Minds: Evolution season 2 episode 9 recap: The bureau is in danger of ruin

Criminal Minds: Evolution has had such a compelling second season and as we near the finish line, it’s only a matter of time before we find out once and for all if the BAU will be able to outsmart Elias Voit and stop Gold Star.

In the penultimate episode, Jade was reunited with Dana, the fourth member of Gold Star who had been missing. Jade had been pulled over by a trooper, but Dana got to her, wounding him before Jade gouged his eyes out with a message for the FBI.

She wanted the bureau to know she was going back home to find peace and did not want to be followed. The team figured this meant she was going back to the original place where everything began. Despite the fact that she was abused for so long, they had beat it into her that they were the only ones she could count on.

Jade and Dana tracked the location where Voit’s attorney sent them. It led them to a bunker with information on the BAU. But before the team could arrive, antsy police officers went inside the bunker, which had been booby trapped with shrapnel.

Garcia figured out who was behind the private security company that had paid the doctors associated with Stuart House. It was a man named Frank Church, who was the CEO of Aida, Inc. He came in to talk to the BAU but thwarted their questions. However, Director Madison had Rebecca stop the interrogation.

Rebecca had learned that Bailey found out someone knew of the white paper’s existence and they were trying to prevent the BAU from investigating in order to protect them. They need to be careful about how they go after Church otherwise, it could bring down the entire bureau.

Jade and Dana went to Aida’s most recent facility to see Church, and it was clear Dana was still questioning everything associated with what has been happening. After making sure Jade left the room, Church shot and killed Dana from behind.

Eventually, Jade saw other kids training and met a girl named Mila, who only recently came to the facility. In the meantime, Garcia was able to track down Mila’s missing persons information and found surveillance footage of her, showing a deputy did not report her location.

After Jade was assaulted, she made a plan to help the others escape as she lined the walls of the facility with detonators. While this was happening, the BAU were outside of the facility, unable to get in despite having a search warrant. 

Once Church knew Mila and Jade were MIA, he allowed Emily and Dave to walk into the facility, all of them unaware of what Jade has been planning. While Jade waited for what was about to happen, she communicated with Mila and told her to "save the children."

Despite having hurt a lot of people, Jade was a victim of Church and the facility that turned her into who she was. The show has done a great job of making us feel empathy for her, in spite of all that has happened. 

While we don’t know for sure that the facility will explode, there are still plenty of questions that have arisen, especially with Voit. He still believes he could be out in five years and isn't afraid of being in prison, especially since he will be going in under his real name, Lee Duval. But will Sicarius win? Will the BAU survive if the facility does explode? And where is Peter, the last member of Gold Star who is still in the wind?

Any of these questions could be answered in the final episode of season 2, or one of them will lead to a cliffhanger. Either way, this episode was extremely powerful and had us feeling for Jade by the end.

Before Dave went with the rest of the team, Jill kissed him and told him to be safe. Whether this was a kiss to start something romantically or to show him he had someone who cared about him, it was a sweet gesture amid a lot of turmoil for everyone.

You can watch the past episodes of Criminal Minds: Evolution on Paramount+. New episodes drop weekly on Thursdays. Make sure to catch the season finale on Thursday, July 31.