(Photo by: Michael Yarish / Paramount+)

Criminal Minds: Evolution is currently in production, and the cast has shared new details about the pandemic-centric story which will be told during the course of the 10-episode season. Joe Mantegna, Paget Brewster, Aisha Tyler, Kirsten Vangsness, A.J. Cook, and Adam Rodriguez are all returning for the revival.

A procedural drama, the original Criminal Minds series ran for 15 seasons and 324 episodes before being cancelled by CBS in 2020. The story follows the investigations of a team of criminal profilers who work for the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU).

Montegna said the following about returning for the Paramount+ reunion series, per Entertainment Weekly:

“I didn’t need much of a pitch. I’ve been in this business, like, 50 years, so my feeling was all based on the experience and people involved. I’d already done this for 13 years, which, outside of doing The Simpsons for 32 years, it’s my longest running role. I trusted the experience. I trusted the people. I trusted everything about it. I never even saw a script. I equate a lot of things to sports: You’re playing on a team that’s done really well and won a lot of championships. You take a few years off, and they say, “You want to play again with basically the same people?” Yeah. Why wouldn’t you?””

Brewster also spoke about returning for Criminal Minds: Evolution:

“We were surprised when it was cancelled, so the opportunity to do it streaming is really exciting because there are a couple of things that we can do on Paramount+ that we weren’t able to do on CBS. It’s a different kind of show, but [it’s still] Criminal Minds. We just missed each other and all wanted to do it.”

Rodriguez shared his thoughts as well:

“The fact that the material’s great and I love telling these stories every week is a bonus. But this could have been the worst thing ever made and if these same people were involved, I would be ecstatic to be back working with them. People really enjoy watching [the show] and even since the pandemic, the audience has grown from what it was pre-pandemic. We’re all reinvigorated to tell these stories again and be able to tell them in a way that we weren’t necessarily able to tell them on network. We’re all excited to raise the bar a little bit.”

Erica Messer, the revival’s showrunner, teased the plot of the series:

“What’s great about telling this over 10 episodes is what the audience is used to, which is like, “Well, why are they the way they are?” We’re going to be showing you that over stretches of episodes. Why they do what they do is always going to be the heart of Criminal Minds. But you are going to be trying to understand — because you get to know him better — understand this guy’s ability to compartmentalize his life. Does he have anything normal in his world? One of his little rules is: No body, no crime. So why is he doing that? Is it just, “No body, no crime?” Or is there another psychological component to that? We start asking and looking at things a little bit differently than we would in a normal Criminal Minds.”

A premiere date for Criminal Minds: Evolution has yet to be announced. Check out new photos from the upcoming series below.

Photo Credit: Monty Brinton /Paramount+

Photo Credit: Monty Brinton / Paramount+

Photo Credit: Michael Yarish /Paramount+

What do you think? Are you excited to see Criminal Minds: Evolution on Paramount+?