As Criminal Minds: Evolution season 1 comes to a close, AJ Cook opens up about her reaction to the finale and JJ's own character growth. Over the course of 10 episodes on Paramount+, the hit onetime CBS procedural has upped the stakes with a season-long case that found the Behavioral Analysis Unit tracking the mastermind of a serial killer network. Criminal Minds: Evolution concludes with a tantalizing tease that Elias Voit's (Zach Gilford) story isn't over yet, even though he is now in FBI custody.
Though that thread remains up in the air, after a season of twists and turns, Cook's Jennifer Jareau has emerged unscathed. Criminal Minds: Evolution has seen JJ and her husband Will (Josh Stewart) face some of their trickiest problems yet, such as a health scare and a close call with a bomb planted by Voit. JJ was in the field when the BAU brought in Voit and, like the rest of her team, she's been left in the dark about his true connection to the mysterious Gold Star initiative.
Screen Rant had the pleasure of chatting with Cook about Criminal Minds: Evolution's various twists. She opened up about her reaction to the finale's ending, JJ's many brushes with death, and the character's very special arc.
AJ Cook Talks Criminal Minds: Evolution
Screen Rant: Congratulations, first and foremost, on this entire season. I've been a big fan for a really long time, and I think it's really awesome to see how you guys were able to change things up in your shift to streaming. The entire season really put JJ through the wringer, between Will’s cancer scare and Voit’s bomb, and even Will getting shot briefly. By the end of the finale, were you at all shocked to see that she and Will were okay?
AJ Cook: You know, these two have been through so much together, it's really quite comical if you step back and look at the full show of Criminal Minds to see what all of our characters have been through. Yeah, poor JJ's been in peril so many times, just as the other characters have too. Spence[r Reid] has been in trouble so many times and Kirsten [Vangsness] - Garcia. I think we've all been killed a couple of times and come back to life. It's just the nature of being on such a long-running show. We do kind of laugh about it on set. It is what it is, but I love that stuff. As an actor, it's fun to switch it up a little bit and really sink your teeth into the material.
These two? They've been through it. They have their ups, and their downs, and their sideways, and their diagonals, and all the things. That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger. We'll see what the future holds for the LaMontagne-Jareau family. It's been a journey, for sure.
I love how involved JJ's home life was throughout the season. You really got to see this other side, and it's such an important part of her character. One of my absolute favorite episodes is JJ and Will’s wedding, so it's been cool getting to see them together. What was it like for you to revisit that on a deeper level for the revival?
AJ Cook: It's been really lovely. I think that what is a big part of the success of our show is the audience really has a love for these characters because we have been able to see them develop over time and grow up on our screens and become fuller characters. I really think that's a big part of why the show has lasted as long as it has. It's never a dull moment, shooting the show.
And it's been so fun to see how JJ has definitely evolved a lot, as I have as a human. As we all have. It would be weird if she didn't ever change in these almost twenty years of doing the show. She's probably evolved a little bit more than some of the other characters, but that's because she didn't start out as a profiler. She left and then came back, and we really saw a big shift in JJ when she got pregnant and had her kids. I think that's when we got to see the mama bear come out a little bit more, which is similar in my life too. It's been fun to feel like AJ and JJ sort of had this parallel journey. It's been really cool. I kind of look at JJ as this sister I really look up to, and I’ve completely stolen her strength in my own life when I've needed it. And vice versa, we’ve stolen things from my life too and given that to the character as well. As all of our characters have.
I think Erica Messer, our showrunner and one of our writers, is so good about doing that; adding in sprinkles of real life into the show and into our characters. It's been a hell of a ride. Just when I think, "What are they possibly going to do next?" they come up with something that I was not expecting, and they always just blow me away. I'm even starting to hear about some ideas for next season, and I am so excited. I've never been bored playing JJ, and that's something to say when you’ve played a character for as long as I have.
I'm not kidding, I have in my notes a very specific question about JJ's evolution. I've been a big fan of her going from media liaison to profiler to even being considered for Unit Chief. It's meant a lot to me personally too, seeing her as one of the more soft-spoken ones but still finding strength in her kindness.
AJ Cook: Oh, I love that you just said that! Thank you, that's so sweet. That's what it's all about, right? I love to hear stuff like that because, like I said earlier, I've drawn so much strength and motivation from her, and I know that audience members have as well. I think it's so cool that we have been able to see her journey; the ups and the downs, and the highs and the lows, and the pain and the tears and the joy. We've been able to see it all.
I've grown so much as a person, and I just think it's cool to see a character that we get to put into our living room go through that and then be okay. That's been really exciting and fun for me, to see that she's okay. She's struggling, but she's okay. And I somehow draw strength from that in my own life. [Laughs]
It makes total sense to me. If you see the strong people struggling when you're struggling, it feels nice to see the balance; to see role models in the same position. I have to ask, what was your reaction to the finale itself and that ending that suggests there’s more to the story?
AJ Cook: Oh, yeah. I know. I can't wait to hear audience reactions to it. I think there's going to be a lot of curse words going around. Like, “Are you effing kidding me? That's how you're going to leave us, going to leave us hanging like that?” It really does spawn a lot of conversation of who you think is opening that door and where this is going to next. The story is not over yet.
I'm excited. I'm really excited, and I kind of know some things that has gotten me really excited for next season. We kind of thought it was going to be one thing, and then it turned into another thing. Part of me [didn't know] until I watched it myself. I didn't know because I've heard so many different endings. I’ve never been part of a show like that! That had such a top secret ending or idea as to what is going to take us into the next season. It's pretty cool. It feels all very classified.
I had a Criminal Minds blanket wrapped it around me, and when my laptop went black, I was like, “Wait, what? What? What?” I've always found it awesome to be invested in a TV show that makes you do that; you're that excited to know there’s more. Is there anything at all whatsoever that you could maybe tease about season 2? Or season 17?
AJ Cook: Oh, God. I love that! Like, "Where are we right now?" It’s crazy. I think I'll just say you're not going to be disappointed. Trust us. Trust us on this. I know the audience is, like I said earlier, pissed off. Just like, “What? How is it ending like this, and you're going to make us wait?” I'll just say it's going to be worth the wait. Period. Exclamation point. Stick with us, folks. We've got some really cool things in store.
About Criminal Minds: Evolution
In the new CRIMINAL MINDS exclusively coming to Paramount+, the FBI’s elite team of criminal profilers come up against their greatest threat yet, an UnSub who has used the pandemic to build a network of other serial killers. Now, as the world opens back up, the network goes operational, and our team must hunt them down, one murder at a time.
Check out our other Criminal Minds: Evolution interviews here:
The Criminal Minds: Evolution season 1 finale is now streaming on Paramount+.