Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 2 Episode 6 Review – Message in a Bottle

Finally, we get an episode of Criminal Minds that focuses on the debilitating effects of working for the BAU.

Rossi suffers from PTSD, Emily is in pain after being (temporarily?) demoted, and even Tyler’s ex-girlfriend, who is inexplicably tied to Gold Star, can’t believe how much pressure she’s under because of this.

The walls are closing in on the entire BAU team, but especially Rossi and Prentiss, and “Message in a Bottle” went to great lengths to show that.

Rossi’s nightmares turn into hallucinations

To say Rossi is in trouble would be an understatement.

The opening scene was far from anything we’ve seen with the BAU, but it could have happened like that at any time.

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The BAU works with the worst of the worst, and this time Rossi is forced to work with Voit, who killed 62 people and locked them in an underground trailer, subjecting him to his worst fears and, possibly, death.

How is someone supposed to overcome this and get back to the same place where it all started? Well, we knew it wouldn’t be easy, but Rossi was determined to prove that it could be.

He was wrong.

As the season progressed, his condition deteriorated markedly. This was apparent when Prentiss was temporarily sidelined and Rossi was forced to face a team that needed him to be competent and in control.

Confiding in Prentiss was progress, but it also came with a setback. Rossi needed a logical, compassionate hand to pull him out of the rut. Tara provided that hand and the path forward he needed.

Rossi and Voit talk man to man

With the cameras off, Rossi entered the same cage that haunted him in his nightmares. This time, the monster was still behind bars. And while Voit claims not to be a fanboy, it’s that same character trait that helps push Rossi to move the case forward.

It’s a shame Voit chose to channel his knowledge and creativity in the wrong direction. He didn’t really have a choice with the guidance he received growing up, but imagine if he had.

He really could have been a top member of the BAU team instead of working so hard to take them down.

Voit acknowledged one of Rossi’s habits, which is to drag past perpetrators into his net long after they’ve been arrested. Tommy Yates, “The Womb Raider,” was one of the suspects Rossi mentioned.

If this sounded familiar to Voit, he went further to suggest that it wasn’t really Voit that was haunting him, but rather how Voit could help him reach the truth of Gold Star. Voit is just his totem.

Voit’s exploration of Dave Rossi saves Rossi in the wake of Voit’s terror and a shocking case, seemingly manipulated by Voit. It’s a vicious cycle, but it all goes back to Rossi’s own work with Gideon years before.

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A long forgotten theory

It’s unclear how much of Rossi and Gideon’s theory was leaked, when, or how, but Voit used it as a carrot to manipulate a group of kids who had horror stories of their own.

He pointed out how conspiracy theories are built on a gaming mindset, quest games, to be exact, and that each level reveals new clues ultimately leading to the big loot, in this case, North Star, aka the BAU.

North Star is where it all begins. Give them a clue and see if they can connect the dots. The revenge-driven killers wanted someone to blame for what they are.

Rossi’s work with Gideon intertwined with the torture at Stuart House, and it all started to make sense. The kids were probably being used as lab rats for the government’s control programs. Well, they’ll break the cycle by bringing down the BAU.

How will Rossi make ends meet to ensure that the truth of his study is separated from what it has become in the wrong hands?

I have no idea, but I bet it won’t be long before Rossi and his team figure out what to do with this development.

Prentiss does hilarious spirals

If Rossi was taking a dark path, Prentiss chose the lighter path to delve into after her latest setback.

Naturally, after Rossi killed Prentiss in his dreams, he wanted someone to check on her and make sure she was okay. His gut was telling him something he didn’t like, so he had to investigate.

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Prentiss wasn’t in trouble though. She was drunk, drugged, and somewhat determined to quit the BAU.

When JJ arrived, Prentiss was giggly and stubborn and eating chips with chopsticks.

She also had what appeared to be a bag of cheese shavings that happened to be edible. JJ ate one or more of them and suddenly thought that baguettes were in fashion.

Counting on each other

Criminal Minds: Evolution has done a good job of showing us how much this team depends on each other. They always have, but in the short time we have had so far, there have been parties and game nights.

There’s a lot of love here. Their friendships are as important as the cases they solve.

JJ and Emily talked about those who had come before and gone, perhaps lacking the strength of character of those who remained. But while Emily sees her work as continually taking something from her, JJ sees what her work has given to them.

It worked very well in sparking new hope in Prentiss, and it gave JJ the opportunity to call out her friend and mentor for not sharing what she knew about BAU Gate.

Prentiss’s role is not to protect but to be honest and support her team. I doubt she’ll let that happen again.

Who is Teresa Campos?

In Criminal Minds Season 17, Episode 5, Brian Garrity made it seem like “Teresa” was his get-out-of-jail-free card.

Honestly, even after finding out that Tyler dated her right before Penelope and was targeted by Sebastian, whose phone Tyler cloned, I still don’t see how else Teresa could tie herself to Gold Star for being on Garrity’s tongue.

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I think his involvement was more important to the writers to ease the tension between Penelope, Luke, and Tyler.

It was shocking to hear Alvez say he loved Penelope, and she knew as much as she could imagine that their one horrible date would rob them of happiness if they had explored it further.

By adding Teresa to the mix, they gave Luke another opportunity to train his puppy dog eyes. Luke and Tyler even found reasons to coexist and maybe even become friends.

Why did Sebastian play a key role in all this? I’m still not sure. Did you get it? Did it make sense to you?

This was the best episode of the season so far.

By showing the detrimental effects this type of work has on the people involved, it allows the characters who rely on each other to help each other when they need it most.

Hopefully, the resolution of this case will bring peace to all involved, and even a shred of decency to Voit, who would have been a completely different man if he had chosen the right path and not the one his uncle showed him.