Paramount+’s 19-Part Crime Masterpiece Will Make Your Skin Crawl

Crime dramas are more popular than ever before, but Paramount+ has the most unnerving procedural on air. In the past decade, there has been a sudden influx of shows based on true crime and totally original, somewhat off-putting stories alike. Nowadays, crime dramas are grittier, gorier, and more prepared to push every boundary, to the point where viewers are just as likely to recoil from each episode as they are to revel in the stress-inducing spectacle. Nevertheless, some pillars of the genre remain relevant to this day, be it the extensive Law & Order franchise or the infamously entertaining Criminal Minds.

Though the hit CBS original ended in 2020, Paramount+ picked up where the narrative left off with a continuation starting in 2022, subtitled Criminal Minds: Evolution. Certain elements of the show's foundation stayed the same, including the formulaic case-of-the-week structure that introduced hundreds of coldblooded killers called "unsubs" (unknown subjects). Nevertheless, there are some major differences that set Evolution apart from the flagship series, including a much more explicit exploration of the show's central murder investigations and psychopathy at large. As such, even if the original run failed to capture your attention, Criminal Minds: Evolution will surely make you shudder.

Criminal Minds: Evolution Is The Most Disturbing Crime Drama On Air

The Modern Reboot Is Full Of Guts, Gore, & Psychological Horror Galore

Immediately following its 2005 debut, Criminal Minds had an unconventional approach to crime procedural tropes. Week after week, the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) reviewed gruesome crime scenes to catch exponentially more unhinged killers with a certain detachment that made the series feel all the more brutally realistic. Of course, there were characters like Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness) who stood in as vessels for the viewer and reacted with understandable horror at the grisly murders, but most of the central agents— including the stone-faced Unit Chief Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner (Thomas Gibson)— never even flinched at a flayed or fragmented corpse.

Yet, as disturbing as the original series was, Criminal Minds: Evolution is much darker than the CBS series. Considering the Paramount+ reboot now has a TV-MA rating, the crime drama has free rein now to drop well-timed F-bombs or show every detail of an unsub's unsettlingly unique modus operandi. Similarly, Evolution has brought with it particularly graphic methods of execution, be it forcing a victim to swallow a bag of venomous spiders to consume them from the inside or playing twisted mind games before driving a sledgehammer into someone's skull.

Criminal Minds: Evolution forces the viewer to become a voyeur...

Regardless, the true horror of Criminal Minds: Evolution lies not in its gratuitous gore but in its social commentary. The series has always tied its episodic cases to real-world problems, but the continuation is much more frank with its dissection. As is the sad case in real life, there is a disproportionate focus on violence against women. Likewise, unsubs take downright sexual gratification in torturing their victims and dehumanizing them in any way possible.

Whereas the original run would fade to black or leave the most horrific moments to the audience's imagination, however, Criminal Minds: Evolution forces the viewer to become a voyeur and watch icepick lobotomies, piranha baths, and any other grotesque maiming technique known to humankind. Similarly, the reboot pulls no punches when it comes to the awful way male unsubs view female victims, or, conversely, how young girls are targeted and groomed to be killing machines for their abusive captors.

Criminal Minds Season 19 Will Only Get More Unsettling From Here

The Hit Paramount+ Series Is Gearing Up For Its Most Unnerving Arc Yet

Without a doubt, Criminal Minds can often be immensely uncomfortable to watch, as bearing witness to such heinous acts may make you feel like an accomplice of sorts. Yet, there's a reason Criminal Minds has become so explicit. In fact, it's a direct response to how desensitized most audiences have become. Every year, there are new true-crime documentaries or dramatizations that end up cultivating fanbases for notorious serial killers. Paired with how unbelievably bloody most modern horror films are, Criminal Minds: Evolution had an uphill battle from inception.

Before the crime drama could make a statement, it had to attract attention— which it did via a constant onslaught of nightmarish scenarios. Consequently, Criminal Minds season 19 leaning into true-crime allusions may feel jarring or perhaps in poor taste, but it's much more tongue-in-cheek than many realize. The series itself is a critique of primetime bloodlust, holding up a mirror to the darkest shadows of society and puppeteering scenes that should be unfathomable. Yet, the harsh reality that Criminal Minds begs us to notice is that even the most extreme atrocities can make viewers feel apathetic rather than appalled.

New episodes of Criminal Minds season 19 drop every Thursday on Paramount+.