Is 'Criminal Minds: Evolution' Returning for Season 4? Here's What We Know So Far

This story contains major spoilers from Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3.

Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 3 (season 18 overall) aired its season finale on Paramount+, and boy do we have a lot to talk about!

Amid the reveal of Elias Voit (Zach Gilford) having amnesia and now remembering some of his past crimes, he has the BAU in shock over how he'll behave in prison moving forward. And if that's not enough, J.J. Jareau (A.J. Cook) suffers a personal tragedy when her husband Will LaMontagne Jr. (Josh Stewart) suddenly dies from a brain aneurysm. This leads the BAU to be her rock through a difficult time, and we can only imagine where her journey leads in future episodes.

As Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3 wrapped up in early July 2025, fans are already wondering if the show will be back for season 4. Well, thanks to some key clues, we've solved the case for you.

In a surprise announcement made by the show on Instagram, viewers learned Criminal Minds: Evolution will return for season 4 (season 19 overall). And if that wasn't enough, the news of the show's return came two months before season 3 aired on May 8.

"What’s in the box, Profilers?!" the caption read on March 5. "➡️ Unveiling your first look at the new season of #CriminalMinds: Evolution, premiering May 8 on @paramountplus! ➡️ Plus, exciting news: we’ll be back for another season!"

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Naturally, seeing this piece of information had Criminal Minds fans screaming over what's to come.

"FINALLY! AND YOU ALSO GOT RENEWED FOR SEASON 19! SO HAPPY!" one person wrote in the comments. "SCREAMING!!!! THE MONTH OF MAY JUST GOT SO MUCH BETTER," another exclaimed. "Yes!! I’m so excited. I cannot wait!" a different follower added.

Thanks to an X (formerly Twitter) update from Paget Brewster, fans learned Criminal Minds: Evolution is in production for season 4.

"I’m doing my physical therapy at home, gunning it to get better for ⁦@criminalminds season 19," she wrote in March 2025 amid being in recovery for an elbow fracture. "We start shooting in May!"

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If that wasn't enough, Kirsten Vangsness dropped an even more epic update on May 16. Posting a TikTok video from the Criminal Minds: Evolution set, she shared the cast was back together to film the next installment.

"IT IS HAPPENING @criminalminds #jemily," she wrote in the caption.

View full post on TikTok

Now, this was the news we were all waiting for!

Based on the show's current events, here's who viewers can expect to return for Criminal Minds: Evolution season 4:

• Paget Brewster as BAU unit chief Emily Prentiss
• Joe Mantegna as SSA David Rossi
• A.J. Cook as SSA Jennifer "J.J." Jareau
• Adam Rodriguez as SSA Luke Alvez
• Kirsten Vangsness as technical analyst Penelope Garcia
• Aisha Tyler as Dr. Tara Lewis
• Ryan-James Hanataka as Tyler Green
• Zach Gilford as Elias Voit
  

There are already some pretty big clues on what's next for season 4.

As showrunner Erica Messer revealed in an interview with Deadline, folks will see a slight time jump when new episodes come back for Criminal Minds: Evolution. And if that's not enough, it seems like Voit won't be the only antagonist the BAU will have to deal with ...

"Season 19 will be a year after the events of season 18," she told the outlet. "That time allows some stories to settle. Voit has confessed and been sentenced to life in prison. JJ has had a year to feel out how to navigate parenthood without her husband. Garcia has gotten back on the dating scene and much, much more. There will be another season-long unSub who the audience will learn about before the BAU. As the history of the show has promised, Season 19 will rely on real, simple, scary stories where we’ll take the audience into the dark, scare them and save them."

But that's not all. In an exclusive interview with Good Housekeeping in June, Zach revealed Voit's return for season 4 ... and reprising a former role for him, too. "I'm going to be directing episode 7 of season 4, and I'm hoping it wasn't like beginner's luck the first time," he shared, referencing his directing a previous season 2 episode.

As fans of Criminal Minds know, Matthew portrayed Dr. Spencer Reid for the original series' entire 15-season run on CBS. While his character wasn't seen in the first two seasons of Criminal Minds: Evolution, Reid (and subsequently, Matthew) made a shockingly brief appearance in the season 3 episode "Time to Say Goodbye."

While viewers did get another taste of Reid in the Criminal Minds universe, many had high hopes to see Matthew back in the role for a longer amount of time on Criminal Minds: Evolution. But as Paget told us in an interview ahead of the episode airing, his blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment may have been just what the show needed.

"One hot second of Matthew Gray Gubler is worth a thousand years of someone else," she exclusively told us in May 2025. "It was as if no time has passed, and he's a personal friend so we communicate with him all the time. So, it wasn't a big deal, because it was like, 'Oh, this is nice! Alright dude — think about doing this again!"

Given how viewers saw Spencer come to support J.J. and her kids during Will's funeral, we can only hope he comes back around to be a bigger part of their lives.

While Shemar famously played SSA Derek Morgan for the first 11 seasons of Criminal Minds, he left the show in 2016 in order to star in the CBS drama S.W.A.T. And despite S.W.A.T. ending in May 2025 after eight seasons of being on the air, it was revealed the actor will reprise his role as Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson in the TV spinoff S.W.A.T. Exiles.

With all of this in mind, is there a chance we'll see Shemar back in the Criminal Minds universe? As Paget shared in a separate interview with us in May 2025, the jury is still out for SSA Morgan to make an appearance.

"I don't know!" she exclusively answered at the time. "That's something that I have no control. I mean, none of us have any control over any situation ... I don't know if he would come back. I don't know if he's got another show. I'm excited to see what the future holds, but I don't know if it's with us."

Fingers crossed we get to see Shemar back in Quantico very soon!

When the time comes for fans to watch episodes of Criminal Minds: Evolution season 4, viewers can tune into the show Thursdays on Paramount+.

If you don't have an account already on Paramount+, the streamer offers plenty of options that been at just $7.99 per month (or $59.99 per year). Once you create a profile, click on the title page on Paramount+'s website or on-the-go with the Paramount+ app.

While you're waiting for new episodes of Criminal Minds: Evolution to drop, why don't you stream the show from the beginning?

Adrianna Freedman

Associate Editor

As the entertainment and news associate editor for Good Housekeeping, Adrianna (she/her) writes about everything TV, movies, music and pop culture. She graduated from Yeshiva University with a B.A. in journalism and a minor in business management. She covers shows like The Rookie, 9-1-1 and Grey's Anatomy, though when she’s not watching the latest show on Netflix, she’s taking martial arts or drinking way too much coffee.