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Criminal Minds Season 16 Episode 4 Review: Pay-Per-View

Critic's Rating: 4 / 5.0
4

We got a little breather from Elias on Criminal Minds Season 16 Episode 4, but that doesn't mean we got relief from violence and bloodshed.

As the BAU seeks answers about who Sicarius is and how to stop him, they're eager to link cases with any similarities.

Unfortunately, there is no shortage of troubled minds out there just waiting to inflict pain on others.

Rossi Views the Kill Kits - Criminal Minds: Evolution
(Michael Yarish/Paramount+)

It's always boggled my mind that so much violence is rooted in similar trauma.

Gale and Jude were victims of a horrible crime when they were younger, and the only way they knew to address it was to inflict similar pain on others.

Elias in the Dark - Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 1 Episode 4
(Michael Yarish/Paramount+)

I've not spent any time understanding the whys behind that behavior, as it's so foreign to me that I prefer to live in a bubble where it doesn't exist.

But the Criminal Minds universe has always pulled from actual criminal theories, and the fact is that pain and violence breed more of the same.

Still, it's difficult to process how you could take the very worst time of your life, heighten it, and subject innocents to it, seeking some sort of, what? Retribution? Justice? A salve to heal the hurt?

How would that work? Theoretically, it makes no sense, but watch any exploration of myriad criminals across dozens of networks devoted to the subject, and you'll find more of the same.

Prentiss Lead the Team - Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 1 Episode 4
(Michael Yarish/Paramount+)

Gale and Jude weren't a part of Elias's kill kit network, and although the BAU team stopped their terroristic behavior and saved lives, they still felt defeated.

Rossi: I never thought stopping a pair of psychopaths could feel like a loss.

🔗 permalink: I never thought stopping a pair of psychopaths could feel like a loss.

With the proliferation of true crime "entertainment," you have to wonder if there were less of it, it might have an effect on the amount of it out there.

The BAU is operating under the impression that stopping Elias will bring down his network, but after exposing too many in one place to it, will the network ever truly be stopped?

If we didn't see much of Elias this go around, we did find out that he, too, was groomed by someone with evil intent.

Elias is Haunted - Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 1 Episode 4
(Michael Yarish/Paramount+)

Just like the brothers were groomed by their trauma and desire to make their father pay for what they suffered, Elias, too, has someone at the root of what he's created.

I was surprised but pleased to see Silas Weir Mitchell appear as an apparition to Elias while he was cleaning up his mess.

Hopefully, we'll see more of him to uncover what has driven Elias to this point. Given that we learned the brothers were driven there by their father's actions, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Mitchell turned out to be Elias's father.

Not every parent is excellent at the job, and things we don't expect to make a tremendous impact often make one anyway. Elias didn't even have to have a bad father for how he was raised to drive him to unsettling places.

Unexpected Visitor - Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 1 Episode 4
(Michael Yarish/Paramount+)

Since we have the luxury of time to explore the unsub in some detail with this new format, maybe we'll get a taste of his motivations.

Even if we do get that taste, I'd prefer for the true reason to be left open, as the worst criminals are never truly understood, and Elias is right up there with the worst of the worst.

He impacts people with little effort.

The team needed Tyler Green to remember what had previously escaped him about the day his sister, Alison, disappeared. He was unapproachable, though, and no amount of browbeating by Alvez was going to change that.

Alvez Grills Green - Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 1 Episode 4
(Michael Yarish/Paramount+)

Enter Garcia, and it did change. She has suffered, and when she shared her experience with Green, it moved him enough to allow Alvez to guide him through the cognitive interview.

It revealed that Alison wanted Green with her that evening on a date with a fellow named Lee. Green is certain that Lee is Sicarius, but it was Elias himself who fed him that information.

Elias is crafty and finds what people put out there to use against them, turning them into a member of his network. Since Green cannot recall Lee's face, we don't know for sure that he is Elias. But Green thinks he is, and because of that, he'll help the team.

Green's stipulation was that Garcia not be involved. It was like a last-ditch effort to do right by his sister through Garcia, to spare her the pain of what he'll experience.

Garcia Pleads Her Case - Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 1 Episode 4
(Michael Yarish/Paramount+)

Merely by existing, Elias is causing pain. His treatment of Moose shows that no pure heart will go unaffected by his methods.

If you read my interview with Erica Messer, you know that Moose's story will continue, and it will not have a happy ending.

When Elias filled a syringe and inserted it into Moose, I wished with every fiber of my being he ended the dog's life, but would he have been so merciful? It's highly unlikely.

I'll be honest. It's not going to be easy to watch as Elias continues torturing Moose. Animals have pure hearts, and their pain is our pain.

More Sadness for Moose - Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 1 Episode 4
(Michael Yarish/Paramount+)

Life, though, is filled with pain of all types.

JJ and Will have had a renaissance in their marriage, and they are closer than ever. But were you dreading what was ahead as much as I was?

It's like once you reach that point, the world will come crumbling down around you.

With every house the brothers broke into, I was expecting it to be JJ's. But she and Will didn't need to be infiltrated by kids on a murderous rampage. They were dealt a bad hand by health, instead.

JJ Armed and Ready - Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 1 Episode 4
(Michael Yarish/Paramount+)

That scene was incredibly effective, with JJ trying to remain light despite Will's worrisome demeanor.

We may not have to worry too much about being victims of random violence, but the reality is the pain that comes our way can be just as swift and just as devastating.

JJ and Will have a bevy of fans out there, and this development will have them howling.

How will dealing with this uncertainty affect JJ on the job? It will either make it impossible to concentrate or drive her more fiercely in her work as a way to combat something she can when she can't attack the thing that hurts her the most.

Wow, that brings us right around to how this article began, doesn't it? 

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