Warning: Major SPOILERS lie ahead for Criminal Minds: Evolution season 19, episode 2, “Cluster”!While the BAU may be busy with new cases, Luke Alvez is going to have his mind elsewhere after Criminal Minds: Evolution season 19’s premiere shocker.
The new season of the hit police procedural picks up a year after its predecessor’s ending, in which Voit helped the FBI bring an official end to the Sicarius Network. As Aisha Tyler’s Tara continues working with Voit to process his recovering memories from his serial killer days, and to help the families of his victims get closure, a new killer emerges with a unique affection for him, making for a dangerous new UnSub to be tracked across the season.
Criminal Minds: Evolution season 19’s second episode, “Cluster,” opened with Adam Rodriguez’s Alvez in an intensely emotional place, mourning the loss of an unspecified person, with flashbacks showing him having to make the decision to administer a drug to someone dying from a tumor. By the end of the episode, it was revealed the deceased was none other than Roxy, his emotional support animal after coming home from the Army, with only Kirsten Vangsness’ Penelope in the know of her death.
Ahead of the show’s return, ScreenRant‘s Grant Hermanns interviewed Adam Rodriguez and Erica Messer to discuss Criminal Minds: Evolution season 19. When asked about the premiere shocker of Roxy’s death, the showrunner began by humorously expressing that Rodriguez “has been patiently waiting for these stories,” acknowledging a desire on her star’s part to dive deeper into Alvez’s personal life.
Rodriguez went on to recall having “nerves” when he was first told of the plan for the new Criminal Minds: Evolution season, in which he knew he “was going to have to deliver emotionally” with Alvez’s grief. However, he also described such a story’s needs as being “the challenges you look forward to as an actor,” even if they “are always scary“:
Adam Rodriguez: I also felt lucky, too. I felt lucky that the show had been on long enough for us to be dealing with this as a story, and it felt right, it felt timely. We haven’t seen a whole lot of her on the show for all these years, and it felt like it was time to address that relationship, because she’s talked about all the time, but not seen. This just felt like a great way to deliver for the audience, and so I’m really hoping people receive it well. I know it’s not going to be easy, but it felt like a really meaningful storyline, which is great.
Rodriguez went on to describe Roxy as being “the anchor in Luke’s life” beyond Garcia, feeling that “in terms of a social life” or “people that he leans on in that way,” Alvez doesn’t have a whole lot beyond “some Army buddies around.” Without having anyone “he can lay his head down on and cry if he had to,” the Criminal Minds: Evolution character is going to be in a tense state as he tries to process the death.
However, Rodriguez also feels there are some great opportunities for when Luke comes out from the other side of his grief. For starters, the star feels that “Luke and Penelope’s relationship [could] develop further” during the process. But, more importantly, Rodriguez feels that “it’s a chance for Luke to become more of a human being,” feeling that much of the reason for his work with the FBI is maintaining “a tough exterior” in order to be in “the place that he feels safe“:
Adam Rodriguez: It’s kind of why I think he chooses to do a job that puts him in a place where that kind of behavior serves him well. In terms of interacting with the character that was played by Richard Cabral, I think that, in the strangest of ways, he’s faced with this person who is probably more like him than any other character that he’s dealt with before. Meanwhile, he’s got a gun pointed at the guy and is having a heart-to-heart conversation where he can relate to this man in a way that he hasn’t been able to relate to anybody else, including Garcia, where he can open up in a way that you could take it as though he’s doing this because it’s part of his job, which it is. But it’s also a chance for him to release and maybe even heal in a way that just wouldn’t feel right to him in any other setting, that no one else would be able to understand where he’s coming from more than this guy.
Rodriguez went on to praise the aforementioned scene with Cabral, the UnSub of episode 2, as being a moment “to purge himself” from his initial grief, with the connection forged between them about their time in the military as getting to “find some relief,” in spite of being “the strangest of situations.” He concluded by praising the Mayans M.C. alum for being “a tremendous actor,” and director Anthony Vietro for the “phenomenal” way he shot the episode.
Luke & JJ’s Shared Grief Is A Perfect Example Of Their Simpatico Personalities
ScreenRant: I gotta say, first and foremost, long-time fan since the CSI: Miami days, and you’ve been great throughout your Criminal Minds run, and I can’t believe we’re already celebrating 10 years, now, of you being on this show. How does it feel to have hit that milestone coming into this season?
Adam Rodriguez: Yeah, it’s a trip, man. First of all, gratitude leads the emotional feeling. Gratitude to be working, of course, but gratitude for the group of people that I landed up with. I could do this show for another 10 years and not blink. The days go by so fast, the time spent, it always feels worth it. I never dread going to work. I’m never dragging myself out of bed, other than being tired. [Chuckles] I love going to work with the people that I go to work with every day. So, I’m just grateful that I landed in such a wonderful place, man.
ScreenRant: Roxy’s death is truly a devastating moment. What can you share about how that’s going to continue into this season?
Erica Messer: Of course, Alvez losing Roxy [is big]. Maybe midway through the season, there’s another thing he needs to grapple with that, in some ways, the journey that he’s been on in episode 2 will really get tested in episode 5, that kind of thing. But yeah, I think those are sort of the biggest ones. We really wanted to give Adam/Luke Alvez — I feel like he’s been patiently waiting for these stories. So, it allows Alvez and JJ to really bond over grief. We see that friendship in a different light, too, because they have this common bond now.
ScreenRant: I did also want to ask. When I spoke with Erica last week, she mentioned that because JJ is still going through her stages of grief, and that Luke is going to turn to her a little bit this season. I’d love to hear what you can tease about that, but also what it’s like working with AJ on that front.
Adam Rodriguez: Oh man, AJ is so tremendous. She’s such a talent, she really is. She just delivers every time in a way that, I sometimes think, because she has this tough exterior and she can be a bada–, that you forget that she’s so capable of delivering real emotion. It’s always a treat to work with her, it really is, she’s just incredible. I feel like those characters are very similar. They have tougher exteriors, and yet, they’re the ones that are getting their hands dirty most often. We’re almost always involved in the takedowns, you know, and we have very similar edges to us, so I love that they are able to comfort each other. I think there’s an unspoken connection between them that, I think Alvez finds a different kind of comfort in Garcia, a softness that doesn’t exist anywhere else in his life. But I think with AJ’s character, JJ, there is a simpatico. They see themselves in each other, so there’s a little bit of an ease that’s there. To be able to communicate in a way that there really isn’t anybody else on the show like that.
ScreenRant: Well, I really can’t wait to see how that dynamic evolves this season, because I only got the first two episodes.
Adam Rodriguez: It’s a great season of the show, man. If you are a fan of the show, this is an incredible season. I’m really excited for people to dig in and enjoy it. The Fan is a great storyline. We get to the bottom of Sicarius, and really, I think, put a bow on that in a way that people are going to enjoy. It’s awesome. I’m excited for people to see it.
Be sure to dive into some of our other Criminal Minds: Evolution-related content with:
New episodes of Criminal Minds: Evolution season 19 premiere Thursdays on Paramount+!
- Release Date
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September 22, 2005
- Showrunner
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Erica Messer
- Directors
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Félix Enríquez Alcalá, Rob Bailey, Matthew Gray Gubler, Joe Mantegna, John Gallagher, Douglas Aarniokoski, Guy Norman Bee, Larry Teng, Nelson McCormick, Alec Smight, Charles S. Carroll, Rob Spera, Charles Haid, Diana Valentine, Rob Hardy, Tawnia McKiernan, Bethany Rooney, Karen Gaviola, Sharat Raju, Thomas Gibson, Aisha Tyler, Anna Foerster, Gloria Muzio, John Terlesky
- Writers
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Bruce Zimmerman, Virgil Williams, Edward Allen Bernero, Janine Sherman Barrois, Chris Mundy, Simon Mirren, Debra J. Fisher, Kimberly A. Harrison, Jay Beattie, Dan Dworkin, Karen Maser, Oanh Ly, Stephanie Sengupta, Aaron Zelman, Kirsten Vangsness, Erica Meredith, Andi Bushell, Holly Harold, Alicia Kirk, Jeff Davis, Randy Huggins, Edward Napier, Jayne A. Archer, Chikodili Agwuna
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Kirsten Vangsness
Penelope Garcia
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Matthew Gray Gubler
Dr. Spencer Reid