Paramount+ is back at work on Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 2, leaving many fans wondering about an update on when the show will be released.
Running under the Criminal Minds banner on CBS from 2005 until 2020, the hit series gained the Evolution subtitle upon its revival on Paramount+ as a new season began streaming in 2022.
Bringing back nearly all the original cast from the first 15 seasons and a couple of new faces, the writer's room for the new season started its work in October 2023 following the summer's writers' and actors' strikes.
Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 2 Starts Production
The official Paramount + and Criminal Minds Instagram pages confirmed Season 2 of Criminal Minds: Evolution was officially in production on January 18 with a slew of pictures from the set.
The accounts showed off a clapperboard for the first episode of the new season (also called Criminal Minds Season 17), with Doug Aarniokoski listed as the director and Anthony Vietro on the camera.
Series newcomer Zach Gilford stands alongside longtime veteran Joe Mantegna as the two prepare to reprise their roles in the new season.
Gilford played the main antagonist of Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 1, Elias Voit, while Mantegna has portrayed Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi since Criminal Minds Season 3 in 2007.
Fans got a shot of three on-set director's chairs, one with the Criminal Minds: Evolution title card and two others labeled for stars Paget Brewster (Emily Prentiss) and Aisha Tyler (Dr. Tara Lewis).
Fans see the nameplate for Special Agent Jennifer "J.J." Jareau (played by A.J. Cook) as fans glimpse her desk.
Cook has more appearances on Criminal Minds than anybody except Matthew Gray Gubler and Kristen Vangsness with more than 300 credited episodes in this series.
On top of a prop government form, an open notebook shows a written message reading "Welcome back to Season 17!"
These pictures came with the caption "The BAU is Back! The new season of Criminal Minds: Evolution is officially in production," hyping the Behavioral Analysis Unit's return to Paramount+ for a new season.
When Will Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 2 Release?
Looking at the production timeline for Criminal Minds: Evolution's last season, fans may not have to wait too long for new episodes to stream.
Paget Brewster indicated on X (formerly Twitter) that the crew would be filming the new episodes "at a break neck pace to get episodes to you ASAP, " likely meaning Season 2 should only take about two or three months to finish production.
The new season will consist of 10 episodes as Season 1 did, setting up a Spring (possibly April) premiere for Season 2.
As for what will happen, Season 1 showed the BAU team going up against one of their toughest foes, Elias Voit, who spent his time during the COVID-19 pandemic building a huge network of serial killers nationwide.
With Voit actor Zach Gilford appearing in the pictures above, he'll surely be a major threat to the team and the people they protect once again as new killers and criminals come out of the woodwork.
While no specific plot details have come to light with the series being so early in its production schedule, there will be no shortage of drama and thrills even with Voit being imprisoned at the end of Season 1.
Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 2 is filming, although it remains without a release date for Paramount+.
