“Criminal Minds: Evolution” star Zach Gilford breaks down Voit’s fate in season 19 finale: ‘He can’t live with it anymore’

Joyce EngThu, July 23, 2026 at 1:00 PM UTC

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Zach Gilford on ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’Credit: Michael Yarish /Paramount+

The following story contains spoilers about the Criminal Minds: Evolution season 19 finale.

Key Points -

Criminal Minds: Evolution star Zach Gilford discusses Voit’s fate in the season 19 finale and what he thinks should’ve happened.

The finale finds Voit trying to save his daughter from The Fan (Justin Kirk).

Gilford also reveals if he’ll be in season 20.

You honestly think you can get rid of me that easily?

That’s what Voit (Zach Gilford) — or the imaginary him — says to Rossi (Joe Mantegna) at the end of Thursday’s Criminal Minds: Evolution season 19 finale. But he could easily be addressing the show itself.

Since Criminal Minds was revived on Paramount+ as Evolution in 2022, the past four seasons have featured Elias Voit, a.k.a. Sicarius, a.k.a. Lee Duval, the prolific mastermind serial killer-turned-frenemy of the BAU. Alas, all things must come to an end. Gilford confirms that, after the events of the season 19 finale, he will not be in season 20, which is currently in production.

“I’m not in season 20,” Gilford tells Entertainment Weekly. “As far as I know, yes, that’s it.”

Not that a future appearance is off the table. Voit’s four-season arc concludes with him alive. After season 18 saw Voit discover his past misdeeds following amnesia from a prison injury, season 19 found him reconciling with his newfound conscience and new unwanted fame, driven by a true crime podcast, The Sicarius Files, focused on him. The Sicarius Files inspires Crowley (Justin Kirk), a.k.a. The Fan, the season-long unsub obsessed with one-upping and outsmarting his idol.

In the finale, Crowley has kidnapped Holly (Allison Nordahl), Voit’s eldest daughter who had been in witness protection with the rest of his family. Having broken out of prison, Voit tracks them down and saves his daughter. But before he can handcuff Crowley, the unsub turns the tables and starts strangling Voit. Holly returns to save her dad by violently stabbing and killing Crowley, but Voit decides to take the fall for Holly and is put back behind bars.

Allison Nordahl and Justin Kirk on ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’Credit: Michael Yarish /Paramount+

“I wanted him to be killed!” Gilford exclaims. ”It’s kind of a joke, but I talk to the writers about it. Towards the end of the season, one of them asked me, ‘Do you think we should have killed you?’ I’m like, ‘Yes.’ I’m not trying to, like, s--- on the writing. I think the writing’s great and I love that there’s, maybe, somehow I show back up again because I love working on this show, but I do think that would have been the ultimate sacrifice he could have made.”

Still, beyond the possibility of having him pop up again, the Friday Night Lights alum can see that keeping Voit alive might be a punishment worse than death. “That would’ve exonerated him, essentially. So he still has to live with everything he’s done. And even though he does something good in the end, he doesn’t get to just check out Epstein-style.” Gilford pauses. “Sorry, bad reference!”

When the actor first joined the procedural, it was initially planned to be a one-season arc. Midway through production on season 16, showrunner Erica Messer told Gilford they really like working with him, so they’re not going to kill Voit off in order to keep the good times going. By season 18, Voit was given amnesia to, as Messer told Gilford, “make everyone feel bad for Voit.” By season 19, “I know that they wanted some sort of redemption,” Gilford says. The season saw Voit meeting with the families of his victims, which is how he comes face-to-face with The Fan, who poses as a victim’s family member, in an episode directed by Gilford.

“What was fun for me to play and I think interesting about that character was he started out as obviously this bad serial killer, but I think they were really smart about making it where you didn’t really see him do so much of the bad stuff,” Gilford says, since Voit’s biggest kills predated the BAU’s involvement. “You just saw him as this family man and whatever. So they kind of tricked you into kind of liking him and being confused about what you wanted to happen to him. And I think because of that, they capitalized on it in the end of finding a way for him to kind of — I don’t know if he could redeem what he’s done, but show that he is human and has a soul.”

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One of the questions season 19 posits is: Has Voit actually developed empathy post-amnesia? Gilford “definitely” thinks so. “I think they wrote it really well in that he’s this tortured person. Even with the amnesia, coming to terms with [thinking] he’s a normal person, and then he realizes all these terrible things he’s done and he has to grapple with that. And now he has to reckon with, ‘Not only have I’ve done these things, I’ve turned myself in, I’m gonna pay penance to whatever extent I can, but now I’m becoming this celebrity and I’m inspiring other people to do bad things.’”

He continues, “It’s kind of like seeing and experiencing the repercussions, not just of how he’s hurt families, but the ripple effect of it. He has the ability now to stop himself, put himself in a cell, be away from society where he can’t hurt anyone, but it’s like even that’s not enough and he’s still hurting people just as a result of his past, and he doesn’t want that.”

Gilford played Voit as “someone who really cares and is not self-serving” in season 19. And while protecting his daughter may be something any parent would do for their child, the actor believes Voit would’ve taken the fall for a stranger as well. “I’m not trying to make him a martyr or anything, but I think he really, truly wants to right some of the wrongs he’s made in some way. I think he would willingly sacrifice himself, like, he wants to die. He can’t live with it anymore. So I think he really just wants to do any good that he can, as much as it won’t erase all the bad he’s done.”

Sacrificing himself for his daughter also brings Voit’s storyline full circle. “At the beginning, he was this guy who was always struggling with, ‘I’m a family man. I can be good. I can just be this father, this husband,’” Gilford notes. “And ultimately, in the end, he is a father and he does what he feels is best for his daughter.”

Justin Kirk and Zach Gilford on ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’Credit: Michael Yarish/Paramount+

But will she stay on the right path? An earlier flashback revealed that Holly hypothetically asked Crowley, following a criminology lecture, about inheriting the “serial killer gene.” What if she were to start killing in season 20 or beyond? That’d certainly be enough reason for Voit to show his face again. “It’s something that’s so funny. The crew would talk about it all the time. They’d be like, ‘I think she’s…’ And I’m like, ‘Is that even, like, a gene? Is that inherited? Like in real life?’ Gilford says.

“I mean, I hope for her sake, she gets to go on and be a normal kid. But if she doesn’t, I’ll have to show up and right her wrongs and give her some tough love. I’ll break out of prison again. I’m smarter than everyone. The most fun part about the show was, I’d be like, ‘Can you guys do anything? Can you solve a single crime without my help? Like, why are you employed?’” he recalls with a laugh. “You know what the funny thing is? I learned apparently the BAU in real life has, like, solved no crimes. They don’t have a jet. They’ve gotta, like, get rental cars. But they’ve solved zero crimes ever. And on the show, they’re, like, the smartest people in the world until I came along and I’m like, 'You guys can’t do anything.’ They need me, Penelope (Kirsten Vangsness), and real estate records.”

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The show also needs Gilford just for the vibes on set.

“Some of the crew texted me and they’re like, ‘It’s not as fun without you here.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah! That’s right!’” he shares. “That’s why they didn’t kill me off. ‘If this goes south, we need to bring him back.’ I know they like to bring people back randomly, and if they ever asked me, I would happily show back up. I love the character, but more than that, I just love working on that set and working with all those people. So I’d love to go hang out with them again.”

All seasons of Criminal Minds are streaming on Paramount+.

on Entertainment Weekly

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