This is not a review, folks! This is your step-by-step Criminal Minds Season 17 Episode 10 recap, aka the Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 2 Finale! Wheels up!
The episode begins with the BAU unaccounted for in the explosion of Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 2 Episode 9.
As Penelope frantically searches for signs of life from her coworkers, Monica receives a text message from her mother. Is she alright? The compound’s explosion is on the news.
Rossi is trapped under debris, having visions of Voit. FauxVoit wonders if Rossi wishes he’d never mentioned Gold Star so that this would never have happened.
Tara arrives with the military to help Rossi.
Emily is missing, along with all of the usual suspects.
Related: Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 2 Episode 9 Review
Emily is tied up beside Frank Church. Jade is not dead. She’s in control. When he starts babbling about saving the children, Jade shoots him between the eyes. You go, girl!
Penelope finds footage of Emily during the blast and sees Jade and her new partner drag Emily away.
Jade is now partnered with Peter. She’s in front of Church, amazed that he’s gone. She recalls when she was first caged. Damien, in the next cell, tells her to take his hands. No matter what happens or what they do, he’s got her.
Jade asks Emily Prentiss, bound to a chair, how she pleads, but Emily needs to know the charges. Awwww! Luke Perry flashback. Jade knows every unsub who abducted and interrogated Emily.
Emily reminds Jade that in the US, she has inalienable rights. Is Jade just like the deep state she’s trying to overthrow?
Jade says they’ll show Emily her case. Emily wonders, “Who’s we?”
Tyler wonders why they took Prentiss. Rossi realizes that Emily’s been in their line of fire the entire time. It’s been one blow after another since even before Bailey died.
Rossi visits Voit at Club Fed. Voit has a nice corner room with large windows, a TV, fresh water in a pitcher, and a coffee maker. He’s living the life of Riley.
Can Voit confirm the last Gold Star actor? Voit isn’t interested in helping, but Rossi persists. Why has Prentiss been stalked over the rest? It began the moment Voit first mentioned Gold Star to Bailey.
Jade shows Prentiss a video of Bailey. Pete B is Peter Pailey, Doug Bailey’s younger brother. He holds Prentiss responsible for what Voit did to his brother. Voit laughs, and elsewhere, Prentiss finally meets Pete.
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Prentiss remembers a conversation with Bailey before a raid. They chatted about their siblings, but he changed the subject rather than offering more information.
Pete thinks Voit is a false flag to cover up the BAU killing Bailey to keep his mouth shut about Gold Star and Pete.
Pete is shocked that Voit made a deal with the FBI director, but it serves his purposes. Voit’s deal goes all the way to the top — how convenient. Prentiss says she didn’t mean it like that.
The new director, Madison, who has not been seen since the Evolution premiere, is finally back.
Pete was offered an experimental diversionary project while in juvie. He was the first Gold Star subject. Pete would tell his family that his job was to break up child trafficking rings run by the country’s elite. Pete had no details, which drove a wedge between him and Bailey.
Monica is confused. Why classify Gold Star and then hand it to BAU to solve? Bailey asked them to classify it so that he had time to find his brother. He thought the BAU would find Pete first and kill him.
Madison tells them to toss the Hail Mary if they have it. He’ll cover for them.
Vincent visits Monica representing Voit and looking for immunity. What a piece of garbage. He wants her to take the offer to the BAU. Voit knows where Prentiss is but wants to be released to Genpop. They can’t afford to say no.
Voit is on his way back to the BAU. Why did he have to be there to help? Other than that, he is a bright spot on the cast these days.
Flashback to Pete and Bailey talking about trafficking. Madison walks in on them horsing around, and Pete thinks it’s funny.
Pete promises Bailey he’s on the right side, but Bailey counters that the last threat assessment said child abduction conspiracy theories are a growing domestic terror threat. Pete rolls his eyes.
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Pete says if he’s wrong, he’ll admit it. But what if Bailey is the one who’s wrong?
(As an aside, it’s funny that the left is now waist-deep in conspiracies, such as believing that Trump tried to assassinate himself.)
Prentiss profiles Pete. She says that anybody can be a source these days, especially if they validate what someone already thinks. Needless to say, he distrusts the media.
Jade repeatedly shocks Prentiss in an attempt to get her to say Damien’s name. Instead, Emily bites through her tongue.
This smartass Prentiss is much different than the one who was easily duped into an arrest and wanted to quit her job.
Bailey was trying to connect with Pete, but there was an interloper creating deep fakes of the videos. Voit has the GPS coordinates for where Pete is probably holed up with Prentiss. Voit wants to be let out again to go on the hunt.
Voit wants Tyler to accompany him. Tyler wonders what happens if he hurts Voit and realizes that he’s been chosen because it will be easy for Voit to get under his skin, ultimately setting Voit free.
When they finally get out there, it goes down as expected, with Voit getting on everyone’s last nerve. Voit brings up Tyler’s brother, which is a step too far for Garcia. She removes her glasses and steps right up into his face.
Voit was visually freaked out. Finally, someone can get a reaction out of him.
Next with Voit is JJ after he mentions BAUgate. She discovers that the deep fake videos are of his wife. He was filming her without her permission. Voit is once again quite moved.
Emily tells Pete how her opinion of Bailey changed. She feels responsible for his death, but it was Voit who pulled the trigger. Jade pulls out her gun again, but she holds back on killing Emily. They need the whole team here.
Jade pulls out a kill kit and begins setting things up so that one wrong move will kill them all. All they have to do is open the door.
Related: Criminal Minds: Evolution Renewed For Third Season at Paramount+
Penelope finds a security camera and hacks into it. It doesn’t give them a good enough look, and Rossi asks for the door to be opened. At the last minute, Alvez stops them.
JJ remembers Voit’s finger gun, and from that, Rossi realizes it’s a trap.
In a strange turn of events, there is a remote access video projector in the room with them, so Penelope hacks it and tosses a video of Voit admitting to killing Bailey on the wall.
Jade uses her handy dandy deep fake software to verify it’s authentic, and Pete realizes the jig is up. He doesn’t mind dying, but not over a lie.
He hands her his gun. There is a gold star bullet in there. Pete frees Emily, and the posse arrives. Jade holds the gun to her temple. She has a final speech to give, though.
Jade believed all the bullshit because the alternative was worse. (Not sure that’s the best message for conspiracy theorists!) Emily promises to listen to Jade, and they’re both led away in cuffs.
Prentiss wrote a passive-aggressive after-action report, so Madison visits her. She wants to know if it was worth it. Were all the dead bodies worth the deal with Voit?
Madison says that not everybody knows what it takes to be a leader. Discretion is the better part of valor. You stop a secret from becoming a conspiracy by keeping it a secret.
Prentiss is worried that Jade and Pete will get life while Voit gets out in five. She’s got a deal for him.
The deal is that they get to see their loved ones. For Pete, it’s his parents. For Jade, it’s Neela.
Tyler has submitted his resume to Quantico.
They’re having a “Hooray, you’re alive” party at Garcia’s. Tara and Monica announce they’re back together.
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Tyler is worried about Voit and his desire to be in Genpop. When Prentiss arrives, Rossi sees Voit lurking behind the door.
Voit is doing laundry at the prison and scouring for chemicals when two fellows arrive. One of them has a shiv. He splashes one of them in the face with the chemicals, and a fight ensues. Will he die?
Don’t forget to check out our Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 2 Episode 10 review, too!
