CBS drama Criminal Minds: Evolution has taken a darker turn on Paramount+, as the profilers hunt down serial killer Elias Voit. Voit, active since before 2005, has used the pandemic to his advantage by creating an online network of serial killers. In the midseason finale, two of the profilers, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau and Luke Alvez, find themselves in a life-threatening situation when they discover one of Voit's shipping containers rigged with a bomb. 

While it's unlikely that the explosion will result in real harm to the characters, these near-death experiences should have lasting consequences for them.

Procedurals like Criminal Minds often dismiss the emotional and physical toll that these situations take on the characters, but if the show wants to reinvent itself, it needs to explore the trauma experienced by its characters in a more meaningful way. The second half of the first season of Criminal Minds: Evolution will return on January 12.