<p id=”par-1_24″>The BAU is investigating a string of chilling new cases in <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/the-10-best-episodes-of-criminal-minds-according-to-fans.html/”><em>Criminal Minds</em></a><em> </em>Season 19. And they have an unlikely ally in their corner. </p>
<p id=”par-2_81″>In the upcoming season of the Paramount+ crime drama, serial killer Elia Voit (Zach Gilford) goes from villain to ally as he agrees to help the team in their search for a new UnSub: The Fan. The Fan is precise, calculating, and relentlessly dangerous. And he’s modeling his kills on Voit’s sinister crimes. As Voit embarks on a path to atone for his past, the BAU wonders just how far The Fan will go to prove his superiority over his idol. </p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-criminal-minds-showrunner-wanted-to-reinvent-the-elias-voit-character”>‘Criminal Minds’ showrunner wanted to ‘reinvent’ the Elias Voit character </h2>
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<span class=”related-article-flag”>Related</span>
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<a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/criminal-minds-evolution-zach-gilford-thinks-midnight-mass-helped-land-elias-voit-role.html/”>
‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’: Zach Gilford Thinks ‘Midnight Mass’ Helped Him Land Elias Voit Role </a>
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<p id=”par-3_69″>Voit, aka Sicarius, was the big bad in the first season of the <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/criminal-minds-evolution-matthew-gray-gubler-return-season-2.html/”>revived <em>Criminal Minds</em></a><em>, </em>which premiered in 2022. A prolific psychopathic killer on his own, he eventually built a network of proxy killers who would carry out murders under his guidance. He was eventually captured, leading him to work (reluctantly) with the FBI to provide information that would help them dismantle his “Gold Star” network of killers. </p>
<p id=”par-4_60″>While initially presented as a purely evil character, Voit’s story has gotten more complicated over past seasons as details about his troubled childhood have emerged. Then, a brain injury miraculously gave him the conscience he previously lacked. The newly moral Voit is now an entirely different man than the one viewers met in the first season of <em>Criminal Minds: Evolution.</em></p>
<p id=”par-5_82″>“I felt strongly that we needed to reinvent the character, and this was the way we did it, which was giving him amnesia and having to relearn who he was as a man, and then discovering he was also a killer, and not really knowing what that meant,” Criminal Minds showrunner Erica Messer told <a href=”https://www.tvline.com/interviews/criminal-minds-finale-voit-kills-season-19-preview-luke-1235471984/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>TVLine</a>. “And then when all the memories come back, it’s like, ‘I now have a conscience,’ and that was something that was lacking when he was a killer.” </p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-criminal-minds-season-19-trailer-teases-new-unsub”>‘Criminal Minds’ Season 19 trailer teases new UnSub</h2>
<p id=”par-6_20″>Voit’s transformation into an anti-hero gives <em>Criminal Minds </em>the opportunity to “continue to tell stories” involving the character, Messer added. </p>
<p id=”par-7_18″>In season 19, those stories apparently involve Voit reckoning with the way his crime spree has inspired others. </p>
<p id=”par-8_23″>“”If he’s my fan, he’s trying to emulate his idol … Once it starts, it can’t be stopped,” he says in the trailer. </p>
<p id=”par-9_10″><em>Criminal Minds </em>Season 19 begins streaming May 28 on Paramount+.</p>
<p id=”par-10_11″><em>For more news and exclusive interviews, follow </em><a href=”https://www.instagram.com/showbizcheatsheet/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”><em>Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s Instagram</em></a><em>.</em></p>