Connor Storrie Is A Wolf In Ilya's Clothing In Criminal Minds Debut — You Have Recap? Give!

This week's "Criminal Minds: Evolution" was shot well before the television adaptation of "Heated Rivalry" skated its way into the pop culture consciousness. So Connor Storrie's appearance as a guest star in Episode 4 of the procedural, while impressive, was just another gig he had in the months before he became the type of A-lister who hosts "Saturday Night Live."

In short, pretty much the only thing connecting the two productions is Storrie's involvement. Which is why it's hilarious to me that when Storrie first shows up in the episode, which is titled "The Witching Hour," he couldn't look more like Ilya, straight outta the cottage.

A quick moment for those of you who haven't watched "Heated Rivalry": In the HBO Max drama based on Rachel Reid's Game Changers novels, Storrie portrays professional hockey player Ilya Rozanov. Ilya hails from Russia and carries on a years-long romance with his league rival, Shane Hollander (played by Hudson Williams). I won't spoil you, but for our purposes here, you need to know that a significant Season 1 episode of the drama takes place at Shane's Canadian vacation home referred to as "The Cottage."

OK so this is Ilya at the cottage:

HBO Max

And this is Lance, Storrie's "Criminal Minds" character, in an interrogation room (for reasons we'll discuss in a minute):

Paramount+

Flannel-like button-down shirt, check. Gray tank, check. All Lance needs is a Russian Orthodox cross necklace and a penchant for the word "boring," and they'd be indistinguishable... on the surface, at least. As we learn in the hour, Lance is really not a good guy. But is he The Fan who's been contacting Voit?

Read on for the highlights of the episode, which was directed by Adam Rodriguez.

The UnSub of the Week is a guy (played by Dash Mihok, "Ray Donovan") who torments families in Colorado Springs, Colorado, by breaking into their homes after the teen children have gone to school, then using a sledgehammer to murder one of the parents while the other watches. Before the killing blow, he demands that his victim confess his or her "heresy." This detail, as well as a traumatized surviving spouse recalling that the guy wore a vial of salt around his neck, helps the Behavioral Analysis Unit realize that the killer is using a 15th-century book about witchcraft (and the punishment thereof) as his guide, and he's targeting adulterers.

Tyler posits that the UnSub might have a closer connection to the teens — whom he makes sure aren't home to witness their folks' deaths — than he does to the adults. That leads the BAU to realize that he's a substitute teacher named Sean Fincher, whose fire-and-brimstone pastor of a father killed his mother (blunt-force trauma to the head, of course) when Sean was a kid. Sean's wife recently left him, which triggered him to start his deadly rampage. The team manages to get to Sean just as he's about to kill his next victim; they shoot Fincher, killing him, before he can cleave the guy's head in.

Tara and Voit discuss The Fan: Voit doesn't think his twisted admirer has killed yet, and he's pretty sure the guy will reach out again. He does, this time sending three photos of a young woman with her face partially obscured. It takes a minute, but the BAU identifies the woman as a Wharton student named Laura Boyd; when they make contact with her, she tells them that her ex-boyfriend took the photos. Things ended badly between her and the guy, and he's been harassing her ever since.

The guy is Lance Kingston (played by Connor Storrie), and as I mentioned, he sure looks like he just got off the couch from playing footsie with Shane. But unlike Ilya, Lance has a problem he very much would like to go away: Namely, the BAU's sudden interest in his life and actions. "You're not going to frame me for anything. I'm not that pathetic," he tells JJ as she sits across the interrogation table from him. "Interesting choice of words," she remarks, clearly thinking of The Fan's previous communications. We learn that Lance has assault charges in his past, which is easy to believe as he gets mad at JJ. "F**k this noise," he says, swiping a folder off the table and referring to his ex in less-than-kind terms. He says he's familiar with Voit — who isn't, but this point? — and admits to taking the photos but claims he didn't send them to the imprisoned serial killer.

Tara decides to test Lance by having him sign a document with a pen she knows is going to leak and make a mess. He's not bothered when the ink goes everywhere, which she reads as his not being obsessive-compulsive, and therefore likely not The Fan. However, as she and JJ later posit, it's very possible that The Fan made sure to put Lance in the BAU's sights.

Even if he's not their guy, he's not a GOOD guy, so Luke chats with Lance to make sure that he's going to leave Laura alone from here on in. Luke notes that Lance doesn't have a lot of people on his side — even his mother doesn't seem to return his calls, if his phone log is any indication — but Lance asserts that his mother loves him. Still, Luke says, the younger man needs someone looking out for him. And then he threads a difficult psychological needle of suggesting that the BAU will check in on/look out for him, but he's got to play nice and do as he's told. Lance nods his assent.

Later, Voit shares his thoughts that Lance isn't the killer, but he IS part of The Fan's plan. And that seems to bear out: In the episode's final moments, we see someone loading an unconscious Lance into the trunk of a car.

Now it's your turn. What did you think of the episode? Sound off in the comments!