Criminal Minds Star Breaks Down That 'Seminal' Moment For Series, How The Devastating Twist Will Affect [Spoiler]
The following contains spoilers from the May 15 episode of Criminal Minds: Evolution, now streaming on Paramount+.
There has been a sudden death in the Criminal Minds family.
In the second episode of Season 18, JJ (played by AJ Cook) and husband Will (returning guest star Josh Stewart) were at home talking through their kids' busy, busy schedules as the latter fought off a "migraine."
Mere moments later, though, Will collapsed onto the kitchen floor. JJ immediately phoned 911, but it would be for naught. At episode's end, after the BAU team members each got word of the situation and arrived at the hospital, JJ came out to quietly announce, "He's gone.... Will's dead."
Back in Evolution's first season, Will went through a health scare due to a thyroid condition he then had taken care of. This fatal aneurysm, Rebecca and Tara relayed to the team, was caused by "a spontaneous rupture of the inferior thyroid artery, which is rare."
Also rare have been on-screen appearances by JJ's hubby. Stewart, who made his debut as the NOPD detective way back in Season 2 of the CBS crime drama, announced on X in January 2024 — ahead of Season 17 — that "sadly, my days of playing Will LaMontagne Jr. are over."
He was brought back, however, for that blink-and-you-missed-it death scene.
During Aisha Tyler's recent visit to TVLine's NYC video studio, I asked Tara's portrayer about also directing this important episode.
"Oh gosh.... That was a very seminal moment for the characters, for the series," she remarked.
"I love this cast," she continued, and "it's exciting to direct them in any condition," as she has done before. But "getting to direct them for a big emotional moment is always really, really satisfying, and also a big responsibilty.
"Frankly we don't always get to do big emotions on this show... so it was just savory," Tyler added.
In the immediate aftermath, Tyler previewed, JJ will understandably grapple with her up-ended world, and whether to return to her job of "saving lives."
"She's going to have to work through this incredible loss, and how does it affect her work, how does it affect her children...," Tyler added. "For anybody out there who has lost a loved one, it's obviously very devastating, and then the question becomes, 'How do I go on? Can I go on?'"
This much is certain, though: franchise vet Cook will make viewers feel every bit of JJ's heartbreak.
"A.J. Cook is an amazing actress and an extraordinary human being," said Tyler, "and what I enjoy most about [directing] is seeing people succeed. So to watch her play that storyline this season was really, really gratifying, and she absolutely kills it."
Let's all now soothe the sting some by revisiting JJ and Will's Season 7 wedding....
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