Warning! Spoilers ahead for Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3, episode 3, "Time to Say Goodbye".

JJ and Will’s relationship spanned 15 years. Will, a Southern charmer who turned out to be the perfect partner for JJ, ed her through her training to rise from Communications Liaison to full-fledged profiler while raising two sons together.

Spencer Reid’s return to Criminal Minds: Evolution, making the episode feel like even more of an event.

The BAU's Breakthrough On The Sicarius Case Explained

Voit’s Memories Are Starting To Come Back - But Does It Matter With Different Brain Chemistry?

Because David Rossi seems to have a positive effect on Elias Voit, he begrudgingly agrees to spend more time with him. Interestingly, he is not posing as Voit’s father - Voit is aware that Dave is there in his capacity as an FBI agent. The BAU’s policy seems to be giving Voit as little information as possible so he is forced to his past on his own without prejudice. Rossi’s ameliorating effect on Voit is a peculiar aspect of his recovery.

The show has seemingly confirmed Voit’s amnesia from the Criminal Minds: Evolution season 2 ending is real, as the audience sees fragmented memories alongside him as he gets his memories back. When Rossi presses him to how they know each other, Voit gets flashbacks to bits of his kidnapping of Dave in Criminal Minds: Evolution season 1, although he confuses it with a camping trip.

The BAU makes an ethically dubious call to bring in Voit’s only surviving victim aside from Rossi, Ramona Havener from Criminal Minds: Evolution season 1. Ramona was a real estate agent with an unfortunate resemblance to Voit’s wife Sydney and an office on Second Street, Voit’s hunting ground. Voit kidnapped Ramona and had her role-play as his wife so he could confess all his crimes and be forgiven, though she barely survived the ordeal.

If it comes to a trial, Ramona is willing to be the voice of the 61 victims who can’t speak for themselves. Even though Voit doesn’t her, she re him and his confession — making her an important tool for the BAU’s case against Voit as Sicarius. Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3, episode 3 ends with him in a very broken place. Voit is feeling guilt for crimes he doesn’t yet — the opposite of the Sicarius monster the BAU hunted. With a subtle nod from Tara, Rossi physically comforts a sobbing Voit.

How JJ & The BAU Says Goodbye To Will

JJ’s Vacantness Shatters In A Devastating Eulogy

Five days after Will’s death in Criminal Minds season 3, episode 2, Prentiss and Garcia are concerned by how well JJ seems to be holding up. JJ appears to be in shock, handling logistics with a vacant methodicalness. JJ first begins to crack when she sees her younger son, Michael, wearing one of Will’s ties gifted to him by his dad as they’re heading to the funeral.

Mrs. LaMontagne, her mother-in-law, is being unbelievably self-centered in her grief, suggesting her pain is worse than JJ’s because losing a child is unnatural. Rossi works his magic and connects with her by sharing his own story of losing an infant, which she insists is different. However, Rossi encourages her not to let her relationship with her son’s family die along with her son, which gets Mrs. LaMontagne to apologize to JJ.

Of course, the Behavioral Analysis Unit shows up to JJ. Aaron Hotchner and Derek Morgan do not appear, but send stunning flower bouquets for the funeral. Prentiss speaks, sharing how a near-death experience is what made Will know he wanted to marry JJ. Garcia also shares an anecdote about how Will made everyone feel cherished. In a heartwarming if not shocking moment, Spencer Reid appears at the funeral at the last minute to his best friend and his godsons when they need him the most.

JJ starts to express all the feelings she had been suppressing as she gives her eulogy. JJ reads some of the Post-It notes Will left for her each and every morning, until his last. Part of the reason she has been so stoic is that JJ blames herself for not catching Will’s health issue, feeling like she is responsible for his death. She is not sad but angry at herself and at her boys. She is also angry at Will himself, as they’ve gotten through everything as partners, and now she is left by herself.

Why Matthew Gray Gubler Returns As Spencer Reid In Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 3

Spencer Reid Comes To The Funeral To His Best Friend & Godson

JJ always had a special connection with Matthew Gray Gubler’s Dr. Spencer Reid. JJ and Reid’s friendship even tipped into a romance that Criminal Minds: Evolution now seems to be pretending never happened. Scheduling conflicts have always been the cited reason for Gubler not returning to Criminal Minds, although from a story perspective there was always room left open for Reid to come back. It makes sense that if Sicarius was not a big enough reason to compel Reid to return, it would be something emotional, like ing JJ through Will’s funeral.

As predicted, Spencer returns for Will’s funeral in the nick of time. Reid’s entrance is given the movie star treatment. It’s a small moment that shows Spencer also has a relationship with JJ’s kids even if the audience hasn’t been privy to it. Hearing the kids call him Spence — JJ’s private nickname for him, is an emotional moment.

Criminal Minds: Evolution has not forgotten how JJ and Reid have ed each other through the hardest moments.

Spencer gets a montage reunion with everyone in the BAU, another long-awaited fan payoff. Criminal Minds: Evolution has not forgotten how JJ and Reid have ed each other through the hardest moments. However, his line “I’m always here for you guys” rings a little hollow when he has not been seen and was only mentioned in ing for three seasons.

Will's Final Birthday Present For Michael Explained

Henry Was Hiding Will’s Homemade Present For His Brother Michael

JJ becomes desperate to find the present Will bought and hid for Michael before he ed. It appears that she is channeling her actual grief over Will’s death into a manic hunt for the gift. Its importance is ceremonial, as the last present Will will ever give either of their children.

Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3, episode 3 closes the case of the missing birthday present in a surprisingly sweet way. JJ finds their older son, Henry, reading “The LaMontagne How-To Guide” - a handmade book Will made for Michael to on his wisdom.

Henry apologizes for swiping the book a few days before Will died, which is why JJ couldn’t find it. He says he knows most of the stuff in the book already, so he volunteers to help guide Michael the way Will would want him to. Will LaMontagne was a great father, and his influence will continue to serve JJ’s boys even after his tragic ing.

How Will's Death Sets Up JJ's Arc For The Rest Of Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 3

JJ’s Struggle Will Be A Major Focus Of Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 3

JJ is understandably operating on autopilot after Will's death. She tells Tara she’d rather just stay asleep, because in her dreams Will is alive but awake she has to deal with the reality of his death. Grief can drive people to dangerous, obsessive extremes, as it did with Rossi after his wife Krystall’s death in Evolution season 1. JJ was already on edge before Will’s death, convinced her son had been exposed to BAU-gate from Criminal Minds: Evolution season 2.

JJ can weaponize BAU-Gate against Voit, as she has evidence the deepfake porn started with videos he took of his wife Sydney without her consent. JJ can use this against him if BAU-Gate is leaked to her family.

Being a single mother - whose mother and mother-in-law are more harmful than helpful to her mental health - will only compound JJ’s mourning process. She will have to be strong for the boys, but Henry is an observant teenager who has already figured out Will’s cancer diagnosis on his own, so keeping him completely in the dark if JJ is struggling seems unlikely.

Prentiss will give JJ as much time and space as she can—as both her boss and her friend. She was even willing to sneak JJ some edibles at the wake. However, if something changes with Voit’s charges based on his mental status, or if Sicarius’s network causes a domino effect of serial killer activations in Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3, this will become an all-hands-on-deck situation—and Prentiss might have to bring JJ back into the field before she’s truly ready.

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