Criminal Minds: Evolution Sets Up Its JJ & Will Replacement (But It Feels Forced)

There isn’t much time for finding love while working at the BAU in Criminal Minds: Evolution, but it’s already setting up its JJ and Will replacement. With a stable, supportive marriage and two kids, JJ and Will LaMontagne Jr.’s relationship was the exception, not the rule. Most often, finding true love leads to a devastating loss, like Spencer Reid with Maeve Donovan or Aaron Hotchner with his ex-wife Haley. However, with Will’s sudden death in Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3, episode 2, the show is pushing another BAU couple into the forefront, but it’s not quite working.

Luckily, the Paramount+ series is moving away from the Penelope Garcia/Tyler Green/Luke Alvez love triangle, a problematic attempt to recapture the flirtatious magic Garcia had with Derek Morgan. In Evolution season 1, the series did a smooth job introducing bisexuality as an aspect of Aisha Tyler’s character, Dr. Tara Lewis, when she revealed she has been dating Rebecca Wilson, an attorney in the Department of Justice. Tara and Rebecca’s relationship is being positioned as the next JJ and Will, but they aren’t there yet.

Tara & Rebecca Are Being Set Up As The Next Will & JJ

Tara & Rebecca Have Been Given A Lot Of Couple Time In Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 3

Like JJ and Will, Tara and Rebecca met on the job, prior to the events of Criminal Minds: Evolution season 1. Tara even tried to keep her relationship a secret from the BAU like JJ did in the early stages of hers, but working with a team of elite profilers makes privacy impossible, and Prentiss immediately sensed the unspoken intimacy between Tara and Rebecca.

When she was young, Tara Lewis was briefly married to one man, Daryl Wright. More recently before joining the BAU, she had a broken engagement with another man, Doug Fuller. She did not have any romantic interests in the original run of Criminal Minds after joining the BAU in season 11.

Will started as New Orleans PD before transferring to DC PD, and occasionally he would work on a case with the BAU in his capacity as a DC detective. Rebecca’s job has always involved liaising with the BAU, but after Voit’s arrest at the end of Criminal Minds: Evolution season 1, she was assigned to his case. This put her in direct conflict with Tara: Rebecca had to protect State Department secrets, even when she disagreed with the morality of her role.

JJ and Will were the only solid and happy couple over the 15 seasons of Criminal Minds, a bright spot in a world focused on getting inside the minds of the most depraved people. The show now has a romance gap to bridge, and it’s no coincidence that Tara and Rebecca have been getting so much screen time in the first few episodes of Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3, even getting a long, intimate montage in the beginning of season 3, episode 2.

Tara and Rebecca are clinging to each other in the wake of Will’s surprising death in Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3, episode 2. While Criminal Minds: Evolution wants fans to feel as invested in them as they did in JJ and Will, they aren’t quite there yet.

Why Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 3 Is Failing In Making Tara & Rebecca Be A Worthy Replacement For JJ & Will

Tara & Rebecca’s Work Puts Them At Odds With Each Other

Criminal Minds: Evolution is seeding Tara and Rebecca as the next couple for fans to invest in, but there are some glaring differences between them and JJ and Will. While the job is what brought JJ and Will together, work is the wedge that caused Tara and Rebecca to break up in Criminal Minds: Evolution season 1. Tara and the BAU reopen the case that launched Rebecca’s career, resulting in the latter moving out. Similarly, in Criminal Minds: Evolution season 2, Rebecca’s job puts her at cross-purposes with the BAU, who is trying to prove Voit is Sicarius.

This makes it feel like Tara and Rebecca’s relationship is only as stable as Rebecca’s next case, as she is at the whims of the Department of Justice’s next assignment. Instead of being partners who grow closer through the challenges of their respective jobs, the nature of their work repeatedly forces them into conflict. Conversely, JJ and Will – who rarely worked together directly — found a strength in their shared commitment to their dangerous field work.

This could be why the show has been trying to show more of Rebecca but less of her at work, meaning it’s a lot of her and Tara being affectionate at the BAU or at home. These scenes don’t bring any new information to the table, which makes the focus on their relationship feel a little awkward and forced.

Criminal Minds gave fans such rare glimpses of JJ and Will that every new moment was coveted. Their relationship wasn’t overexposed, and the limited screen time made each interaction feel earned, intimate, and deeply rooted in mutual respect and longevity. With Tara and Rebecca, viewers are getting significantly more content—but it’s paradoxically less affecting. Aisha Tyler and Nicole Pacent have chemistry, and the foundation is there. But for the relationship to become iconic, Criminal Minds: Evolution‘s writing needs to give Tara and Rebecca real obstacles to overcome together—not just conflicts that threaten to pull them apart.

How Tara & Rebecca Can Be Effective As A Couple Like JJ & Will Were

We Need To Be Shown – Not Told – How Tara And Rebecca Are Perfect For Each Other

Sometimes, less is more for a television romance, and it would be ideal for Tara and Rebecca to have a major relationship event, then have Rebecca take a backseat for the rest of Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3. Will’s death really makes them realize that everything they love can be taken away in a moment, so it seems like it is laying the groundwork for a BAU wedding, which would be a step in the right direction for Tara and Rebecca, as at least something would be happening.

For Tara and Rebecca to resonate on that same level, Criminal Minds: Evolution needs to stop telling the audience that they’re a great couple and start showing us—through specific, character-revealing moments. The current string of affectionate scenes lacks the nuance and detail that made JJ and Will feel real. Ultimately, grounding their romance in moments of vulnerability, routine, and joy—the things that defined JJ and Will’s love—will go a long way in helping viewers believe in Tara and Rebecca’s future in Criminal Minds: Evolution season 4.