After Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 3 Episode 3, I Fear One Horrible Tragedy Is Looming

Though Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3, episode 3 placed the focus squarely on JJ’s (AJ Cook) grief, there could very well be another tragedy looming in the series. Season 3 surprised fans by killing off a long-time character in episode 2, and episode 3 picked up not long after that event, showcasing a funeral and allowing JJ to be vulnerable in her grief in a way her character does not usually get to be. While much of the talk about the episode has been the funeral, the members of the Behavioral Analysis Unit still have a case to work.

As JJ grieves in episode 3, the team is able to offer her emotional support while also evaluating Elias Voit (Zach Gilford). In particular, Rossi (Joe Mantegna) and Tara (Aisha Tyler) spend much of the episode trying to determine just how much Voit remembers about his past. They make the decision to appeal to his only known surviving target in order to prove that he is Sicarius, and it is her interaction with him that makes me think another tragedy is coming.

Ramona’s Abrupt Emotional Switch In Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 3, Episode 3 Was Strange

Ramona Was Terrified Before Meeting Voit

Ramona (guest star Kerry Knuppe) is, for those of us who might not have remembered right away, the real estate agent whom Elias Voit kidnapped in the first season of Criminal Minds: Evolution and treated as a surrogate for his wife while he held her in an underground bunker. She is the only known target to survive one of the Sicarius attacks, and that makes her a valuable witness for the BAU. The trouble is, there are a lot of red flags when they go looking for Ramona.

Ramona is living in her mother’s house with no indication that she has been in touch with her husband or kids. When the team members get there, clutter and even trash are set on various surfaces, the house is dark, and Ramona is in clear distress. Unkempt and on the verge of tears, Ramona has a difficult time even thinking about what happened to her, let alone revisiting it with the agents. Ramona is suffering under the weight of the trauma.

She is terrified at the idea presented to her: talking to Voit while he is in the hospital to see if he is the man who abducted her. The BAU now understands that Voit is not faking the loss of motor skills and amnesia present in the previous Criminal Minds: Evolution episode, and they need to find ways to unlock the memories Voit is hiding.

While Ramona initially refuses, jogging Voit’s memories hinges on him being confronted by Ramona, and she does eventually decide to see him. She is visibly shaken and even has to run from the room. Ramona shows signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder before the meeting, but after fleeing from his presence, she makes an abrupt about face to the team with the line, “thanks for showing me he’s a different person now”, as if she suddenly believes what the team has been telling her about his amnesia despite him referencing “Second Street” where he abducted her.

Ramona’s turn from a terrified witness who has been drinking to forget what happened to her and refusing to let her kids see her in distress, into a calm and collected woman who believes the ordeal is over, is a little too sudden. It’s strange that she leaves the encounter with a promise to testify in court if needed and seemingly completely fine with what happened after quite literally shaking and being overcome by emotions just moments before.

Ramona’s sudden turn is so strange that it is unbelievable.

It’s Possible Seeing Voit In Criminal Minds Retraumatized Her

Ramona Could Do Something Drastic

The sudden change in Ramona’s emotions might not just be an acting choice or an effort to get to the next part of the story. Instead, I think this change is meant to indicate a deeper problem for Ramona. It’s entirely possible that coming face-to-face with Voit and responding to his question of “Are we married?” has effectively retraumatized her. Part of the way Voit tortured her was roleplaying with her as his wife as he tried to work out some of the anger from his real marriage.

Ramona has a visceral reaction when she responds “no” to the question, and she is hardly calm while face-to-face with the embodiment of her nightmares. For a woman who has not yet been able to deal with the original trauma, facing Voit could have catastrophic consequences.

It could be something as simple as Ramona deciding to clamp down on her feelings, ignore the investigation completely, and change her mind about testifying when the series gets to that point. It also, however, could point to a much darker storyline in which Ramona’s own trauma causes her to do something drastic. In a series like Criminal Minds, “something drastic” can run the gamut from the victim going after their attacker, a victim of a violent crime suffering a break from reality and becoming violent themselves, or a victim taking their own life.

Criminal Minds has never shied away from the darkest parts of human behavior and how that darkness can have a ripple effect on those around it. Though Ramona has only appeared in two episodes across three seasons, it’s unlikely that darkness is going to be completely gone from her life at this point. Her story is not over yet, and it will likely have tragic consequences in a future Criminal Minds episode.