“It’s Weird”: ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’s Kirsten Vangsness Weighs In on Garcia’s Love Life

Criminal Minds returned with another season of Evolution earlier this month, and it’s already been one hell of a ride. While fans await even more deranged cases in the upcoming episodes, there’s also more ahead on the personal front for fan-favorite characters. Most recently, we’ve seen JJ (A. J. Cook) experience the heart-shattering loss of her husband Will (Josh Stewart), whose funeral prompted the reappearance of the iconic Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler).

But on a less miserable note, fans are surely curious if there will be some romance in this season of Criminal Minds: Evolution to spice things up. Kirsten Vangsness has an update about her character’s dramatic love life. Speaking with TV Insider, the actress who portrays the ever-endearing and nerdy Garcia weighed in on what’s going on between Garcia and Tyler (RJ Hatanaka), who have settled into an amicable working relationship after a rocky romance.

“It’s weird. You know when your therapist has drilled enough stuff in you that you’re like, ‘I can’t believe I dated them, I can’t believe they violated those boundaries’? This was a little like that, but also she’s over it but not totally over it. You work with the person, and they’re right there all the time, and you still want to make sure, ‘Is my lipstick on?’ That’s that recheck all the time.”

Garcia’s Love Life Gets Even More Chaotic in ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ Season 18

Although Gracia is still not over Tyler in Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18, fans shouldn’t expect any sort of romantic reunion between them yet, even though the technical analyst would rather not play “a clean break.” Vangsness further explained, saying:“It’s real, her feelings, but I also think that they’re fluid, and at the end of the day, we have these very huge things that we’re dealing with. So you let it go and deal with those things.”

As for the future of Gracia’s love life this season, there’s not much ahead, according to the actress. However, she hinted at her character trying to combine both friendship and romance as the latest season of Criminal Minds progresses. In her words:

“I think that there’s so much going on and the season before was all about Garcia kind of being more sure of herself. Now, she’s trying to put romance in her friendship and friendship in her romance. And she’s working a lot, so there’s not a lot of time for things. But she’s Garcia, she’ll get in some flirting wherever she can.”