# Criminal Minds season 17
**Criminal Minds season 17** is the second season of the [Paramount+](https://www.edgepedia.org/paramount) revival *[Criminal Minds](https://www.edgepedia.org/criminal-minds-franchise): Evolution*, and the seventeenth season of the *Criminal Minds* franchise overall. It premiered on Thursday, June 6, 2024, with two episodes, followed by weekly Thursday releases for a total of 10 episodes, and is listed on Paramount+ as Season 17 of the main series[1](https://www.paramountplus.com/sneak-peak/when-and-where-to-watch-criminal-minds-season-17/) • [2](https://www.tvline.com/news/criminal-minds-season-17-start-date-cast-spoilers-paramount-plus-1235080436/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Series position | Second season of *Criminal Minds: Evolution*; seventeenth season overall, listed as Season 17 on Paramount+[1](https://www.paramountplus.com/sneak-peak/when-and-where-to-watch-criminal-minds-season-17/) |
| Premiere | Thursday, June 6, 2024, with two episodes; then weekly Thursdays[1](https://www.paramountplus.com/sneak-peak/when-and-where-to-watch-criminal-minds-season-17/) |
| Episode count | 10 episodes, the same as Evolution's first season[2](https://www.tvline.com/news/criminal-minds-season-17-start-date-cast-spoilers-paramount-plus-1235080436/) |
| Main cast | Paget Brewster (Emily Prentiss), Joe Mantegna (David Rossi), A.J. Cook (JJ), Kirsten Vangsness (Penelope Garcia), Aisha Tyler (Tara Lewis), Adam Rodriguez (Luke Alvez)[2](https://www.tvline.com/news/criminal-minds-season-17-start-date-cast-spoilers-paramount-plus-1235080436/) |
| Central villain | Zach Gilford as serial killer Elias Voit, now in federal custody near the BAU[1](https://www.paramountplus.com/sneak-peak/when-and-where-to-watch-criminal-minds-season-17/) • [2](https://www.tvline.com/news/criminal-minds-season-17-start-date-cast-spoilers-paramount-plus-1235080436/) |
| Production delays | Planned for April 2023, moved to June 2023, then held back by the WGA strike (from May 2, 2023) and the SAG-AFTRA strike; filming began mid-January 2024[2](https://www.tvline.com/news/criminal-minds-season-17-start-date-cast-spoilers-paramount-plus-1235080436/) |
| Renewal | Paramount+ renewed the series for a third season on June 5, 2024, the day before the season 17 premiere[3](https://criminalminds.fandom.com/wiki/Criminal_Minds%3A_Evolution) |
## Placement in the franchise
The original *Criminal Minds* ran on CBS for 15 seasons from 2005 to 2020. The revival *Criminal Minds: Evolution* premiered exclusively on Paramount+ in 2022, and each new installment carries both a revival number and a franchise number: the season that launched in June 2024 is Evolution Season 2 and also Season 17 of the overall series[1](https://www.paramountplus.com/sneak-peak/when-and-where-to-watch-criminal-minds-season-17/). Showrunner Erica Messer, the franchise's executive producer and showrunner, framed the continuation as one story: her writers' room counted Evolution's first season as only about six weeks of in-story time, with two more weeks passing into this season[4](https://www.tvline.com/interviews/criminal-minds-season-17-preview-prentiss-struggle-voit-gold-star-mystery-1235251200/).
## Production and delays
The season was greenlit roughly a year before it filmed. A source told TVLine it was originally to begin shooting in April 2023, but Paramount paused pre-production amid fears of a Writers Guild strike; June 2023 was penciled in as a new start date, and when the WGA strike began on May 2, 2023, followed by the [SAG-AFTRA](https://www.edgepedia.org/sag-aftra) strike, the start slipped again[2](https://www.tvline.com/news/criminal-minds-season-17-start-date-cast-spoilers-paramount-plus-1235080436/). After the strikes ended, franchise star [Paget Brewster](https://www.edgepedia.org/paget-brewster) announced on X that filming would "start filming in mid-January" at a "breakneck pace" to deliver episodes quickly[2](https://www.tvline.com/news/criminal-minds-season-17-start-date-cast-spoilers-paramount-plus-1235080436/).
Production records for the season list Glenn Kershaw as director, Breen Frazier and Chris Barbour as writers, [Mark Gordon](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-gordon) and Erica Messer as producers, and April Webster and Ramani Leah as casting directors, with shooting in Los Angeles, California[5](https://www.productionlist.com/production/criminal-minds-evolution-season-2).
## Story
The season's spine is the mystery of GOLD STAR, a phrase tied to a powerful secret, which the BAU investigates as a deadly conspiracy unfolds. The complication is that serial killer Elias Voit, the pandemic-era network-builder who was the first [Evolution](https://www.edgepedia.org/evolution) season's antagonist, negotiates a deal that transfers him to federal custody in the BAU's own backyard[1](https://www.paramountplus.com/sneak-peak/when-and-where-to-watch-criminal-minds-season-17/). The season opens with Voit looking at who walks through the interrogation-room door, and Messer said the team would use him "almost the way Hannibal Lecter was used in Silence of the Lambs": a brilliant, twisted profiler in custody whom the team does not want to consult but must, since in sixteen prior seasons they had never had to work with a killer this way[6](https://www.tvinsider.com/1111499/criminal-minds-evolution-season-17-filming-update-revival-paramount-plus/) • [7](https://www.assignmentx.com/2024/criminal-minds-evolution-showrunner-erica-messer-on-season-2-exclusive-interview/).
**Format.** Messer had promised a change from the first season's single-UnSub focus, telling TVLine before production that the new run would be a hybrid: of the first four episodes outlined, two were serialized and two were not[2](https://www.tvline.com/news/criminal-minds-season-17-start-date-cast-spoilers-paramount-plus-1235080436/). The first two episodes carry the Voit thread: in "Gold Star," the BAU must team up with Elias Voit to track the Gold Star killer, and in "Contagion," the team investigates a series of killings with the same brutal M.O. seen in strike-team deaths, trying to link victims to determine whether one killer is responsible[8](https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/criminal_minds/episodes/17/). Later episode titles include "Piranha" (episode 7, airing July 11, 2024, with the BAU investigating a sadistic criminal in Washington, D.C.) and "Stars & Stripes" (episode 9, aired July 25, 2024)[9](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/criminal-minds/season-17/) • [10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/criminal_minds/s17).
## Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the season shows a Tomatometer of 48% from two critic reviews and 50+ audience ratings on the Popcornmeter[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/criminal_minds/s17). Jay Snow's review in Paste Magazine scored it 7.7/10, asking why the revival was changing a formula that had carried the original through 15 seasons[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/criminal_minds/s17). A Metacritic critic summary called *Criminal Minds: Evolution* "indeed an evolution of the franchise," noting that the cast seemed to enjoy its meaty season-long mysteries, while another critic saw more potential in the Gold Star story than in the Voit material[9](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/criminal-minds/season-17/).
## Aftermath
Paramount+ renewed *Criminal Minds: Evolution* for a third season on June 5, 2024, one day before this season's first two episodes were released[3](https://criminalminds.fandom.com/wiki/Criminal_Minds%3A_Evolution). The franchise continued under the Evolution banner, with later seasons following annually on Paramount+[1](https://www.paramountplus.com/sneak-peak/when-and-where-to-watch-criminal-minds-season-17/).
## References
1. [When and Where To Watch Criminal Minds Season 17, Paramount+](https://www.paramountplus.com/sneak-peak/when-and-where-to-watch-criminal-minds-season-17/)
2. [Criminal Minds Season 17 To Begin Production At 'Breakneck Pace' In January, TVLine](https://www.tvline.com/news/criminal-minds-season-17-start-date-cast-spoilers-paramount-plus-1235080436/)
3. [Criminal Minds: Evolution, Criminal Minds Wiki (Fandom)](https://criminalminds.fandom.com/wiki/Criminal_Minds%3A_Evolution)
4. [Criminal Minds Season 17 Preview: Prentiss Struggle, Voit And BAU, TVLine](https://www.tvline.com/interviews/criminal-minds-season-17-preview-prentiss-struggle-voit-gold-star-mystery-1235251200/)
5. [Criminal Minds: Evolution (Season 2), Production List](https://www.productionlist.com/production/criminal-minds-evolution-season-2)
6. [Criminal Minds: Evolution to Start Filming New Season in January, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/1111499/criminal-minds-evolution-season-17-filming-update-revival-paramount-plus/)
7. [CRIMINAL MINDS: EVOLUTION: Showrunner Erica Messer on Season 2, Assignment X](https://www.assignmentx.com/2024/criminal-minds-evolution-showrunner-erica-messer-on-season-2-exclusive-interview/)
8. [Criminal Minds Season 17 Episodes, Paramount+](https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/criminal_minds/episodes/17/)
9. [Criminal Minds season 17 Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/criminal-minds/season-17/)
10. [Criminal Minds: Season 17, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/criminal_minds/s17)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Seasons, episodes, and installments › Screen seasons › American procedural and franchise drama seasons*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license