After years of psychological warfare, David Rossi may finally be ready to close one of the darkest chapters of his Criminal Minds: Evolution journey.
But Joe Mantegna does not appear interested in seeing the veteran profiler simply ride into a peaceful retirement.
With Criminal Minds: Evolution officially returning for a milestone Season 20 in 2027, Rossi is entering a fascinating new phase. Elias Voit’s long-running presence has finally been pushed out of the immediate picture, giving both Rossi and the series an opportunity to rediscover who this character is when he is no longer psychologically tied to the same adversary.
For Mantegna, the possibilities are significant.
Rossi has spent years carrying experience, grief, responsibility and the accumulated emotional weight of the BAU. Season 20 can finally ask a different question: after everything Rossi has survived, what does he still want from the life he has built?
The answer could define the next era of Evolution.
Rossi Has Finally Closed the Book on Elias Voit
Few relationships in the streaming-era Criminal Minds have been as psychologically complicated as the one between Rossi and Elias Voit.
Voit was never simply another name on a case file.
He got inside Rossi’s head.
Their conflict became increasingly personal, forcing the veteran profiler to confront fear and vulnerability in ways audiences rarely saw during the original series.
Season 19 finally brought that prolonged psychological battle toward a conclusion.
Rossi completing his book about Voit carried obvious symbolic importance. For someone who has spent his career studying behavior, writing becomes a way of reclaiming the narrative.
Voit had occupied too much space in Rossi’s mind.
The book allowed Rossi to define him rather than remain defined by him.
And Season 20 now has the opportunity to show what happens afterward.
Joe Mantegna Wants Rossi to Keep Moving Forward
The most compelling future for Rossi is not necessarily retirement.
It is movement.
Mantegna has played the character since Season 3 of the original Criminal Minds, making Rossi one of the franchise’s longest-serving figures. After so many years, it would be easy to treat him purely as the elder statesman who exists to guide everyone else.
But Evolution has resisted that temptation.
The revival has made Rossi vulnerable.
It has allowed him to struggle.
It has reminded audiences that experience does not create immunity from emotional consequences.
That gives Mantegna far more interesting material than simply playing the man who always knows the answer.
Ahead of Season 20, the hope is that Rossi can move forward while remaining fully engaged with life — professionally, emotionally and personally.
Closing the book on Voit should not mean closing the book on David Rossi.
A Lighter Rossi Could Be Exactly What Fans Need — Briefly
After the intensity of the Voit era, seeing Rossi breathe again would feel significant.
Imagine Rossi returning to some of the things that have always made him feel human outside the BAU: cooking, friendship, conversation and the occasional glass of wine with people he trusts.
Those elements have never been meaningless details.
They are part of Rossi’s identity.
He has spent decades studying humanity at its most complicated, but he has also deliberately surrounded himself with reminders of why life is worth protecting.
Season 20 has an opportunity to rediscover some of that warmth.
The catch?
According to showrunner Erica Messer, any lighter period may not last very long.
Rossi is expected to be hit hard emotionally by developments early in the new season, making him an important focus of the team’s next chapter.
So if Rossi gets peace, audiences may want to appreciate it while it lasts.
Prentiss Could Become More Important to Rossi Than Ever
Emily Prentiss may be one of the people best equipped to understand what Rossi needs next.
Their relationship is built on unusual equality.
Prentiss is the leader, but Rossi carries enormous institutional knowledge and experience. He can challenge her without undermining her, while she can confront him without treating him as someone who has aged beyond usefulness.
That mutual respect has become one of the strongest relationships in the modern BAU.
Season 20 could deepen it.
If Rossi is shaken by new events, Prentiss may find herself reversing their familiar roles.
Instead of Rossi serving as the veteran voice reminding everyone else to maintain perspective, Prentiss could become the person reminding Rossi that he does not have to carry everything alone.
For Paget Brewster and Mantegna, that dynamic offers considerable dramatic potential.
JJ Understands the Cost of Continuing
Jennifer Jareau could also play an important role in Rossi’s Season 20 journey.
JJ understands what it means to continue working after life changes dramatically.
A.J. Cook’s character has experienced major personal upheaval while remaining committed to the BAU and to her family.
That gives her a perspective Rossi may increasingly understand.
Neither character needs a speech about resilience.
They have lived it.
Their relationship could therefore become quieter and more meaningful.
Rossi has often been a source of wisdom for younger members of the team.
Season 20 could allow JJ to return some of that support.
Sometimes the person with the most experience is also the person who needs someone else to recognize when the weight has become too heavy.
Garcia Can Help Bring Back Rossi’s Warmth
Then there is Penelope Garcia.
Kirsten Vangsness’ character has always had a special ability to challenge the emotional restraint of the people around her.
Rossi is no exception.
Garcia represents warmth in an environment that can easily become dominated by analysis and pressure. Her connection with Rossi works because she refuses to view him exclusively as the legendary profiler.
He is her friend.
That distinction could become important in Season 20.
If Rossi is attempting to build an identity that is no longer centered on Voit, the people who know him outside that conflict will matter most.
Garcia remembers the Rossi who cooks.
The Rossi who celebrates.
The Rossi who can laugh.
Those pieces of the character deserve to survive.
The BAU May Have to Rally Around Its Veteran
One of the most interesting Season 20 possibilities is a reversal of the traditional Rossi dynamic.
For years, Rossi has been the person everyone else can lean on.
What happens when the BAU needs to lean toward him instead?
Messer has indicated that the team will be rallying around its members as Rossi is affected by events early in the season.
That immediately shifts the emotional equation.
Luke Alvez and Tara Lewis are no longer comparatively new additions who simply need guidance from Rossi. They have accumulated years of experience with him.
Garcia and JJ have known him for much of their adult professional lives.
Prentiss has led beside him.
They are capable of protecting the person who has spent so much time protecting them.
That is not weakness.
It is the natural evolution of the BAU family.
Season 20 Has to Prove Evolution Can Exist Without Voit
Rossi’s future is also connected to a larger challenge facing the series.
For four Evolution seasons, Voit became deeply embedded in the show’s identity.
Season 20 will move away from that era.
Zach Gilford is not currently expected to appear, and the series is preparing a different season-long mystery.
That puts enormous responsibility back on the BAU.
The new story cannot simply replace Voit with another version of Voit.
It needs to create different psychological pressures.
For Rossi, that means confronting challenges that do not depend on his previous obsession.
He needs a future, not another repetition of his past.
Rossi Is Still the Heart of Criminal Minds’ History
Rossi occupies a unique position within the franchise.
He remembers earlier versions of the BAU.
He worked alongside Hotch, Morgan and Reid.
He watched JJ become an accomplished profiler.
He saw Prentiss evolve into a leader.
He witnessed Garcia repeatedly prove that compassion could survive inside the BAU.
And he remained when Criminal Minds became Evolution.
That history gives Joe Mantegna something few television actors receive: a character whose age and experience can genuinely become part of the storytelling.
Rossi does not need to pretend that twenty years have not passed.
The passing of time is the story.
Season 20 Could Give Rossi His Most Personal Evolution Yet
The obvious question surrounding David Rossi is always the same: how much longer can he keep doing this?
Season 20 could offer a more interesting question.
Why does he keep doing it?
Maybe the answer is not duty alone.
Maybe it is Prentiss.
JJ.
Garcia.
Tara.
Alvez.
Maybe the BAU stopped being simply Rossi’s profession a long time ago.
That is why Joe Mantegna’s hopes for the character matter as Criminal Minds: Evolution approaches its milestone twentieth season.
Rossi does not need another antagonist consuming his identity.
He needs room to live.
He needs new challenges, moments of humor, meaningful relationships and reasons to remain connected to the world beyond the profile.
Season 19 allowed Rossi to close the book on Elias Voit.
Season 20 now has the much more exciting opportunity to open a new one.
And after everything David Rossi has given the BAU, perhaps his next evolution should finally allow the team to give something back to him.
