Criminal Minds: Evolution – The Zookeeper shows Daredevil fame Elden Henson like you’ve never seen him before 

The Marvel series’ Daredevil featured the attorney-vigilante Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) alongside the endearing Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson), and we were introduced to both of their turbo personalities in the same breath. The portrayal made the lawyer a compelling and beloved character in the show. Elden Henson’s warm and comedic performance, combined with the character dynamics of the eponymous superhero, really made the Marvel universe wholesome.

Elden Henson has already showcased his range, and while his character had an appeal to begin with, one knows that he is a very capable actor. This portrayal came to life in the last episode of the ever-raging cop procedural show, Criminal Minds, where Elden Henson appears as a guest star. His character, named 'Zookeeper' in Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 3, Episode 2, shocked us.

Elden Henson plays the serial killer called Zookeeper

He plays the serial killer of the week and completely reworks any expectation we could have come up with for this character. And so far into the season, his performance grasping the twisted depth of a villain’s mind establishes Elden Henson as one of the most memorable this season.

The second episode of Evolution Season 3 is titled "The Zookeeper," and its enigmatic title barely hints at the full horror of what this week’s killer is capable of. The BAU’s tech expert finds disturbing footage of a woman imprisoned in a cage and tortured. The metadata leads them to an unsub who had been presumed dormant.

Enter Henson, who plays the killer nicknamed the Zookeeper. His methods include abducting s*x workers with no close contacts, imprisoning them in horrific conditions, “breaking” them into submission, and eventually killing them before moving to a new victim.

He also posts deepfake photos and voice recordings of the victims to maintain the facade of their continued online presence, a tactic that leads the team to suspect that he is part of the Sicarius network (see previous seasons). It proves that they have come back, as was suggested in Episode 1. While Henson dies by the end of the episode, his actions have a lasting impact on the plot.

A dark, radical departure from foggy

It's exciting to see Henson take on such a stark contrast from what we have come to expect from him: from a lawyer battling crime to a serial killer committing it. The first time he is seen, as this seemingly good man commits unspeakable crimes, it is disturbing and shocking to the viewer. This isn't Foggy; there's no warmth here.

The episode structure feeds right into that transition because before we even encounter the Zookeeper, the BAU sketches out a profile for him: a middle-management type who has no control in his real life and finds an outlet for power through violent fantasy. They posit that he escapes into collars, costumes, and domination — all of which are consistent with what is happening in reality.

Adding to the horror are the private messages the killer sends to the Sicarius network. In one, he writes he wants to “tame them into submission” and adds, “He gets bored and becomes a boy that breaks his toys.” These quotes are chilling enough on paper, but they take on a new level of terror when embodied by Henson.

Henson's dual-faced performance is truly haunting

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Elden Henson has played the character in two distinct phases: first as the "mask" of an articulate, intelligent man who nearly comes across as almost charming (but not quite Foggy). Later, we see him revealed as the monster underneath, calculating, cruel, confident, and disturbingly gleeful in his brutality. Henson manages to make this transition believable and even unsettling.

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