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The most recent installment of Criminal Minds: Evolution lands a punch no one could have seen coming, rattling the emotional foundation of the BAU and longtime fans alike. Jennifer "J.J." Jareau, whose name is tantamount to toughness and determination, is now at the center of a narrative defined by personal loss instead of professional danger. The heartbreaking moment? The sudden and untimely passing of her husband, Will LaMontagne Jr., in Season 3, Episode 2
The story is now going internal, navigating the aftermath of loss and what it does to a character who has long functioned as the team's emotional center. Will's on-screen death from a brain aneurysm wasn't telegraphed or melodramatized—it just happened quietly, realistically, and with the right emotional weight Criminal Minds: Evolution has invested in over the past few seasons.
What really went down in season 3, episode 2 of Criminal Minds: Evolution
Recurring and fan-favorite Will LaMontagne Jr. passes away abruptly due to a brain aneurysm—something J.J. learns via a stomach-twisting phone call. The shock is not only personal to her; it's institutional. Will was not just her husband but the father of her children and her emotional anchor outside of the high-risk game of the BAU.
His death represents a tonal shift of great import for the show's third season, shifting the series away from external threats and into a very personal space. J.J.'s life is never actually under threat in this episode. Rather, it is a matter of her coming to terms with the loss and the emotional consequences that ensue.
In the most recent episode aired in May 2025, J.J. is struggling with her loss, trying to figure out how to deal with the emotions that accompany loss.
Grief, identity, and the emotional fallout in Criminal Minds: Evolution
One of the most emotionally sound and well-adjusted members of the BAU, J.J. has consistently been presented as a rock. Her path—media liaison turned profiler, mother turned field agent—has been one of toughness. But the loss of her husband brings a new kind of stress, one that doesn't have to do with fleeing serial killers but facing a very different type of trauma: life without Will.
Criminal Minds: Evolution employs this tragedy not to isolate J.J., but to explore the ripple effects of individual loss in a high-functioning team like the BAU. Her mourning is depicted as raw, disoriented, and entirely human. It doesn't upend the current investigations but does underline them—J.J.'s presence now is invested with a weight the series hasn't delved into in her character previously.
Will's loss is not only a private setback for J.J.—it resonates across the whole Behavioral Analysis Unit. Players such as Emily Prentiss and David Rossi are observed reacting with sympathy but also anxiety, not knowing how this could impact one of their most reliable agents. The BAU is a business of emotional chemistry and trust, and when someone such as J.J. drops the ball, it quietly affects the unit dynamic.
Will's passing in Criminal Minds: Evolution also heralds a thematic change. The series is providing space for psychological inquiry beyond the criminals they pursue. It is leveraging this opportunity to pose deeper questions: How do agents deal with loss when they spend their careers assisting others in doing so? What occurs when professional and personal lines are blurred so deeply? These are the emotional questions Criminal Minds: Evolution is no longer afraid to pose.
A series turnaround, not a goodbye
It should be noted that there has been no official report implying J.J. is being written off Criminal Minds: Evolution. The Collider piece makes guesses about the potential for her eventual exit or death, but nothing immediate, at least not at the moment. The guessing comes in the emotional force of the narrative, not any established storyline.
Rather, the show is employing the death of Will to force J.J. into a new narrative realm. It's not an attempt to take her away from the team, but rather trying to evolve the character in a way that's emotionally resonant. The series illustrates that the psychological toll of working in the FBI is not just what agents witness in the field. For J.J., that toll has come home at last.
The new Criminal Minds: Evolution episode doesn't put J.J.'s life in jeopardy—it alters it. The passing of Will LaMontagne Jr. brings in one of the most emotionally charged storylines in the show's history, centering on grief and redemption. Instead of exploiting the shock value of the twist, the series embraces its effect in a realistic and understated way.
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Though the future of J.J.'s mental and emotional well-being hangs in the balance, her physical existence isn't currently in jeopardy. What is in jeopardy, though, is her sense of purpose, identity, and connection to the world she once moved through confidently. It's not about dismissing her—it's about recasting who she is following all that she's lost. In a profiling-built show, Criminal Minds: Evolution is now positioning J.J. to profile herself.
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