Evolution boss Erika Messer explains how her paranoia inspired Unsub Network

Erika Messer made this confession during a recent interview with Term while promoting the streaming premiere of Criminal Minds: Evolution. It seems her idea for a network of unknowns on the show came about when, during her downtime due to the pandemic, Messer found herself imagining how serial killers could live during such lockdowns. “It’s my paranoid brain that’s overwhelmed with thoughts, ‘What are serial killers doing during a pandemic?’

The Criminal Minds: Evolution boss added that her logical chain didn’t stop there, noting, “Then I thought, ‘What if they’re talking to each other? What if they give pointers? that’s what Messer suggested to the Paramount bosses when they asked if she was interested in doing another season of Criminal Minds. Messer claims that Paramount management was as concerned about the idea as they were keenly interested in it, joking, “That’s what I suggested to Paramount and they said, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ And yes, please do so.”

Whatever part of Messer’s paranoid mind gave birth to the original idea for Evolution, the concept of a network of unknowns really breathed much-needed life into the Criminal Minds formula, which – after over 300 episodes – is perhaps a little outdated. . Given the storytelling revitalization of the show, it’s easy to imagine Messer and the writers of Criminal Minds using it as the starting point for several more seasons of Evolution—unless, of course, her mind can come up with an even more murderous twist.