Spoilers below for the first two episodes of Criminal Minds: Evolution, so be warned if you haven't yet watched.
After a short but arguably necessary break from the small screen, the BAU returned in full force to Criminal Minds: Evolution, the crime drama's streaming revival. As everyone with a Paramount+ subscription has already figured out, these new episodes have upped the ante compared to the 15 years on CBS, from releasing longer episodes to breaking language barriers, all while dishing out some dark and dreary storytelling. To be expected, the brightest light in that darkness is Kirsten Vangsness’ Penelope Garcia, who somewhat begrudgingly returned to her former stomping grounds to assist in tracking down Zach Gilford’s devious new UnSub. That return included an emotional reconnection with the pink Post-It note she left for her replacement in the Criminal Minds broadcast series finale, and the star gave us her take on what’s on there.
Garcia resecured her Post-It message in the episode “Sicarius” as it fell to the ground having gone undiscovered by anyone else at the BAU. Considering the show never showed viewers what was written on the note in the first place, some fans might have expected to have the message revealed in full, but that wasn’t the case. When CinemaBlend spoke with Kirsten Vangsness timed to Criminal Minds: Evolution’s streaming debut, I figured she wouldn’t be able to fully divulge such secrets, so I asked whether or not she actually wrote anything on the pink paper while filming the scene. To my surprise, she shared her definitive idea for what Garcia’s note said, as seen in the video above. But first, she revealed an on-set detail that fans should get a kick out of:
So when we did the original, I would say 90% of the pens and Garcia's office back then, and so far now, are run by imagination. So they didn't write. So I would write something — it would be really meaningful — but it would be different every take. I was like, whatever I want to feel right then.
It’s amusing that one of the most popular crime dramas of this century, which itself is centered on a government agency, can’t seem to keep working ink pens around in bulk. Nobody’s perfect, I guess.
In any case, Kirsten Vangsness then revealed that she did come up with a more formalized idea of what Garcia's note contains, even though she understands that not all viewers are going to be into this particular answer. In her words:
But actually, I made a choice. I know what that thing says. Now, people will argue with me, but now I say to you: 'What do you need that Post-It to say?' That is what it says. So whenever anybody watches that, I want you to think about what you need. And every time you watch it, what do you need that Post-It to say? And that's what it says. With your imaginary pen.
So what does everyone else think Garcia wrote to a hypothetical follow-up BAU agent? Hopefully it wasn't anything too aspirational and confident, such as declaring she would never be returning to that building, much less that particular office, and that she was totally in love with Alvez, and that the BAU would never have nitpicky government suits trying to deflate the agency's budget. Because none of those things would have been correct.
Criminal Minds: Evolution streams new episodes every Thursday on Paramount+, which recently offered one of the best streaming deals of the year for Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales; while it’s no longer available, you can be sure the platform will have more offers to come closer to Christmas. Head to our 2022 TV premiere schedule to see what else is popping up on the small screen before the year's end.
