Felicity Huffman’s Dr. Jill Gideon has already shaken up the team dynamic on Criminal Minds: Evolution — and now she’s bringing the heat and the PDA factor.
“What if you use me as bait?” Jill asks Dave Rossi (Joe Mantegna) in Us Weekly’s exclusive sneak peek at the Thursday, July 18, episode titled “North Star,” while discussing their latest case.
While Rossi is against the idea, Jill insists that they are in the “dangerous” situation because of “what I did,” referring to her part in creating the “Controllable Variables on Emerging Teenage Psychopathy” document — a.k.a. a guide on how to become a serial killer — when the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) was in its infancy.
Rossi, who was initially resistant to Jill joining the team this season, notes that her past research was meant to “help kids,” and it’s not her fault that Stuart House — a reform school that later became a place where the kids were abused — was twisted into something dark.
“I’ll tell you what I’ve learned, if you don’t take responsibility somebody else will,” Jill says, noting that her late ex-husband Jason Gideon (Mandy Patinkin) “tried to go hide in his cabin and look where that got him.”
Jill’s remark makes Rossi pause before he inquires if she’s been back to the cabin since Gideon’s death. (Gideon died off camera during season 10 of the series at the hands of an Unsub. Jill was his ex-wife, and therapist, who was mentioned on the series but never shown until this season.)
“I can’t go back to where he was killed,” Jill admits. “I’d rather have my memories thinking of him singing and cooking in that tiny kitchen.”
While on the topic of Gideon’s death, Jill asks Rossi why he “didn’t come to the funeral” even though they were all close back in the day.
Rossi confesses that it was too much to face her at the wake. “I couldn’t look at you,” he laments, as his eyes drift toward the floor.
“Can you look at me now?” Jill responds before grabbing Rossi by the face and kissing him on the couch.
Fans will have to tune into Thursday’s episode to see what happens next between the coworkers — but the characters’ connection will be hard to ignore.
“Joe and Felicity have known one another for 30 years and so have their characters, David Rossi and Jill Gideon,” showrunner Erica Messer teased to Us in an exclusive statement. “Only in their story, things are a lot more … complicated.”
Zach Gilford, who directed the episode, had a front-row seat to the sparks between Huffman, 61, and Mantegna, 76, while shooting.
“It was Felicity Huffman and Joe Mantegna, I felt like all I had to do was sit back and watch the chemistry,” Gilford, who also plays villain Elias Voit on the drama, exclusively told Us.
Jill and Rossi’s steamy moment, however, won’t be the only heart-thumping scene when the episode, written by Christopher Barbour and Charles Dewey, airs.
“The BAU tries to get ahead of Jade and Damien who are on a killing spree,” the official logline reads. “Rossi must confront an old flame to unpack the secrets behind the Gold Star program. Tyler and Rebecca attempt to gain leverage over Elias Voit’s lawyer.”
Watch Us Weekly’s exclusive video from this week’s episode above — and get a taste of the drama to come with the first look photos.
