Criminal minds seemed to be taking a big risk by killing off an important character in a gruesome death scene.
During the Thursday, June 18, episode of the Paramount+ show, Voits (Zach Gilford) biggest fan kidnapped Lance (Connor Storie) and used it to get answers from the BAU. Members of the organization – and Voit – listened as one wrong answer resulted in Lance being brutally tortured. The call then dropped, which seemed to indicate that Lance could be too.
Storrie, 26, joined the show earlier this year following his breakout role on Heated rivalry.
Related to Rachel Reid‘S Game changer book series, Heated rivalry follows two rival professional ice hockey players, Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Storrie), whose on-ice animosity is just a front for their secret – and very passionate – romance.
The show premiered on Crave in November 2025 before being released to an even wider audience via HBO Max earlier this year. It didn’t take long for readers to express their support for the adaptation on social media as Williams and Storrie’s popularity grew.
Storrie, meanwhile, was filming scenes for season 19 of Criminal minds This eventually became a story arc with several episodes. Showrunner Erica Messer recently teased about it Us weekly that Storrie’s character will play an important role when it comes to this season’s villain.
“Connor will be introduced in Episode 4,” she confirmed. “His story does have something to do with the big bad of the season, but – without giving much away – that’s all I’ll say.”
Looking ahead to the season, Messer gave a preview of the vision for this episode.
“It’s this idea of a new beginning. It’s been a year in our story world,” the screenwriter noted. “So they’re facing new challenges – but there’s also a bit of hope in that. It holds the potential for even better things.”
Messer also revealed whether Storrie’s co-star Williams, 25, would appear next.
“Trust me, we looked at it,” she said Us. “We asked ourselves, ‘Is he available?'”
The idea didn’t pan out because Williams was too booked and busy, and Messer added, “He’s filming the second season of Heated Rivalry in August and that’s when we’d need her. We tried.”
Criminal Minds: Evolution airs Thursdays on Paramount+.
