Paramount+ Brings Back a Fan-Favorite CBS Series in Weeks — And There’s Even More for Fans

TV never really ends; it just circles back. Networks like ABC and NBC have been raiding their own vaults for years, and Paramount+ is right there with them. Case in point: Criminal Minds: Evolution is about to drop new episodes, and there is more good news baked in for BAU diehards.

When and how Criminal Minds: Evolution is coming back

Criminal Minds: Evolution premieres May 28 on Paramount+. After the premiere, new episodes roll out weekly on Thursdays.

Yes, the numbering looks funky. Paramount+ is calling this Season 19. That is because the show keeps counting from the original CBS run: 15 seasons on broadcast, then Evolution picked up the baton. This is the fourth Evolution installment, 19th overall. If you lost the thread somewhere between CBS and streaming, you are not alone.

A quick rewind: the original series wrapped its 15th season in 2020. Two years later, the team regrouped for Evolution, which ditched the classic case-of-the-week format for darker, season-long investigations.

The renewal came early (because of course it did)

Two months before Season 19 even lands, Paramount+ renewed Criminal Minds: Evolution for Season 20. No surprise there; this franchise is still one of TV's longest-running, most reliable procedural machines, and it has become a cornerstone title for Paramount+.

Details on Season 20 are under wraps, but if the show keeps its one-season-per-year pace it has maintained since Season 17, the milestone 20th season is likely to hit in 2027.

Why Evolution works (and why it is stickier to binge)

The streaming run leans into a grittier, more serialized design. That means bigger, season-spanning cases, more room to dig into the BAU team's personal lives and traumas, and a throughline that actually rewards watching in order. The legacy chemistry is intact, which helps a lot.

Returning for Season 19: Joe Mantegna, A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Aisha Tyler, Adam Rodriguez, and Paget Brewster. Zach Gilford is back as Elias Voit, aka Sicarius, who has been a calculating, personal, and frankly unnerving foil for the team. RJ Hatanaka is also in the mix this season.

Paramount+ in May: not just the BAU

Season 19 of Criminal Minds: Evolution is the streamer's final new arrival in May, but there is plenty before it. On May 1, Paramount+ adds Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries, the full Battlestar Galactica series, Caprica, and all five seasons of Friday Night Lights. On May 13, Boomerang and Kingdom Business arrive. Season finales for Watson, NCIS, and Elsbeth are also sprinkled through the month.

• Premiere: Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 19 hits Paramount+ on May 28; new episodes follow weekly on Thursdays.
• Numbering note: This is the fourth Evolution season and the 19th season overall, since the show kept counting from the original 15 on CBS.
• Background: The original run ended in 2020; Evolution revived the BAU two years later with a darker, serialized format.
• Cast: Joe Mantegna, A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Aisha Tyler, Adam Rodriguez, Paget Brewster, Zach Gilford, and RJ Hatanaka.
• Villain watch: Zach Gilford's Elias Voit/Sicarius remains a chilling, personal long-arc adversary.
• Already renewed: Season 20 was ordered two months ahead of the Season 19 premiere; no details yet, but the current pace points to 2027.
• Also on Paramount+ in May: Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries, Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, and all five seasons of Friday Night Lights (May 1); Boomerang and Kingdom Business (May 13); plus season finales for Watson, NCIS, and Elsbeth. Season 19 of Evolution caps the month's new arrivals.