Warning: This interview contains spoilers for Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3, episode 5, "The Brutal Man."

Criminal Minds season 3, episode 5, "The Brutal Man," found one of Voit's – or rather, Sicarius's – acolytes going on a horrific killing spree. The Brutal Man's methods are particularly horrific, as he tortures families by making them choose who he kills, and then killing all but one, forcing them to live with the horror.

The Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3 episode is one of the most interesting, with the episode being told in flashback as JJ (AJ Cook) opens up to Dr. Ochoa and recounts the case and how it made her realize she wasn't ready to get back to work yet in the wake of Will's death. In a surprise twist, Dr. Ochoa encourages JJ to reach out to Voit and use him to help catch The Brutal Man. Now that Elias is aware of who he used to be, he wants nothing more than to atone, but the BAU team risks pushing him too far. As such, it often puts Dr. Ochoa at odds with the team.

ScreenRant spoke with Aimee Garcia about this episode and the season as a whole. The conversation touched upon who in the cast she was most excited to meet, how her character balances who Elias Voit used to be with who he is now, and whether we can expect Dr. Julia Ochoa to return for Criminal Minds: Evolution season 4.

Aimee Garcia Was The New Kid To The Criminal Minds: Evolution Cast - But Knew Exactly Who She Wanted To Meet

"I Completely Fangirled When I Met Her."

ScreenRant: You're ing a cast that has mostly been together for quite a long time. What's it like to jump into a cast that is already so tight-knit and have to find your place this season?

Aimee Garcia: "It's like being the new kid in school when everyone has been through kindergarten, grade school, junior high, and high school together. You come in your year, you don't know what to expect, but I am so glad that this cast has been so welcoming. They are class acts, they are consummate professionals. They are just such a family and so welcoming that I feel eternally grateful to Erica Messer for bringing me on board.

And it was a joyous experience. I was nervous because it's like being in a band and then the band asks you to come and play percussion, and you don't want to mess up the band. You just want to add to the band, you just want to jive with the band because the band's been together so long. So it was a little intimidating because I myself am a huge fan of the show, but it was just a wonderful experience."

ScreenRant: Were you already a fan of the show? And if so, was there anybody in particular you were really looking forward to sharing scenes with?

Aimee Garcia: "Kirsten, because I'm such a goofball and I'm a huge hugger, and so I completely fangirled when I met her. We're talking sweaty palms, possibly jumping up and down, and I was just so giddy to meet her – and Joe, because he's a fellow Chicagoan, and I'm from Chicago. He's a Cubs fan, and I just felt like he was so salt of the earth, which he is. He's a complete class act, and I say he's a national treasure. That must be protected at all costs."

Working With AJ Cook Was An Incredible Experience For Garcia

"Look, I Am Here For You. I'm Here To You. This Is Your Episode."

ScreenRant: You got to have so much one-on-one time with AJ in an episode that was a lot of two-person back-and-forth. What was that like to work so closely with her?

Aimee Garcia: "A dream come true? [laughing] She made it feel like a play. She is a director as well, so she had an incredible take on both sides of the camera, and she was so easy to hit the ball with. It was playing tennis with someone who was so open to receiving and giving, and because it was such a big episode for her on the heels of having directed an episode, I really followed her lead.

If she wanted to just have a moment, I would be respectful of that. If she wanted to run lines real quick, I said, 'Look, I am here for you. I'm here to you. This is your episode. This is your character, who has been such an iron claw, having to deal with grief and the loss of a loved one after 18 years. So I will follow your lead and whatever you need from me, I am here for you.'

She's just amazing. She's such a wonderful actor that as long as you're open, she was so vulnerable, it was hard not to cry alongside her. But I'm a professional character, and a therapist or a doctor can't cry when their patient comes in with a gashed leg. So that was probably the most challenging part for me – not reaching over the table and hugging her because she was just so vulnerable."

Garcia Thinks Dr. Ochoa's Faith Brings Something Unique To Her Character

"We Never Know When Our Time Is Up."

ScreenRant: Dr. Ochoa talked about how she found healing in faith, which is something that we don't really see a lot with scientists and medical professionals on TV. Was that something that you added to your character's backstory? Was that already there in the script? I'm wondering how much input you got in creating the backstory of your character.

Aimee Garcia: "Zero. That was all Erica, Christopher and Breen, they are brilliant writers. I had no idea I was a woman of faith until props handed me a crucifix."

ScreenRant: You're like, oh, okay, then.

Aimee Garcia: "Right! [laughing] 'This is familiar.' So I think you're right; that is very rare to see. I mean, obviously, [Lucifer's] Ella Lopez, as a forensic scientist, was a woman of faith. But yeah, it was so nice to see, I think, a spiritual side to a show that really is not only about love and family, but also about losing loved ones.

Paget's character says such a beautiful line about how people think that this job is about staring evil in the face. It's not. It's about if you can take loss. Can you lose and still get up in this moment where it looks so bleak and dark for JJ's character, can she get back up and continue walking forward? So I have zero to do with that.

I love that they talked about Dr. Ochoa's loss, as well, because I think it helped her find common ground with a fellow professional woman – my dad was at the dinner table, and then he wasn't. And I think that that's such a universal thing where we never know when our time is up, life is just going, and then it stops. So I think faith is another way to cope with that pain. And I love that they introduced it through Dr. Ochoa."

Garcia Thinks The Balance With Voit This Season Exemplifies Why Criminal Minds Has Lasted So Long

"It's So Compelling, And There Are So Many Curveballs."

ScreenRant: I don't think I've ever seen anything like this, where the serial killer suffers TBI and suddenly the empathy quite literally gets knocked back into him. How do you think Dr. Ochoa balances the fact that Elias Voit was a monster, but she's also a professional who has to deal with the patient in front of her right now?

Aimee Garcia: "I think she has to have professional blinders on. She swore an oath to do no harm. And whether a patient comes in and has a criminal record, like she says in her first episode, that's completely irrelevant. So while the BAU sees a serial killer, a monster, she sees a patient in need, she sees the patient coming out of a coma, she sees a patient who's in the process of healing.

I think it's such a beautiful thing to have these two characters at loggerheads where there's a team that sees Voit as a thorn in their side. Voit has literally given Rossi nightmares and has kept him up at night and has really rattled the rock of this team. So what happens when that thorn in your side is being challenged by science? Dr. Julia Ochoa represents science, and science, especially to this team, is really hard to poke holes in.

It's that dichotomy that Garcia believes makes Criminal Minds work, with the show lasting so long thanks to its compelling storylines about human nature and the nature of evil:

Aimee Garcia: "I think what makes these writers and these stories so compelling is, like you said, who would've ever thought that we would have empathy after seeing 20 episodes of this deviant create hell on earth? And only Zach Gilford can make us empathize with someone.

I think you nailed it. That's what makes the show one of the longest-lasting shows in TV history. It's so compelling, and there are so many curveballs. You think it's going to go right, and you go left. You think a scene is going to go this way. You think you're going to hate a character, and you end up loving them. You think you're going to love a character, and you end up hating them.

So it really speaks to what makes someone do bad things. Is it nature? Is it nurture? Is evil innate? Is evil learned? I don't know the answers to those questions, but that's what the show grapples with. And I think it's done in such a way that, when you're watching Voit, you want to throw your shoe at the screen for two seasons, and then this season you want to hug him. You're like, 'Am I a monster?'" [laughing]

About That Possibility Of A Lucifer Reunion For Garcia And Ellis On CIA...

"You've Given Me A Good Idea."

ScreenRant: Speaking of whether evil can be redeemed, your old Lucifer buddy Tom Ellis has another show now with CIA. Have you hit him up yet, like, 'Hey, there could be a role for me on your show'?

Aimee Garcia: "I have not yet. I've more hit him up to golf because he's the best golfer I know. And I'm like, 'Hey, I'm going to a charity golf tournament in Chicago. Can we practice?' And he's like, 'Oh, I'm out of town.' So I do check in with him every three months to see how the family's doing and whatnot. But you know what? You've given me a good idea. [laughing] Sometimes great ideas start on Zooms."

Garcia Talks About The Possibility Of Returning For Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 4

"From Your Lips To The Bosses' Ears!"

ScreenRant: Dr. Ochoa fits in really well with this team, but brings an interesting dynamic and puts them in conflict. Do you feel like you can be a recurring character on the show and provide that counterbalance to the team?

Aimee Garcia: "I would like nothing more than to come back as long as they will have me, as very few characters are safe on the show. So I go through the script very quickly to see if we've seen the last of [her]. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but if I were to stay alive this season, and that's a big "if" – it is Criminal Minds – I would love for her just to be another asset to the team in whatever capacity. So from your lips to the bosses' ears!"

New episodes of Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3 are released Thursdays on Paramount+.

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