Aimee Garcia, who plays Dr. Julia Ochoa inCriminal Minds: Evolutionsseason 3, explains how her character’s perspective on Elias Voit is complete oppositional to the BAU’s view of him, bringing a new source of tension to the show. Voit awakens from a six-month coma in theCriminal Minds: Evolutionseason 3 premierewith complete amnesia, no memory of his past. Dr. Ochoa is Voit’s neuropsychiatrist who refuses to let the BAU influence her treatment of Voit. However, the BAU team members aren’t convinced Voit isn’t faking his amnesia.
Dr. Ochoa actress Aimee Garcia spoke toScreenRantin an exclusive interview in which she offers insight into how her character sees Voit differently than the BAU does.Dr. Ochoa and the BAU disagree on whether Voit’s past should affect his current treatmentas a patient with a traumatic brain injury. While the BAU only sees a sociopathic killer, she sees a broken man trying to heal. Garcia points out that all season the science has been on Dr. Ochoa’s side, which will be increasingly hard for the BAU to ignore. Read her full quote below:
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.”
What Dr. Ochoa’s Science-Based Approach Means For Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 3
The BAU Has To Admit That Voit Is Not Faking His Amnesia & Personality Changes
Aimee Garcia’s comments heavily suggest thatElias Voit is not faking his amnesia or personality and behavioral changes, which is a question that many characters inside and outside the BAU have been asking since the new season returned. If Dr. Ochoa represents science, which is an absolute in the world ofCriminal Minds: Evolution, then the test results are clear: Voit is a different and perhaps not legally liable man. Dr. Tara Lewis, the most medically sophisticated BAU member, praised Dr. Ochoa earlier in the season, and even her independent results support her contemporary’s.
As Garcia noted, Dave Rossi was deeply rattled by Sicarius, and his journey with Voit has been an emotional core ofCriminal Minds: Evolutionseason 3. Rossi will have a hard time ignoring the medical results, so he might even come to be an advocate for Voit in the back half of season 3, which would be a shocking turn of events. With Voit agreeing to work with the BAU on The Brutal Man case, Rossi will have to come around to Dr. Ochoa’s side:Voit’s past as Sicarius is irrelevant to his healing as Elias.
Our Take On Dr. Ochoa’s Loggerheads With The BAU
The BAU Might Be Divided On The Best Approach For Voit Moving Forward
Right now, the BAU does not seem to be truly at “loggerheads” with Voit or Dr. Ochoa. JJ was furious with Voit at the end ofEvolutionseason 3, episode 4, but she ends up using her pain to connect with him and asks for his help in episode 5. Aimee Garcia pivoting from talking about Dr. Ochoa’s relationship with Voit to the BAU’s relationship with Voit raises the possibility of a fracture in the BAU’s opinion on whether Voit should be punished in the latter half ofCriminal Minds: Evolutionseason 3.
Perhaps some team members, like JJ and Penelope Garcia, are primed to forgive Voit and see him as redeemed, while others, like Tyler Green, might be less inclined to accept a compassionate release. Right now, Voit is fully cooperating with the BAU and seems genuinely remorseful, but as Tara said,reawakening any of his memories might risk reactivating the monster. It would be interesting to see the BAU at loggerheads with each other over Voit inCriminal Minds: Evolutionseason 4.
