More Criminal Minds: Evolution means more Garvez and Kirsten Vangsness and Adam Rodriguez spoke to PopCulture.com all about their dynamic. The relationship between Penelope Garcia and Luke Alvez is arguably one of the best parts of Criminal Minds, whether it’s just platonic or if there’s something more between them. Now, with the revival, the series has been able to further explore their dynamic, and it’s long been in the making, even if it wasn’t initially intentional.
Vangsness told PopCulture, “It’s funny because I think they tried it. The season finale, they stuck it in, ‘Okay, people want this. We’ll stick it in because people are saying, oh.’ And then it’s like, ‘Now we’re just going to end this conversation.’ And then they did that date. Adam, I don’t want to speak for you about this. It’s funny because we don’t talk about it at work because we don’t have interviews to talk about it, so we haven’t had one. So now we’re talking about it. Then they do, you’re like, ‘Okay,’ and then there’s something else, and you’re like, ‘Okay.’ And then we’re just doing scenes. We’re just like, ‘Okay, okay.’ And we have chemistry. So then people go, ‘Oh, Garvez. Okay. Okay.’ But it’s great. I think it’s fantastic. And I love that it’s happening under the noses of the show almost. They’re not writing that. It just happens.”
“It just happens. So true,” Rodriguez echoed. “I think it’s how it all even started, quite frankly, was that it was sort of set up for Kirsten not to like my character, but then we just ended up having this chemistry that was undeniable. And I think that when you’re a writer, when you’re writing for something, you’re like, ‘Well, where is there gold to mine?’ I think it was just obvious that these two characters, even in Kirsten’s being cold and pushing me away because she didn’t want to embrace somebody new at that point. And it was a reflection of what the fans were probably feeling.”
While Kirsten Vangsness was on Criminal Minds since the beginning, Adam Rodriguez didn’t come on until Season 12, but it was clear there was something there. Vangsness shared, “He came in, and I was very friendly to him in person. And then the camera would role, and I’d go like, ‘There’s always a bad smell in the room.’ And so now we’ve been doing the show long enough, and it’s like, ‘Okay, we’ve evolved.’ Again, we were into this thing, whatever you want to call this thing is, that we have that is super. And what’s so cool is I think that the audience got to do it with us. I know that there’s a great love, obviously, in the fan world between Morgan and Garcia, but you kind of dropped in on that. You know what I mean? That was art.”
Rodriguez added, “No, that was the thing. I mean, people were resistant too, and understandably so. You guys had 12 seasons together or 11 seasons together, whatever it was. So there had to be a way to make it new but have it be natural. You couldn’t force it. And so having us be at odds, but then having so much fun being at odds that the chemistry was undeniable, you’re like, ‘Oh man, I love that she’s resistant too, that’s how I feel.’ They have so much fun together. They’re kind of fun. They make me laugh. I feel good.”
“They can’t stop us from having fun,” Kirsten Vangsness chimed in. And it certainly has been fun to see Garcia and Luke’s relationship grow, whether platonically or romantically, however it is perceived. Regardless of what is or isn’t being brewed between the two, Adam Rodriguez shared that they love filming it. “I mean, I love getting to play those scenes,” he said. “Look, those are my favorite things to do on the show because it’s just getting to do improv sometimes, even if it’s scripted, it feels like improv energetically.”
While things are now a bit complicated between them due to Garcia’s relationship with Tyler Green, it’s nothing they can’t handle. These episodes will surely be interesting to watch, however, because Gold Star won’t be the only mystery that they will be dealing with.
New episodes of Criminal Minds: Evolution premiere on Thursdays on Paramount+.