Matthew Gray Gubler's highly-anticipated return to Criminal Minds came in Evolutions season 3, episode 3, but his future with the BAU is uncertain.

His return had been teased months earlier without giving away the tragic context, and according to A.J. Cook, she was the one who reached out to her former co-star to see if he could come back after conversations with showrunner Erica Messer. On the subject of what it was like to be back on set with Gubler, Cook told EW:

Evolution has had one heck of a return so far. On top of the BAU working to solve high-stakes cases, Season 18’s premiere revealed that Elias Voit (Zach Gilford) is still alive. After Episode 2 established he was suffering from amnesia,