Published June 2, 2026, 2:13 p.m. ET

The Criminal Minds: Evolution cast is totally fine with fans losing their minds over Heated Rivalry breakout Connor Storrie appearing in the show, just so long as the record is straight on who saw his potential first.

Over the weekend, cast members from the Paramount+ series appeared at ATX TV Festival in Austin and spoke about the twisted procedural’s 19th season, which is currently airing and set to include a multi-episode arc featuring Storrie. Naturally, fans now want to know when Hudson Williams, the other half of the on-screen hockey duo, is planning to swing by the B.A.U., and to that, the cast has an idea.

“I’m pitching him for my love interest, I’m literally starting to,” A.J. Cook, who plays J.J., joked with DECIDER. The group said they’re out to him to see about completing the Heated Rivalry pairing, but happy to focus their energy in the meantime on promoting the newly premiered current season and Storrie’s upcoming appearance.

“He was not Heated Rivalry‘s Connor Storrie when he was on the show, he was Criminal Minds‘ Connor Storrie, thank you very much,” Aisha Tyler told DECIDER. “I’ve told this story before, but Paget [Brewster] and I had a scene with him and we walked out in the hallway and we were like, ‘Well, that kid, he’s pretty talented.'”

“No, it was after the table read because I never had any scenes with him, which I’m so mad at you about,” responded Brewster, pointing to showrunner Erica Messer. “It was after the table read and we were like, ‘What a fella.'”

Details on Storrie’s role in the series are being kept mostly under wraps, although we do know that his character will debut in the fourth episode of the show’s ten-episode season. Messer has also confirmed to several other outlets that Storrie’s role — which was originally intended to be a one-episode part — will be related to the “big bad” this year, and play out across the second half of the season. In an interview with TV Insider, Messer also teased that there is “something else going on with this guy” that fans will discover.

For the cast, seeing Storrie’s speedy rise to fame is nothing unexpected, as they remember seeing him work and thinking that he could be the next big thing. They also remember him talking about having just filmed Heated Rivalry but not having any clue what exactly was coming down the pike for the 26-year-old actor.

“He and I, we have like this super intense scene together, so we spent a lot of time together and we were just kind of like shooting the shit. Off the cuff, he was just like, ‘Oh, I just finished like this hockey thing,’ and I’m Canadian, I’m a huge hockey fan, so I was like, ‘Yeah, bro, hockey.’ I was talking hockey to him and I could tell in his eyes he was like, ‘Not that kind of hockey,'” Cook said with a laugh.

She added, “I was dying because then I watched it and I was like, ‘I don’t know that I want to know Connor so intimately.'”

Criminal Minds: Evolution is streaming on Paramount+ and Storrie’s arc will begin on June 11. Heated Rivalry is streaming on HBO Max.

Paramount+ offers two subscription plans, Essential and Premium. The ad-supported Essential plan costs $8.99/month, while the ad-free Premium plan (which comes with Showtime titles and live CBS) costs $13.99/month.