Tamal Kundu
Portrayed by Nicholas D’Agosto, Douglas “Doug” Bailey is an important supporting character in the inaugural season of the Paramount+ series ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution,’ the revival show that effectively serves as the 16th season of the CBS series ‘Criminal Minds.’ Bailey is the deputy director of the FBI and initially seems like an antagonistic character as he believes that the existence of the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) is unnecessary. But as the season progresses and he gets to witness their work firsthand, he becomes one of the ardent supporters of the unit. If the events depicted in the season 1 finale have made you wonder whether Doug Bailey is dead and Nicholas D’Agosto is leaving ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution,’ we got you covered. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Deputy Director Doug Bailey’s Tragic Fate
Yes, Deputy Director Doug Bailey is dead in ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution.’ In ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ episode 10, titled ‘Dead End,’ serial killer Elias Voit, also known as Sicarius, contacts the BAU and demands to speak to Bailey. He abducted David Rossi in the previous episode, and now the team fears that he will kill Rossi and his own family if he feels threatened.
During his conversation with Bailey, Voit casually mentions Gold Star. It has the intended effect, and Bailey informs the Attorney General about it. Bailey, the AG, and Rebecca subsequently discuss legal and extra-legal ways of dealing with the situation. The AG seems to have no qualms about letting Rebecca know she would make her take the fall if they decide to use extra-legal methods.
Ultimately, the AG instructs Bailey to use legal methods, and he tells Prentiss that they will let Voit go. When Voit and his family’s whereabouts are discovered, Bailey inserts himself in the operation and goes to speak to the notorious serial killer alone. He seems to be confident, likely because he thinks that Voit will not kill him because he is his last chance to escape.
However, it is revealed that he has horribly misjudged Voit’s intentions. Voit is an expert profiler; he figured out that Bailey would come to speak to him, allowing him to kill the man. It turns out that no one except Voit and Bailey knows exactly what Gold Star is. By putting a bullet in Bailey’s head, Voit makes himself indispensable to the US authorities.
Did Nicholas D’Agosto Leave Criminal Minds: Evolution?
In an interview with TV Insider, showrunner Erica Messer revealed that Bailey’s death wasn’t planned from the beginning. “No. I know, this is the problem,” she said. “We love Nick, who played Bailey, and we did not wanna do that. But we gave him such an arc this year that he basically feels like an enemy of the team and then nobody thought they would ever fall in love with Bailey. They’re like, oh no, this guy’s a jerk. And then sure enough, the tide turns in the last half of the season. You really like him, which is kind of sadly why he had to die.”
Messer continued, “Voit had to make an impact on the team. Rossi got captured. It was horrible what happened to Rossi. But ultimately, he’s still alive and well. And he didn’t kill Tyler Green [Ryan-James Hatanaka], so what could he have done to make a big splash? Killing the deputy director of the FBI is a gigantic splash that this enemy of ours has made. But it was a really hard decision and we didn’t plan on it from the beginning of the season, but it felt, like I said, Voit had to make a big surprising move like that.”
Although the character is dead, it doesn’t necessarily mean that D’Agosto will not appear in the second season of ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution.’ In fact, Messer hopes to bring D’Agosto back for flashback scenes if the actor’s schedule permits. After all, Bailey was one of the very few people who knew about Gold Star, which will likely serve as the main plot in season 2.
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