It’s not very often that two television show universes take place in the same building, but for Kirsten Vangsness and Tyler James Williams of Criminal Minds and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, their tech labs are only an elevator ride away.

We talked with Vangsness (Penelope Garcia on Criminal Minds) and Williams (Russ Montgomery on Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders) about how potential crossovers, new cast members, and what we can expect this season on both series. 

When asked about Adam Rodriquez coming on Criminal Minds this season, whose character has been said will fill the void left by Shemar Moore’s departure last year, Vangsness said, “[Rodriguez] is very different energetically. I mean Shemar — I can’t, oh my gosh — that’s like trying to describe for me like lover/brother/ favorite crush or something like that. I cannot describe like, what that is.”

But in addition to the new energy on set, she added that Garcia’s relationship with Rodriguez’ character “

is a whole different flavor of ice cream.” She reminded us though that “when you get ice cream, to be clear, it’s always better when you try a variety of flavors than if you just stick to vanilla is what I’m saying. So, it is a different flavor of ice cream. Let me just say, I haven’t fully tasted it yet, but I’m really looking forward to making a sundae out of it.”

Williams plays a young lab technician on Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders,  but because the rest of his team is abroad for a new case each week, he’s left in the United States to speak with families and communicate crucial information. “Monty’s really young, and he’s got a really adult job that he has to do by himself. And eventually, that takes a toll on him and we have to see how he learns how to deal with that,” Williams said. “So we will definitely see some more of that this season. Now that we can kind of explore these characters as individuals, not just how their job links to them…and I think with everybody, we’ll see how their dynamics shift depending on what case they get that week, how that’s affecting their personal lives. So that’s going to be something we play upon quite a bit.” 

To watch the entire interview with Kirsten Vangsness and Tyler James Williams, check out the video below and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for future interviews!