Criminal Minds made some big waves following its series finale on CBS with the news that it would be getting a subsequent revival series at what would become the Paramount+ streaming service. Updates were few and far between after that, though, and not all of them were positive. Now, however, fans can take comfort in the news that the new streaming season is reportedly confirmed to be in the preproduction phase! But with that great news comes a couple of downer caveats, as at least two former stars are opting not to return to reprise their characters.
As a Paramount+ series, Criminal Minds won’t have quite the sizeable episode count as it did at CBS, with TVLine reporting the service ordered up a 10-episode season for the procedural’s first official season outside the broadcast network spectrum. While it’s unclear if the cast members said to be returning have in fact signed the dotted line on their respective contracts, it looks like viewers can expect to see the following stars returning:
- Joe Mantegna
- A.J. Cook
- Aisha Tyler
- Paget Brewster
- Kirsten Vangsness
- Adam Rodriguez
While that list of names isn’t too shocking on the whole, with Kirsten Vangsness’ rumored return having previously spread around, let’s not forget that the CBS series wrapped up with her character Penelope Garcia exiting the BAU for greener pastures. (Or at least less depressingly violent pastures.) But while we thought she’d turned the office’s lights off for the last time, that wasn’t meant to be.
Now let’s take a look at the two stars who reportedly won’t be back for the revival.
Considering Matthew Grey Gubler is the Criminal Minds vet who was around in full throughout the entire 15-season run, I’d imagine the majority of the show’s fandom expected to see him returning to the role of Dr. Spencer Reid. That said, the character did go through some pretty intense experiences and situations in the show’s later years, as storylines became more and more serialized. So it probably won’t be too hard for the writers to explain away his presence in the upcoming season’s premiere. And I doubt it’ll stop fans from continuing to speculate about Reid and Cook’s JJ ending up together romantically. There’s always room for cameos!
Meanwhile, Daniel Henney is also reportedly set to miss out on the new season, meaning his character Matt Simmons likely bowed out of BAU duties at some point. Having guest-starred in Seasons 10 and 12 while part of the International Response Team, Matt joined the BAU in a larger capacity from Season 13 onward following the death of Stephen Walker (whose portrayer Damon Gupton was fired ahead of that season). One can assume Matt will be busy taking care of a household full of kids alongside his wife Kristy, as portrayed by Kelly Frye.
Joe Mantegna teased behind-the-scenes action happening for Criminal Minds with a social media post on Tuesday, though it wasn’t clear when or if a larger confirmation would be arriving. Thankfully, that delay was a short one, and now we just have to wait to hear a better idea for when the new season might arrive for Paramount+ subscribers.
In the meantime, you can find all 15 seasons of Criminal Minds on Paramount+ after having left Netflix earlier in the month, and our 2022 TV premiere schedule will clue everyone in on what’s hitting the small screen in the near future.
