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Criminal Minds
Criminal Minds is an American police procedural crime drama television series created
by Jeff Davis, and is the original show in the Criminal Minds franchise.
It premiered on September 22, 2005, on the broadcast network CBS and October 5, 2005 on CTV.
The series is produced by The Mark Gordon Company, in association with CBS Television Studios
and ABC Studios. Criminal Minds is set primarily
at the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit based in Quantico, Virginia. In accordance
with the show's plot, Criminal Minds differs from many procedural dramas
by focusing on profiling the criminal, called the unsub or "unknown subject", rather
than the crime itself. The show has an ensemble cast that has had many cast member changes
since its inception. Thomas Gibson, Shemar Moore, Matthew Gray Gubler, A. J. Cook,
and Kirsten Vangsness are the only actors to have appeared in every season.
The series follows a group of FBI profilers who set about catching various criminals through
behavioral profiling. The plot focuses on the team working cases
and on the personal lives of the characters, depicting the hardened life
and statutory requirements of a profiler.
The show spawned two spin-offs: Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior
and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders. On April 7, 2017, CBS renewed the series
for a thirteenth season. The series is moving back an hour to 10 p.m.
on Wednesday nights starting in the fall.
Background
When the series premiered in September 2005, it featured FBI Agents Jason Gideon, Aaron Hotchner,
Elle Greenaway, Derek Morgan, Spencer Reid, Jennifer "J.J." Jareau, and Penelope Garcia.
For season one, Garcia was not a main cast member, but rather had a recurring role,
although she appeared in most episodes. In 2006, at the start of season two,
Lola Glaudini announced her departure from the show, as she wanted to return home
to New York City. Paget Brewster replaced her in the role of Emily Prentiss.
At the start of season three, Mandy Patinkin announced his departure from the show,
because he was deeply disturbed by the content of the series. He left letters of apology
for his fellow cast members, explaining his reasons and wishing them luck.
Joe Mantegna replaced him as David Rossi, a best-selling author
and FBI agent who comes out of retirement. During season three, A.J. Cook became pregnant
with her first child. Her pregnancy was written into the show. Cook's son, Mekhai Andersen,
has been written into a recurring role as Jennifer's son Henry. Cook's void was filled
by Meta Golding, who played Jordan Todd, an FBI agent who works
with the agency's Counter Terrorism Unit. In season six, Jennifer is forced to accept a promotion
at The Pentagon, causing her to leave the BAU. Later that season, Emily is seemingly killed off.
Although she survives, she does not appear for the rest of the season. Cook
and Brewster were both replaced by Rachel Nichols as Ashley Seaver, an FBI cadet. CBS's decision
to release Cook and Brewster from their contracts resulted in numerous fans writing angry letters
to the studio and signing protest petitions. CBS rehired Cook and Brewster as Jennifer Jareau
and Emily Prentiss, respectively; Nichols was released. In February 2012,
Brewster announced her departure from the show after the seventh season.
She was replaced in the eighth season by Jeanne Tripplehorn, who played Alex Blake,
a linguistics expert. Later in season nine, Paget Brewster made a special guest appearance,
reprising her role as Emily Prentiss in the 200th episode. After two seasons,
Tripplehorn was released from the show.
Former Ghost Whisperer star Jennifer Love Hewitt joined the cast as Kate Callahan,
a former undercover FBI agent who joins the BAU. During season ten,
Jason Gideon was killed off-screen. Executive producer and showrunner Erica Messer said CBS
and ABC Studios were fine with the decision,
because it was clear that Patinkin would not come back again,
but the show would feature him in a flashback if he were ever to return in the future.
Following the conclusion of season ten, Hewitt and Cook announced that they'll both be on hiatus
from the show due to their pregnancies. Hewitt did not return for season eleven,
while Cook returned after the first seven episodes of season eleven. Aisha Tyler,
who plays Dr. Tara Lewis, joined the show at the start of season eleven. Later that season,
Shemar Moore, who plays Derek Morgan, left the show after eleven seasons. He had thought
to leave in the previous season when his contract ended, but was convinced to stay
to give his character a proper sendoff. Messer said the initial thought was for Moore
to do six episodes, but when that didn't feel like enough,
they settled on Moore doing the first eighteen episodes of that season
and he departed in March 2016. He is replaced in the twelfth season
by former CSI: Miami star Adam Rodriguez, who plays Luke Alvez, a Fugitive Task Force Agent.
A week after Moore left, Paget Brewster, who plays Emily Prentiss,
made her second special guest appearance since leaving in season seven,
her first being in season nine. In season twelve,
Brewster once again became a series regular on the show. On August 10, 2016,
it was announced that former recurring star Aisha Tyler would be promoted to series regular
for the twelfth season. The next day, it was reported that Thomas Gibson,
who portrays Aaron Hotchner, had been suspended from and written off the show for at least one,
most likely two episodes in the twelfth season due to an on-set altercation
with one of the producers. On August 12, 2016, Gibson was fired from the program due
to this incident. On September 30, 2016, it was announced that Gibson's character would be replaced
by Damon Gupton, who will play Special Agent Stephen Walker, a seasoned profiler
from the Behavioral Analysis Program who will bring his spy-hunting skills to the BAU.
On June 11, 2017, it was announced that Damon Gupton had been fired
from the show after one season. CBS said his departure was
"part of a creative change on the show". On June 20, 2017, CBS announced that Daniel Henney,
who was a series regular on Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders as Matt Simmons,
would join the main show as a series regular for the thirteenth season.
Main
: Gideon is widely known as the BAU's best profiler. After a series of emotionally troubling cases
and the murder of his friend Sarah by fugitive serial killer Frank Breitkopf, he begins
to feel burned out. The last straw occurs when Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner is suspended
for two weeks by the team's boss an action for which Jason feels responsible. He retreats
to his cabin and leaves a letter for Dr. Spencer Reid, who he knows will be the one to look
for him. When Spencer arrives at the cabin, it is empty except for the letter and Jason's badge
and firearm. Jason is last seen remarking to a Nevada diner waitress that he does not know
where he is going or how he will know when he gets there, leaving the diner and driving off.
In season ten, he is killed by a suspect he had tracked down from one of his first cases.
: Hotch is a former prosecutor and was originally assigned to the FBI Field Office in Seattle.
He is one of the most experienced agents in the BAU. He struggles to balance the demands of his job
with his family life, but his wife Haley Brooks divorces him in season three. In the episode
"100", Haley is killed by fugitive serial killer George Foyet, also known as
"The Boston Reaper", whom Aaron fights and beats to death. He also has a son named Jack
and a brother named Sean. After Haley is murdered, he has custody of Jack, and Haley's sister,
Jessica Brooks, helps him take care of Jack. When SSA Jennifer Jareau leaves the BAU, Aaron
and Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia takes over her job as Communications Liaison.
Aaron dated a woman named Beth Clemmons, who first appeared in the episode
"The Bittersweet Science",
before the couple separated after Clemmons accepted a job in Hong Kong.
Following an on-set altercation, Thomas Gibson was removed from the main cast after Season 12,
episode 2, at which point Gibson's character took a consulting job off screen,
with his final exit being addressed in a later episode. :Greenaway is assigned
to the FBI field office in Seattle and assigned to the BAU as an expert in sexual offense crimes.
Elle suffers extreme emotional trauma after being shot by an unsub in the season one finale ".
In the season two premiere ", Elle survives and returns to duty sooner than SSA Jason Gideon
and Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner would like. Several episodes later,
while alone on stakeout of a suspected serial rapist, she murders the suspect
by shooting in cold blood and planting her gun on the unarmed victim.
The local police deem it self-defense, but Jason
and Aaron question her ability as a profiler after this. Elle resigns, turning in her badge
and gun to Aaron, declaring that it is "not an admission of guilt". : Morgan is a confident,
assertive, and often hot-tempered character. Raised by his mother Fran, along
with his two sisters, Sarah Morgan and Desiree Benita,
after the death of his police officer father right in front of him,
Derek was a troubled Chicago youth headed for juvenile delinquency. He was rescued and mentored
by Carl Buford. Buford turned out to be a sexual predator who molested Derek
and other young boys; he was eventually arrested for murder.
After developing an interest in football, Derek attended Northwestern University on a scholarship.
After a football injury left him unable to play,
he joined the Chicago Police Department's bomb squad and later joined the FBI and the BAU.
He has an emotionally intimate, but platonic, relationship
with Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia; the two have a unique shorthand and banter.
In the season seven premiere, Derek shows utter hatred towards Ian Doyle
for killing SSA Emily Prentiss, but when Emily returns alive, he has mixed feelings.
In Season 11 Derek is kidnapped and tortured by the father of Giuseppe Montolo,
a hitman who Derek put away and later died while in custody. Derek escapes and
when he learns his girlfriend Savannah is pregnant realizes he doesn't want
to put his family through something like this again. Derek leaves the BAU in the episode
"A Beautiful Disaster" to care for his now-wife and newborn son. : Reid is a genius who graduated
from Las Vegas High School at age 12 and holds Ph.D.s in mathematics, chemistry,
and engineering as well as Bachelor of Arts degrees in psychology and sociology and,
as of season four, is working on a B.A. in philosophy.
It has been revealed that he has an IQ of 187, can read a dizzying 20,000 words per minute,
and has an eidetic memory. Most of the members on the team are intimidated
by his profound knowledge. He is habitually introduced as "Dr. Spencer Reid" in contrast
to the other agents, who are introduced as "supervisory special agent". The purpose of this,
as explained by Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner in the pilot episode, is
to create a respectable first impression of Spencer, deflecting judgments about his age.
His mother, Diana Reid, suffers from schizophrenia and is currently committed
to a mental institution. In Season 6 Reid starts suffering from cluster headaches and
when doctors can't diagnose why,
Reid thinks he might be in the early stages of schizophrenia himself.
Reid takes SSA Emily Prentiss' death very hard and
when it was revealed the death was faked was distrustful of both Prentiss
and SSA Jennifer Jareau. During Season 8, Reid becomes involved
with a woman who was being stalked. In the episode "Zugzwang", her stalker ultimately kidnaps her
and kills her, devastating Reid. In season 11, he is deeply affected by Derek Morgan's decision
to leave the BAU, but understands and supports his reasons. Initially Reid had a crush on JJ,
even going as far as taking her on a date to a football game.
As the series progresses their relationship becomes more of the brother-sister kind. Morgan
and Reid maintained a brotherly relationship and Morgan refers to Reid as his "little brother"
prior to his departure in Season 11. Spencer is also the godfather of Jennifer's son, Henry,
and Derek's son, Hank. : J.J. served as the Communications Liaison on the team
to local police agencies in seasons one through five. She dates and marries William LaMontagne,
a New Orleans Police Department Detective. They have two sons, Henry LaMontagne
and Michael LaMontagne. Both boys are played by A.J. Cook's real life sons. In the episode "JJ"
, Jennifer is forced to accept a promotion at the Pentagon, causing her departure from the team,
although Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner expressed his hope that she will return
to the BAU in the future. Jennifer returned in the episode "Lauren"
to assist the team in finding SSA Emily Prentiss.
Jennifer returns as a series regular in the season seven premier as a legitimate profiler
and admits to helping fake Prentiss' death, much to dismay of her colleagues.
In the 200th episode JJ is kidnapped, because of a secret mission she performed while
at the Pentagon. At the end of Season 10 JJ reveals she is pregnant with her second child
and consults over the phone
for the few episodes of Season 11 before rejoining the team in the field in the episode
"Target Rich". : Garcia joined the BAU after bringing attention to herself
by illegally accessing some of their equipment; she is offered a job in lieu of a jail sentence.
She submitted her resume to Hotch on pink stationery. She usually supports the team
from her computer lab at Quantico, but occasionally joins them on location
when her skills can be used in the field. She is a leader in a support group
for those who have lost someone in their lives. Her parents were killed by a drunk driver
when they were out looking for her when she was a teen and had missed her curfew.
She enjoys a flirtatious relationship with SSA Derek Morgan,
often engaging in comical banter of a sexually suggestive nature when he calls in for information.
He calls her "Baby Girl". She was once shot and almost killed by Jason Clark Battle,
who lured her on a date in the episode "Lucky". When SSA Jennifer Jareau leaves the BAU,
Penelope and Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner take over her job as Communications Liaison.
SSA Sam Cooper often calls when his team need her computer skills.
Penelope is the godmother of Jennifer's son, Henry.
: Prentiss is the daughter of Ambassador Elizabeth Prentiss.
After SSA Elle Greenaway leaves the BAU, Assistant Director Strauss approves Emily
to join the BAU. The plan was for Emily to report any problems within the BAU,
but Emily remained loyal to the team and refused to report any problems,
going as far as threatening resignation. Emily is also fluent in several languages,
such as Spanish, French, Greek and Arabic, has a working knowledge in Italian,
and was fluent in Russian at one point, but has lost comprehension.
She is apparently killed while being held hostage by Ian Doyle in the episode "Lauren",
but in the last scene of the episode, it is revealed that she survived her encounter with Ian,
and is seen with SSA Jennifer Jareau in Paris passing her passports and bank accounts
for protection. In the season seven premiere, she returns alive and well, much
to the team's surprise. In the season seven finale, Emily decides
to leave the BAU after accepting a position running and returning
to the Interpol office in London. She returns for the 200th episode
to help rescue a kidnapped SSA Jennifer Jareau and again in the episode "Tribute",
where she enlists the help of the BAU in catching a serial killer who had originally killed in
Europe before killing in the United States. Paget Brewster was confirmed to return
for a several episode arc in Season 12.
Following the dismissal of Thomas Gibson Brewster was promoted to a series regular again starting
from Season 12, episode 3; later Prentiss is promoted to Hotch's position of unit chief.
: Rossi is a highly experienced profiler who once worked the BAU in its origins,
then took early retirement in 1997 to write books and go on lecture tours about criminal analysis,
until volunteering to return shortly after SSA Jason Gideon's departure in 2007.
He has been married three times and is quite wealthy, because of his successful writing career.
In the episode "From Childhood's Hour", David reconnects with his first wife, Carolyn Baker,
who has shocking news for him. It is revealed that she came to him, because she was diagnosed
with ALS and wants David to assist in her suicide. In the next episode,
Carolyn dies after taking a drug overdose.
It is also revealed in this episode that David had a son who died at birth.
In the season eight episode "The Fallen", it is revealed that David was a Marine in Vietnam.
The season seven finale reveals SSA David Rossi may be having a secret relationship
with Section Chief Erin Strauss; this was discovered when Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia
and SSA Dr. Spencer Reid spot them both leaving a hotel.
In the last season eight episode we see their relationship has been known to the entire team.
The episode is an emotional one for SSA David Rossi since Unit Chief Erin Strauss is murdered
by The Replicator. She was taken from her hotel room, where he had planned
to meet her that night, drugged and put on the streets of New York disoriented
for Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner to find her.
The episode's last scene is SSA David Rossi eulogizing her to the team after her funeral,
at a gathering at his home. In season ten, we learn that David has a daughter by his second wife.
Since then, he is shown to have a strong relationship with his daughter, son-in-law, and grandson,
even approving of her husband's Italian heritage. In season 11, Rossi reunites with his second wife,
and they give their relationship a second chance.
: Seaver replaces SSA Jennifer Jareau after she is forced to accept a promotion at the Pentagon.
She was chosen for her unique background; her father, Charles Beauchamp,
was a horrific serial killer known as the "Redmond Ripper",
who murdered dozens of women before being caught by the BAU, incidentally. At first,
Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner was going to make her a special, one-time consultant to the BAU,
but SSA David Rossi allowed her to finish her remedial training with the team,
under the supervision of SSA Emily Prentiss. In the episode ". With Friends Like These",
she graduated from the Academy and had been added to the team as a "probationary agent".
In the season seven premiere, Jennifer reveals to Emily that Ashley transferred
to the Domestic Trafficking Task Force, which is led by Andi Swann. : Blake once worked
for the BAU during the 2001 anthrax attacks, but retired after a conflict with Chief Erin Strauss
and rejoins the BAU after SSA Emily Prentiss transfers to the Interpol Office in London.
Alex first appears in the season eight premiere. She makes a personal connection
with Spencer Reid after he reveals to her that he has begun a romantic relationship
with a woman whom he has never met. In the season nine finale,
after a difficult case in Texas in which the team is targeted
by a group of corrupt Sheriff deputies and Reid is shot, she escorts Reid to his apartment,
explaining that the experience brought back memories of her son's death
and that Reid reminds her of him. She leaves behind her credentials,
which Reid finds in his bag before seeing Blake leave in a taxi, saddened, but understanding.
: Callahan, as mentioned in the season ten premiere, previously worked under Andi Swann's team,
which is also Ashley Seaver's team since she left the BAU. She is a
"seasoned undercover agent whose stellar work at the FBI has landed her a coveted position
with the Behavioral Analysis Unit". She
and her husband Chris have been the guardians of Kate's teenage niece, Meg,
since Meg was a baby following her parents' deaths in the September 11, 2001 attacks. Kate
and Chris discover they are expecting a baby in the middle of season ten, coinciding
with the actress' real life pregnancy. At the end of Season 10 she decides to take a year off
and raise her baby. As of Season 12 she has not returned,
but producer Erica Messer has stated the door was open should Jennifer Love Hewitt choose to return
to the show. : Lewis is a psychologist with an eye on forensic psychology
and its application toward the criminal justice system. Her dream was
to study psychopaths up close and personal – and her psychology background, combined
with her experience in the FBI, brought her face-to-face with monsters. Her job was
to stare them down and interview them, to determine if they were fit to stand trial.
In the process, she made herself find the humanity inside these broken men in order
to learn if there was a conscience behind their brutal crimes. Lewis replaced both J.J.
and Kate while they were on maternity leave in the 11th Season.
: Alvez is a member of the FBI Fugitive Task Force that partners with the BAU
to catch the escaped serial killers that escaped in the Season 11 finale.
In the Season 12 premier he works with the BAU to catch the "Crimson King",
one of the escapees that attacked Alvez's old partner. The team discovers the real killer is "Mr.
Scratch" who taunts the team by turning over the real "Crimson King", who was tortured
to the point he no longer remembered who he was. After that Alvez decides
to join the BAU full time. Alvez has a dog named Roxy and served in Iraq as an Army Ranger prior
to joining the FBI. : Walker is a Supervisory Special Agent with the BAU.
Walker was a member of the Behavioral Analysis Program. He was contacted
by Emily Prentiss about joining the BAU to assist in the manhunt for Peter Lewis, a.k.a. "Mr.
Scratch". Walker is an experienced profiler, with about twenty years under his belt,
and a member of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Program before his transfer to the BAU. He is married
to a woman named Monica and has two children with her, Maya and Eli. He met Emily Prentiss,
then the chief of Interpol's London office, during his line of work. He was also mentored
by David Rossi. Stephen's first case concerned a terrorist cell in Belgium,
and three agents were sent undercover to infiltrate it. However, Stephen's profile was wrong,
and this resulted in the deaths of the undercover agents. He eventually moved on from the trauma
and improved as he went along in his career. He and other BAP agents,
including his longtime friend Sam Bower, were sent undercover
to investigate corruption in the Russian government.
Walker's skills include being fluent in Russian and playing the trombone.
Critical reception
The first season of Criminal Minds received mixed reviews from critics.
It has a Metacritic score of 42 based on 21 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Dorothy Rabinowitz said, in her review for The Wall Street Journal,
"From the evidence of the first few episodes, Criminal Minds may be a hit, and deservedly"
and gave particular praise to Gubler and Patinkin's performance.
Ned Martel in The New York Times was less positive, saying, "The problem with "Criminal Minds"
is its many confusing maladies, applied to too many characters" and felt that "as a result,
the cast seems like a spilled trunk of broken toys, with which the audience
and perhaps the creators may quickly become bored". The Chicago Tribune reviewer, Sid Smith,
felt that the show "may well be worth a look", though he too criticized the "confusing plots
and characters". Writing in PopMatters, Marco Lanzagorta criticized the show after its premiere,
saying it "confuses critical thinking with supernatural abilities" and its characters conform
to stereotypes. In the Los Angeles Times, Mary McNamara gave a similar review,
and praised Patinkin and Gubler's performances.
American ratings
In 2016, a New York Times study of the 50 TV shows with the most Facebook Likes found that
"like several of the other police procedurals", Criminal Minds "is more popular in rural areas,
particularly in the southeastern half of the country. It hits peak popularity in Alabama
and rural Tennessee and is least popular in Santa Barbara, Calif."
 DVR 
The show ranked number nine in DVR playback, according to Nielsen prime DVR lift data
from September 22& to November 23, 2008. For the week of October 10, 2010,
Criminal Minds ranked sixth in DVR playback, and seventh in the demo playback according
to Nielsen prime DVR lift data.
Syndication
The series is in syndication on A&E Network, and Ion Television.
Early seasons of Criminal Minds have begun airing on Rewind Networks's HITS TV channel in South
East Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
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