The Criminal Minds reboot already ruins the original show's great series finale. Premiering in 2005, CBS' police procedural focuses on the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) which uses psychology and profiling to track down serial criminals. Criminal Minds ended after 15 seasons, wrapping up its run on network TV in 2020 with a shortened year. However, as a testament to its enduring popularity, boosted by its availability on a few streaming platforms, plans for a revival were announced by Paramount+ just a year after it ended its original stint.
Despite the clear interest to bring back the BAU through the Criminal Minds reboot, getting the project off the ground wasn't a walk in the park. At one point, it was even deemed dead. That was until cast member Paget Brewster shared that they were moving forward with the show. Soon after, her co-star Joe Mantegna posted an image on the set of the series, confirming that it is officially happening. Production for the Criminal Minds project started in August 2022 and has been quietly progressing ever since. While no official release date has been revealed, the endeavor, which is officially titled Criminal Minds: Evolution, is slated to premiere on Paramount+ sometime this coming fall.
As its release date nears, more details about the Criminal Minds reboot are starting to come out. While the core cast of the procedural will return for the reboot, Daniel Henney's Matt Simmons and Matthew Gray Gubler's Doctor Spencer Reid won't be in the Criminal Minds revival. Aside from the change of platform, the project will also have a different format. Instead of devoting an UnSub per episode, the BAU will be busy tackling one case throughout the whole season. Its first one will see the profilers hunt down a network of serial criminals which was instituted at the height of the pandemic. Despite all these changes, the revival will essentially function as a continuation of the CBS show, but based on what's known about it thus far, it is retconning certain elements of the Criminal Minds series finale, effectively ruining it.
Prentiss Eventually Gets Her Retracted Promotion
Before returning to the BAU on the heels of Aaron Hotchner's unplanned retirement due to returning profilers in the Criminal Minds revival, although it's still unclear how or why. At this point, Prentiss has changed career courses one too many times, and the revival is making her past choices seem nonsensical.
Rossi Becomes The BAU Chief After Years Of Refusing
In light of Prentiss' off-screen promotion, it has also been revealed that Dave Rossi (Joe Mantegna) has assumed the role of the new BAU chief. The specifics of how this happened are still being kept under wraps, but Criminal Minds reboot showrunner Erica Messer reveals that there's more to it than meets the eye. As the most veteran member of the team, and its founding member with his deceased partner, Jason Gideon, played by Mandy Patinkin who left Criminal Minds in season 2, Rossi becoming the new BAU chief may make sense. The only problem is that he had been vocal about not wanting the job in the past. Despite his years in the service and profiling expertise, Rossi wasn't too keen on playing office politics, not to mention doing the paperwork — two things that BAU heads are responsible for. Rossi was already mulling retirement but changed his mind in the Criminal Minds finale, opting to continue his work with the team. While he is more than happy to be a profiler, the fact that he is now forced to take on a job that he had been actively evading for years seems unfair to the character.
JJ Moves To New Orleans Despite Previously Turning It Down
Criminal Minds season 15 floated the idea that the team was disbanding as some were looking to move on. After Rossi refused to be the BAU chief, he was planning on retiring while Prentiss was on the cusp of a big promotion. As for Jennifer Jarreau (AJ Cook), she was thinking about moving to New Orleans with her family after she was offered a lucrative job in Louisiana. This felt like an engineered way to deal with the awkward revelation that JJ had secret feelings for Reid on Criminal Minds. In the end, she ultimately decided to stay to keep the BAU together. However, like Prentiss, the revival is also walking back on this as it's revealed that JJ ultimately moved to New Orleans, and reduced her role from being a full-time team member to a consultant. Despite retconning her decision, the new series will still have here decide to return to Washington DC and reclaim her old post at the FBI.
Garcia’s New Life Is Disrupted Again By The BAU
Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness) left the BAU in the Garcia is the most important Criminal Minds character it's also no secret that among everyone on the team, she tends to struggle the most with regard to dealing with the tragic and gory details of the cases they handle. Being able to find a job that not only suited her expertise but also something that she fully enjoyed was a great way to send off the character; even the rest of the profilers knew this, so they were all so ive of her move. Now, however, the Criminal Minds revival is going to disrupt her life by once again subjecting her to the horrors of serial criminal hunting as she res the BAU.
