Criminal Minds: Evolution is going into its 19th season (fourth as the Paramount+ revival), and it has a long list of characters it could pull from, should it want to bring anyone back from the original 15-season run on CBS. In fact, it did just that in Season 18, with Matthew Gray Gubler briefly reprising his role as Dr. Spencer Reid to be there for Jennifer “JJ” Jareau (A.J. Cook) at her husband Will’s (Josh Stewart) funeral.
Could we see him or someone else from the original run return in Season 19? Unfortunately, the answer is no, due to the nature of the season and scheduling.
“[It’s] kind of a bullet train of a season where, I know it’s 10 episodes, but that doesn’t always even equal 10 weeks of story, right? So we weren’t able to get the stars to align this season to get anybody else from the old days back,” showrunner Erica Messer tells TV Insider. “But the good news is that means everybody’s busy, which is great.” (For example, Gubler’s starring in the new CBS drama Einstein.)
Good thing there’s going to be a Season 20!
When Criminal Minds returned with Evolution, Cook, Paget Brewster (Emily Prentiss), Joe Mantegna (David Rossi), Kirsten Vangsness (Penelope Garcia), Aisha Tyler (Dr. Tara Lewis), and Adam Rodriguez (Luke Alvez) all reprised their roles as series regulars.
When Gubler appeared in Season 18, there was so little dialogue, but it was clear what having Reid there meant to JJ, and Cook told us “that was by choice.”
She explained, “They didn’t need a monologue. They didn’t need a bunch of dialogue. It’s all in looks. And when we were in the conception phase of this episode, Erica and I — it would feel like something major was missing if we didn’t have Spence, it just would. It would feel weird not having him there. So I, of course, picked up the phone and called him and said, ‘Hey,’ and explained what we were doing. And he was just like, ‘Are you kidding me? Of course I’ll be there.’ Like a true friend does. You show up in those moments. And we were so lucky to get him back. And yes, it was a brief moment, but it was so impactful and it felt so great having him there, just kind of felt like a homecoming. And my kids love Matthew and Matthew’s like my third kid.”
Gubler shared in his own statement, “It’s a joy to get to tell stories with people you love so I will always cherish any moment, big or small, that I get to hug my Criminal Minds family or slip back into my dear friend Spencer’s oversized wingtips.”
Who from the original run do you most want to see pop up on Evolution? Let us know in the comments section below.
Criminal Minds: Evolution, Season 19 Premiere, Thursday, May 28, Paramount+
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