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Still, there are a handful of standout moments and episodes during this uneven season. In the end, the one arc could have been fulfilled by a recurring character as Hewitt's real-life pregnancy mirrored Kate's exit after one season. Kate is an undercover agent who isn't utilized much outside of a fairly powerful season-long arc about a sophisticated network of human traffickers that involves her niece Meg. Agent Kate Callahan ( Jennifer Love Hewitt) makes for a solid new hire, but the loss of Alex Blake (Jeanne Tripplehorn), who left after two seasons, is still felt because the magic of the team was not at its strongest in this configuration. Instead, she becomes not-JJ and the Criminal Minds team churns out an installment known more for casting changes than anything else.Ĭriminal Minds is a show that works well when its team gels, which was not the case in season 10. Even as a recurring player, she could've brought such an interesting perspective but that experience is only utilized in one episode before she joined the BAU.
#Best criminal minds episodes per season serial
The newly-minted BAU team member starts the season as the daughter of a serial killer who was at the FBI academy that helped the team on a case. Murphy), and ended with the agent faking her own death after fighting for her life when Doyle kidnapped her.Įven though it is the best part of the uneven season, the shuffling and extended arc meant Agent Seaver didn't have much room on the show. Prentiss' exit arc offers a fascinating look into her past that involved a classified case, international criminal Ian Doyle (Timothy V. The show passed up the opportunity to celebrate JJ's talents during her maternity leave (a result of Cook's actual pregnancy) in season four, opting for a weak arc featuring Meta Golding as her temporary replacement and doing it after this highly criticized exit only inflamed an already angry fanbase. As JJ left the series, Criminal Minds spent a lot of time discussing how important she was to the team as its communications liaison and even had an episode where Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness) tries to take on the role before deciding to split the responsibility with Aaron Hotchner ( Thomas Gibson).
#Best criminal minds episodes per season full
To add even more chaos, Cook returned to help the team save Prentiss for her exit and then returned to the team full time for the following season.īehind-the-scenes choices were turned into a plot point that ended up hurting the show.
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The announced exits, particularly Cook's, angered fans, which made new hire Agent Ashley Seaver (Rachel Nichols, who had the daunting role of stepping in for them) a hard one to integrate into the fold. Cook) who was forcefully sent to a new post at the Pentagon and was followed up later in the season by the exit of Emily Prentiss ( Paget Brewster). It began with the abrupt exit of beloved character Jennifer "JJ" Jureau (A.J. Criminal Minds did a lot of cast shuffling during its run, but those changes derailed season six's storytelling.
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