best criminal minds episodes spencer reid

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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. 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. Gideon becomes an interesting storytelling device, in that he foreshadows the type of confidence and experience Reid will come to learn.Criminal Minds did a lot of cast shuffling during its run, but those changes derailed season six's storytelling. He acts as, and is treated as, the little brother of the team, due in part to him being the youngest and most sensitive, standing in stark contrast to the hardened and experienced Gideon, his mentor.

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Reid starts out as a brilliant but inexperienced FBI analyst who can barely even keep hold of his gun license (he loses it briefly early on and only wins it back by making a headshot on an unsub - while aiming for his leg). In order to see this, though, it’s important to look at the story as a long-term, slow-burn character arc that’s slowly changing its main character over the course of 15 years.

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With the addition of Prentiss ( Paget Brewster) in Season 2, the questions of where to find the central character became muddier than ever, as Prentiss came with her own mysterious backstory and slow-burn arc.ĭespite the existence of red herrings like Gideon (who probably didn’t start out as a red herring but became one after his departure from the show) and Prentiss (who, despite having several engaging story beats, only arrived during Season 2 and was in and out of the series in following seasons), Reid is the clearest contender for central character of Criminal Minds. It wasn’t long before the material of the show became too dark for Mandy Patinkin, however, and the show suddenly lost its central character.

Other than those two, prominent characters have come and gone, leaving the show seemingly without a main character ever since the departure of Jason Gideon ( Mandy Patinkin) in the beginning of Season 3.įor the first two seasons, Gideon was set up as the main character, as the show followed his methods of tracking down criminals with the occasional side storylines from Hotch ( Thomas Gibson), Morgan ( Shemar Moore), JJ ( AJ Cook), Reid, and Garcia, as well as short-term cast member Elle ( Lola Glaudini). Only two characters have been featured from the first episode of Season 1 to the last episode of Season 15 (which marks the end of Criminal Minds proper): Reid and resident tech wiz Garcia ( Kirsten Vangsness). The revolving door of cast members places Criminal Minds’ ensemble in the unique position of leaving the role of central character for the most part undefined. In general, character-based stories do have a main character, even if that fact isn’t always clear. Criminal Minds can also be described as a heavily character-based show, especially in the long run (more on that later). Criminal Minds is an extremely plot-heavy show, but its core cast is too charming and full of personality to say that the main draw are the criminals or the plot. Those types of stories, however, tend to be the exception to the rule and are examples of playing with form in some sort of way - at least, when it comes to character-based storytelling. RELATED: The 18 Best 'Criminal Minds' Episodes, Ranked There are stories that center mostly around certain themes rather than characters as well. Especially with procedural dramas, where the show focuses on a new criminal every week, the main draw of the story tends to be on the “monster of the week” rather than the ones catching the criminals. In theory, it’s very possible for a story to have multiple main characters or no main character at all. The structure of a story isn’t rigid or one-size-fits all.