Co-written by Erica Messer, the crime thriller, with a 15 year long on-air presence, ended its stay with a 15th and a final season in January 2020. The show was a superhit for CBS and garnered a fan base larger than that of all other thrillers combined.
The fan-favourite came to an end recently, with a two-hour long episode on 8th January, and fans are already demanding a comeback of ‘Criminal Minds’ with season 16 in 2021. Here’s how ‘Criminal Minds‘ can come back for season 16.
Highlights:
- ‘Criminal Minds’: The thriller
- Why did the CBS superhit end?
- Will ‘Criminal Minds’ return in 2021?
‘Criminal Minds’: The thriller
The police procedural drama, ‘Criminal Minds’, which first aired in 2005, follows the FBI’s elite Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) based out of Quantico, Virginia. It primarily works on analyzing and anticipating the next steps of the most warped criminal minds of the land, so that they can be stopped before they strike again. Joe, Mantegna Paget Brewster, A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Adam Rodriguez, Daniel Henney, and A.J. Grey Gubler were the stars of the final season.
Even after 15 years, fans did not have enough of ‘Criminal Minds’ and are not yet ready to say goodbye. They still long for more, and believe that ‘Criminal Minds’ will return in the future.
Why did the CBS superhit end?
The ending of the longest police procedural drama did not happen because of administrative reasons; it was not cancelled. The ending of the show was a purely creative decision. The show and the characters got the ending they deserved and Erica is grateful about it.
The decision to end the show came at a time when CBS was looking to the future and considering an entirely new era of programming. ‘Criminal Minds’ has its own share of scandals across the years. Thomas Gibson, an original cast-member (and potentially lead actor), was fired in 2016 after 11 seasons when tense and heated conversations with Virgil Williams, writer, and producer, led to the actor kicking Williams. In the first season in 2010, A.J Cook and Emily Brewster were cut-offs from the show due to budget cuts. However, they eventually were brought back on the show.
Numerous crew from the cast of ‘Criminal Minds’ had moved on, and it was time for CBS to move on too. Produced by the ABC Studios, the ending of the police procedural drama came across as the network was trying to make new things in a better environment.
Will ‘Criminal Minds’ return in 2021?
Though we haven’t received any official news or update on if ‘Criminal Minds’ will be back on TV in 2021, we can’t stop hoping, can we?
When, in Jan 2019, the team confirmed that the show has been renewed for a 15th season, it was clearly mentioned that it will be the last and final season. In an interview with “Entertainment Tonight”, the CBS EVP, Amy Reisenbach said,
“It speaks to everything we do best, which is air quality television. It’s been successful not only on air but online, in syndication, internationally for ABC [Studios]”.
Speaking on why the last season’s episode number was reduced to 10, she added,
“We wanted to make sure Erica had the time and ability to write a season finale that honours the characters and the fans. We discussed wanting to keep the show in continuous production, so 10 felt like the right number for us to roll straight into and give Erica enough episodes to end the series the way she wanted to”.
After a successful run of about 15 years, fans got to say a proper goodbye to Penelope. Though the good news isn’t here yet, we can always hope for it. After all, that’s what got us all through 2020, hope!
