Two of our favorite Criminal Minds stars are together again! Check out the Criminal Minds reunion photo below, which features none other than special agents Dr. Spencer Reid and David Rossi! Plus, learn why some people think this means Reid will come back for the Paramount Plus reboot.
Criminal Minds is the police procedural crime drama, created by Jeff Davis, that ran on CBS from September 2005 to February 2020. The series follows a group of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) to investigate crimes and find the unsub (unknown subject), the episode’s perpetrator. The original cast included Mandy Patinkin (Jason Gideon), Thomas Gibson (Aaron Hotchner), Lola Glaudini (Elle Greenaway), Shemar Moore (Derek Morgan), Matthew Gray Gubler (Dr. Spencer Reid), A.J. Cook (Jennifer Jareau) and Kirsten Vangsness (Penelope Garcia).
As one of CBS’ most-watched shows over 15 years, Criminal Minds inspired multiple spinoffs, including Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders. In 2022. the CBS procedural got rebooted on Paramount Plus as Criminal Minds: Evolution. Fans saw the return of multiple beloved agents, including Joe Mantegna (David Rossi), Paget Brewster (Emily Prentiss), Aisha Tyler (Tara Lewis), Cook and Vangsness and more. The reboot was renewed for a second season in January 2023.
In a December 2022 interview with E! News, Mantegna said that there were more BAU stories to tell in Season 2. “First of all, we did 325 of the other version of it,” he said of the possibility of Criminal Minds: Evolution returning for more episodes. “We didn’t stop because we said, ‘OK, we’re done. We ran out of stories.’ We’ve worked with the FBI. We’ve had technical advisors from day one. And they’ll let you know that there’s millions of stories. We haven’t even scratched the surface in terms of the kinds of stories that are out there.”
However, one Criminal Minds fan-favorite was noticeably absent from the reboot: Matthew Gray Gubler as Dr. Spencer Reid. Gubler played the special agent from Season 1 until the show wrapped up in 2020. In Evolution, they addressed Spencer’s absence by saying that he was reassigned to a top-secret mission with a different FBI unit. Cook, who plays Jennifer “JJ” Jareau, told Good Housekeepingin January 2023 that Matthew has watched the show and “he’s super excited.” He thinks they’re great,” she said. “He wants to do it. He wants to be involved. It’s just the timing hasn’t been right yet… He would absolutely come back if the timing could work.”
Thankfully, fans got the Dr. Reid content they desperately needed when Gubler and Mantegna posed for a photo together. The impromptu reunion also led many to think that Gubler could be reprising his role in Evolution for Season 2. “Had dinner with the guy who’s like a son to me,” Mantegna tweeted on Wednesday, August 16, alongside Gubler.
Before returning for Evolution, Mantegna left Criminal Minds in 2019 after 12 years. “As I wrap up my last day of filming Criminal Minds, I can’t help but reflect in awe at what a truly wonderful experience it has been. As you know I came to a show already in production,” he wrote on Facebook at the time. “Yes, I will miss playing David Rossi, and I’ll miss the wonderful writing that brought him to life, but mostly I will miss seeing my fellow cast mates and our fantastic crew everyday. It may seem a cliché to say we’re like family, but it’s so very true.”
Showrunner Erica Messer told TVLine that for Season 2, “Everybody in the main cast is coming back,” but Gubler and Daniel Henney’s (Matthew Simmons) involvement was up in the air. “It’d be amazing. I’m not giving up hope on that.”
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