Criminal Minds fans are pretty upset since Season 11 ended on a cliffhanger and it is possible that the upcoming season will immediately pick up from where it left off. There will be some new changes introduced in the next season as well.
One of these changes will deal with a replacement for Derek Morgan. The team lost him during the final episode of Season 11. Erica Messer, Criminal Minds executive producer declared that the team would need a new addition to the BAU or Behavioral Analysis Unit.
The entire team suffered a major loss but with the recently transpired prison break, Peter Lewis is currently at large and a fully-functioning BAU unit is extremely necessary.
Messer revealed that they don’t want a shrinking cast. They want to have more people in the field. They have to go out, catch criminals and with a serial killer on the loose, the team cannot be an agent short this year.
They need a ‘full-steam ahead’ approach. She further added that they haven’t decided on the next cast addition but the casting process has already been set in motion.
They showrunners have a number of characters in mind but they were concerned that no one would be able to comply, in such short notice. Messer declared that Mr. Scratch will be a part of the next season.
Messer further reflected that everything would be fun when they bring the writers together and decide to bring back a character from the last 11 years of the show.
In the season 11 finale, we saw a calm dinner which soon turned into a violent situation when three inmates escaped from their cell. As a result, notorious criminal Peter Lewis escaped with a dozen of certified killers, as reported by The BitBag.
Besides serial killers being featured on the loose plotline, reports suggest that a new cast member will be added in Season 12, in order to replace veteran actor Shemar Moore, who played Agent Derek Morgan.
Due to personal reasons, Moore decided to leave the TV series after the 16th episode of Season 11. As a result, his character was written off from the show. Erica Messer, the showrunner, further confirmed that they were indeed looking out for a new actor.
They have already shortlisted a few actors and the team would be sifting through them in this month. Messer further explained that when Season 12 is aired on-screen, they want a complete list of cast members available in Criminal Minds. Meanwhile, Criminal Minds has a spin-off series named Beyond Borders and it airs on CBS.
Fans were not expecting it but showrunners managed to pull off a crossover between these two series and thankfully, it turned out to be a massive hit! Fans are already requesting for more crossover episodes between the two series.
Reports suggest that fans should expect to see Thomas Gibson. He plays the character of Hotch. Game and Guide further suggested that Gary Sinise, who plays Jack Garett in Beyond Borders, will be featured in a single episode with Gibson.
In Season 12, there will be a team of Federal agents who will track down several known criminals who escaped and start putting them back behind bars. It will be quite different from their standard search for unsubs, a term coined by the team, to indicate unidentified or unknown suspects.
In Season 12, the BAU will start profiling in order to trace the next move made by the criminals or the next hideout they plan to occupy. TV Guide reports that Season 12 of Criminal Minds will feature a serialized setup of storytelling as they keep chasing and taking down villains from the past.