Criminal Minds Season 17 Cleverly References a Season 6 Mistake

Summary

  • Criminal Minds: Evolution addresses the firing of two beloved characters, Emily Prentiss and Jennifer Jareau, in a powerful and cathartic scene.
  • The scene where Prentiss and JJ are high is a celebration of resilience and vulnerability, infusing joy into a challenging discussion.
  • The Evolution reboot shifts the focus to women, highlighting strong female characters and addressing the erasure of women from history.



Any series that lasts 17 seasons is going to have its share of mistakes, and Criminal Minds is no different. However, the latest iteration of the show, called Criminal Minds: Evolutiondid his best to admit that two of the most popular characters were fired in season six. It made sense to address how they were treated, because Evolution The second season was all about elevating the female characters on the show. In the sixth season of Criminal MindsPaget Brewster, who plays Emily Prentiss, and AJ Cook, who plays Jennifer Jareau, have been fired.

The request came from a studio executive who apparently saw his characters as expendable simply because they were women. The firing “left a scar on all of us who lived through it. When you have a character who really reflects on whether [she’s] they will stop so they don't shoot [her]how can we not talk about the elephant in the room, which is that these two [actors] were they fired many years ago?” Criminal Minds: Evolution Showrunner Erica Messer told CBR in an interview. As Prentiss and JJ pondered their futures at the FBI (with the help of some cannabis), the show found the perfect way to acknowledge what happened off-screen all those years ago.



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Season 2's “Message in a Bottle” focuses much of its story on David Rossi (Joe Mantegna) and Elias Voit (Zach Gilford). However, the episode used its secondary story to address Brewster and Cook's firing from Criminal Minds. Emily Prentiss is falsely accused of assault and suspended from active duty with the FBIIn his spare time, he eats certain foods (legal in Washington) to distract himself from his problems. In her elevated status, she decides to leave the BAU before they can fire her.Luckily, JJ shows up to talk her out of it and accidentally gets fucked too.


When Brewster was first fired Criminal Mindstold the writers to simply kill her character. Luckily, the storytellers came up with a not-too-convoluted way to resurrect Emily Prentiss, making her the head of the BAU. Instead, JJ explained how being fired was a badge of honor, proving that nothing could force them to leave a job they believed in.Since JJ's story was similar, in that the character left the FBI and then returned, she was the best person to make that argument.

Fans love her so much.


The scene was probably as cathartic for the actors to perform as it was for the writers to create. It's also the kind of moment longtime viewers have been waiting for. “The fans love it so much,” Brewster told CBR in an interview, adding that being “off the show… was complicated and gross.” The scenes between Prentiss and JJ in “Message in a Bottle” made a powerful statement about the tenacity of the characters. It's one of the rare instances in a Criminal Minds a story in which the actors have first-hand experience of the problems their characters face.

Why it was important that Emily Prentiss and JJ were made for the scene

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Thanks to the change in cultural attitudes, cannabis is more “acceptable” for heroic characters than other vices, such as tobacco smoking. Like arrest and suspension itself, this is a detail in which Criminal Minds: Evolution fans have to practice suspension of disbelief. In fact, if an officer were actually suspected of assault, a drug test would be part of that investigation. And while weed is legal in DC, it’s still prohibited for federal employees, especially in law enforcement. Still, allowing characters to be stoned injected some joy into what would otherwise be a very heavy discussion.


Brewster and Cook deserve credit for their performances, especially for the subtle way they played off their inebriation. Whatever was in those cheese-infused curls made Prentiss and JJ just the right amount of emotional and introspective. If done directly, the conversation would probably be tinged with sadness or, more likely, anger. However, the point of this scene wasn't to retroactively criticize the shortsighted men who sent them packing. Criminal Minds Season 6. Rather, the point of the scene was to celebrate how these women weathered the storm and came out of it.

The weed-induced insecurity is a better fit for Prentiss than brooding or throwing around ideas about how unfair this is. It allowed the characters to show vulnerability without making it seem like a weakness in their resolve. Ultimately, the scene was touching with some very funny moments, like when Prentiss gives JJ a snack with chopsticks. (Which, for the record, is a great way to eat snacks and avoid getting your fingers dirty.) All of these choices allowed the scene to be cathartic and celebratory rather than grim.


Why It's Important for Criminal Minds to Shift Its Focus to Women

jennifer jareau jj in disella's house on criminal minds evolution

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When Criminal Minds Debuting nearly two decades ago, the main character was superstar FBI profiler Jason Gideon. When actor Mandy Patinkin left the series, he cited the way women were treated as one of the reasonsWhile it has focused primarily on the “case of the week” guest stars, the same logic could be applied to their co-stars as well. Criminal Minds: Evolution still features graphic scenes of violence and brutality, as they are still FBI profilers. However, the show's treatment of its female characters is now a thing of the past. Prentiss and JJ are prime examples in the cast.


One way the Evolution reboot differs from Criminal Minds is the level of serialization of the story. On TV, the BAU solved a case in 45 minutes and moved on. Now that it's on Paramount+, the show is able to build on stories and themes from previous episodes. For example, in season two, a website called “BAU-gate,” which featured fake, explicit images of team members, was a recurring device, specifically for JJ. This allowed for a more authentic portrayal of how something like that would affect a person.

The show is able to develop stories and themes from previous episodes.


Perhaps the best way serialization helps Criminal Minds: Evolution It happens through Sydney Voit (Kiele Sanchez), the wife of the unknown subject from season one. Viewers got to see how her husband's arrest affected her and her children.. The episodic procedural format doesn't often allow for this kind of narrative sequel. It's the best addition to the Criminal Minds format, because it reveals the impact the BAU has on people, beyond sending assassins to prison. In fact, Evolution Season 2 introduced a new character who might be the most important in the entire series.

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Despite his departure in season three, Jason Gideon is important to Criminal Minds' mythology as one of the founders of the BAU. Rossi was his partner who was brought in to replace Gideon in the cast. These characters are based on the true story of FBI profiling, a questionable investigative method best used in fiction. However, Throughout history, women's contributions have been belittled, hidden or even erased. It wasn't enough for the women of the current BAU to gain the spotlight. A new character was created in honor of those forgotten pioneers.

Evolution Season 2 introduced Dr. Jill Gideon, Jason's ex-wife and as important to the unit's history as anyone else. From Criminal Minds Season 1 introduced Jason's son, his mother has been around implicitly for almost 20 years. It makes sense that he would be part of the FBI's first profiling program. Dr. Jill is no wimp, however. The character is fine without being associated with the BAU. While Jason Gideon and Rossi are all for getting “justice,” Dr. Jill is more interested in helping identify and treat these people before they become non-subjects..


A character who could use more to do Criminal Minds: Evolution is Penelope Grace Garcia, played by Kristin Vangsness. She's an enduring presence on the series, which is too often relegated to a handful of expository scenes or a few tense moments that probably involve a computer status bar. She had a great moment in the season two finale where she glared at Elias Voit, proving she could do even more on the show. Strong female characters are part of the Criminal Minds legacy, but so is the way some of them were treated badly. The scenes with Paget Brewster and AJ Cook in “Message in a Bottle” were a good way to acknowledge both truths.


All episodes of Criminal Minds and Criminal Minds: Evolution are available to stream on Paramount+, with season three currently in production.

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