Evolution Effectively Loses A BAU Member Ahead Of Season 4

Emily Prentiss’ Behavioral Analysis Unit has effectively lost a member ahead of Criminal Minds: Evolution season 4’s return. After the original iteration of the series on CBS ended, it didn’t take long for the BAU to return to the small screen via Paramount+. While Criminal Minds: Evolution is a continuation of the initial run, there are a few changes to the new streaming series, including a format tweak, as well as a darker take on its cases.

The cast of Criminal Minds: Evolution has been mostly familiar faces from the CBS series, and after three seasons, Prentiss’ squad remains intact. Granted that the streaming rebrand kicked off without Daniel Henney’s Matt Simmons and Matthew Gray Gubler’s Spencer Reid, the show had made it a point multiple times that they remain part of the BAU, and their absence is mostly due to the pair being assigned a different and more classified mission. After the events of Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3, however, the profilers have lost one of their own.

Criminal Minds: Evolution Has Confirmed That Reid Has A New Team

When Criminal Minds ended in 2020, it felt like the true end for the series. This was why Penelope Garcia’s decision to move to a different job made for the perfect endpoint for the series, although the rest of the squad supposedly continued with the FBI. So when the series returned on Paramount+, there was a lot of commotion about Matt and Reid’s whereabouts.

While the wait for Henney’s return continues, Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3 finally brought back Gubler in a brief but emotional way, reuniting with JJ and the rest of the team on the heels of Will LaMontagne’s death. Despite Gubler barely speaking in his cameo, it was confirmed that Reid now has a different boss and team, with Prentiss revealing that his current supervisor gave him the morning off to attend the funeral.

When Criminal Minds: Evolution debuted, the show used the friction between the BAU and the higher-ups at the bureau as the reason for Reid (and Simmons) getting separated from the rest of the unit. So much has happened since then, with Prentiss’ team now having a better standing with the FBI, there’s nothing really stopping them from coming back. Reid not returning to the BAU beyond Will’s funeral is an indication that he has already chosen his new role over being a profiler.

What Reid Effectively Leaving The BAU Means For Criminal Minds: Evolution’s Future

Reid JJ Prentiss Rossi at funeral Criminal Minds Evolution(1)

Off-screen, there was barely a chance for Gubler to rejoin Criminal Minds: Evolution as a series regular. The actor wanted to explore other career avenues, which was understandable, considering how he spent 15 years playing the same character when the procedural was still on CBS. As he’s set to return to network TV via Einstein, it has become more unlikely that Reid would return, even for another cameo, at least in the near future.

As disappointing as this is, Reid moving on from the BAU allows Criminal Minds: Evolution to focus on its present and future without being bogged down by questions about the whereabouts of Gubler’s character. His absence was a favorite topic of conversation before he appeared for Will’s funeral. After that, questions about his next return started circulating. Whatever Reid is doing now, the fact that he is not actively trying to return to the BAU means that he is fulfilled in his work — it’s a small consolation for finally accepting the idea that he will never be a full-time BAU member again.

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