Paramount+ Has Officially Cheapened Criminal Minds' Best Asset
MovieStillsDB
Published Jul 9, 2026, 7:45 PM EDT
Shealyn Scott is a Senior Writer at Screen Rant. She has been writing for the site since 2024, focused on network, reality, streaming, and classic television.
A creative writer, journalist, and lover of the written word in all its forms, Shealyn enjoys deconstructing scenes from her favorite shows, using context clues and historical precedent to predict major plot points (which, due to her successful track record, has sparked rumors of clairvoyance).
As an award-winning student journalist, Shealyn spent her college years advocating for the humanities while studying English Literature. Her love of storytelling propelled her to expand her degree with minors in Writing and History, believing life to be a mere collection of stories that can be framed in as many ways as a movie scene.
As a Senior member of the TV Team, Shealyn treats the series she covers like books, analyzing every line, camera angle, and lighting choice. Thankfully, her personal mission statement lines up perfectly with Screen Rant: every creative work deserves just as much thought from the viewer as it received from its creator.
Sign in to your ScreenRant account
Criminal Minds has been on air for over 20 years, but its run on Paramount+ keeps evolving— for better and for worse. Fans of the original series had mixed reactions to Criminal Minds: Evolution upon season 16's release, but the primary audience's consensus has only grown more divided throughout the past four years. Some detest how serialized the show has become, lamenting the fact that Elias Voit (Zach Gilford) is still one of the drama's most prominent characters nearly 30 episodes after his initial arrest. Others appreciate the ambitious scope of the Sicarius plotline, but they miss the old BAU.
In a vacuum, Criminal Minds season 19 is arguably the most divisive entry yet. Most episodes are split between a BAU case and a standalone Voit B-plot, offering the prolific killer the limelight over and over again while many fan-favorite FBI agents go unutilized. At the same time, The Fan's subplot in Criminal Minds is one of the continuation's best villains to date. Regardless of which elements fans enjoy and which they disapprove of, however, there's one universally loved trend that's been around since the crime drama's beginning: Criminal Minds' found family. Unfortunately, season 19 is struggling with that, too.
Criminal Minds Season 19's Found Family Element Feels Unconvincing
"Requiem" Failed To Properly Capture The BAU's Closeness
In a vast sea oversaturated with crime procedurals, grisly murders, and stoic TV detectives, Criminal Minds stood out because of the Behavioral Analysis Unit. At a glance, the team of elite FBI agents were already unique due to their focus on psychology and criminal profiling, but what truly set the series apart were the interpersonal relationships between the BAU members. Sadly, Criminal Minds season 19, episode 8 fails to depict a realistic bond between the main characters.
During a saccharine cutaway, the entire team— along with Rebecca Wilson (Nicole Pacent), newlywed wife of Tara Lewis (Aisha Tyler)— gathers to celebrate Henry, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau's (A.J. Cook) son, who officially committed to a college in San Diego, California. With furry ears, bobcat paws, and tiny flags equipped, Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness) sets up a camera to take a "family photo" of the group. The moment is, naturally, fleeting, as the party is disrupted by breaking news of a developing case.
Regardless, "Requiem" comes full-circle by returning to the apartment after the case is wrapped up. After Penelope and JJ have a short heart-to-heart, Luke Alvez (Adam Rodriguez) appears with Henry in tow to invite the two to a late-night dinner with the team. As sweet as this throughline is on paper, though, there's no denying it feels forced and somewhat contrived.
If anything, Henry's party feels more like a stage set for expository conversations and surface-level speeches about the group's familial bond. As a result, Criminal Minds season 19 falls victim to the age-old mistake of telling rather than showing— a narrative faux pas. There's an argument to be made that, given they've worked together for years, the BAU's connection should be understood implicitly. Nevertheless, the found family element in Evolution is immensely disappointing, especially when compared to the original series.
How The OG Series Established The BAU's Bond
Criminal Minds' CBS Run Was Able To Forge A Subtle Familial Connection
In stark contrast to the age of Evolution, the first 15 seasons of Criminal Minds took a more subtle approach to its found family aspect. Characters demonstrated their affinity through action, subtext-laden dialogue, and short scenes that were meant to ground the episode. In the early days of the series, Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler) stops by Elle Greenaway's (Lola Glaudini) hotel room to check in on her during a particularly demanding case. From the jump, Penelope and Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore) playfully flirted over the phone as each other's unofficial work spouse. Even the BAU's built-in hierarchy slowly dissolved.
Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner (Thomas Gibson) started out as a detached, seemingly apathetic Unit Chief who treated his coworkers with strict professionalism and, at times, exasperation. Yet, Criminal Minds understood how to convey fondness without sacrificing the character. Hotch showed love in small ways, like making omelets with Penelope or fist-bumping Reid. Conversely, David Rossi (Joe Mantegna) was a much more animated character, allowing the show to get away with more ostentatious displays of affection, à la "pasta night" team dinners.
Comparatively, Criminal Minds: Evolution's attempts at strengthening the found family element quickly veer into fan service. It's not out of character for Penelope to host a party for JJ's son per se, but everyone in the scene is instantly at the same level, all smiles and no real substance. Perhaps if "Requiem" had actually shown the post-case dinner, the viewer would have seen genuine moments of connection between the characters. The scene wouldn't have even needed a script; the talented cast could have improved hushed conversation for a short montage.
There are plenty of moments in season 19 where it feels like Criminal Minds has lost its true self, but the found family scenes aren't that disruptive. Rather, longtime fans of the series merely know that less is sometimes more. When Criminal Minds was still finding its footing as a network staple, all the team needed was a quiet room and some cardboard takeout containers to leave the audience enraptured by their bond. Paramount+ could easily achieve this as well, but it would require a broader refocusing.
Criminal Minds: Evolution Can Do Better With Its Ensemble Cast
Some Of The Greatest Family Events Have Already Been Skipped
Paramount Press ExpressUnlike the revolving door of agents in the crime drama's original run, the BAU seems fairly stagnant in Criminal Minds: Evolution. Consequently, the show should, in theory, be able to dig deeper into the characters they have and flesh out new duos. To an extent, the continuation has tried to make Tyler Green (Ryan-James Hatanaka) feel like a "real" BAU member, but he mostly stands on the sidelines during group scenes. After years of working together, it would be nice to see Tyler interact with JJ, Tara, or even Luke in more meaningful ways.
The main cast of Criminal Minds: Evolution has stayed the same since Paramount+'s continuation premiered in 2022.
Furthermore, the Paramount+ continuation must start splitting focus more equally. Whereas the party in "Requiem" was one of countless moments where the team showed JJ and her family support, the Criminal Minds season 19 time-jump robbed viewers of seeing Tara and Rebecca's wedding. Similarly, Luke has experienced multiple major losses this season, but he largely faded into the background after only talking to a few of his coworkers.
Truthfully, the issue with Criminal Minds: Evolution's found family isn't the group itself; the real problem lies in how the characters themselves are treated. Every BAU member is someone's favorite character, but the modern era picks and chooses who gets the spotlight with very little variation. At the end of the day, it's clear that the crime drama's ensemble is a family at heart, but Criminal Minds doesn't always need an out-of-place rager to prove it.
Release Date September 22, 2005
Showrunner Erica Messer
Writers Bruce Zimmerman, Virgil Williams, Edward Allen Bernero, Janine Sherman Barrois, Chris Mundy, Simon Mirren, Debra J. Fisher, Kimberly A. Harrison, Jay Beattie, Dan Dworkin, Karen Maser, Oanh Ly, Stephanie Sengupta, Aaron Zelman, Kirsten Vangsness, Erica Meredith, Andi Bushell, Holly Harold, Alicia Kirk, Jeff Davis, Randy Huggins, Edward Napier, Jayne A. Archer, Chikodili Agwuna
-
Kirsten Vangsness
Penelope Garcia
-
Matthew Gray Gubler
Dr. Spencer Reid
What's Your Reaction?
Like
0
Dislike
0
Love
0
Funny
0
Wow
0
Sad
0
Angry
0
Comments (0)