Spencer Reid Is Officially A Bad Guy In Criminal Minds

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Criminal Minds season 19, episode 3, “Evil Leaves A Trail.”Criminal Minds season 19 officially paints Spencer Reid as a bad guy. Matthew Gray Gubler was a member of the inaugural ensemble for the procedural when it debuted in 2005. Throughout Criminal Minds‘ 15-season run on CBS, he was an integral part of the Behavioral Analysis, thanks to being an unbelievable treasure trove of knowledge, not to mention being a gifted profiler. To say that Reid is one of Criminal Minds‘ best characters would be an understatement, and he was beloved by so many during the procedural’s network TV run.

So when the cast of Criminal Minds: Evolution was announced and Gubler wasn’t part of it, it was disappointing. Admittedly, there was initial confusion about why he wasn’t involved, and the show tried to give vague updates to make sure that he remained relevant to the series. Ultimately, however, it was revealed in Evolution season 3 that he had a new job. No substantial update beyond that, and while normally, that would have been fine, considering the commotion about Voit, Criminal Minds is presenting him as a bad guy by ignoring his absence.

Why Reid’s Absence In Criminal Minds Season 19 Is His Worst Crime

Reid returned in Criminal Minds season 18 to attend Will LaMontagne’s funeral. JJ’s husband died all of a sudden, which has become the crux of her personal story. Admittedly, Gubler’s cameo was better than nothing, but it was still divisive. Aside from barely having any lines, he was only in the episode for such a short time that it almost felt like his return didn’t happen. That said, at least he showed up, because, since then, he hasn’t made his presence known as JJ and the kids move forward with their lives without Will.

After just three episodes, Criminal Minds season 19 effectively worsens this, as the family officially leaves Will in the past. While they were in the immediate aftermath of the loss for the rest of Evolution season 3, the ongoing cycle has them a year removed from the tragedy, which can be more difficult for families, as they are forced to come out of their grieving period and resume their old lives. JJ and his sons have had to move houses, and while Luke Alvez and Penelope Garcia lend a helping hand, Reid should at least be involved at this time, considering his close relationship with them.

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Henry being on the precipice of making a big life decision, as he chooses where to go for college, has also been a prominent aspect of JJ’s personal story in Criminal Minds season 19. If Reid is around, he could definitely help in this regard, especially since the LaMontagne firstborn is his godson. At one point, Henry even idolized Reid so much, he showed up on Halloween dressed up as him. Ultimately, it’s difficult to imagine that the old version of the character would not try harder to support JJ and his boys during this time, regardless of what’s going on in his own life.

How Criminal Minds: Evolution Can Still Redeem Spencer Reid

Matthew Gray Gubler as Spencer Reid in Criminal Minds

Obviously, this isn’t Gubler’s fault. He remains very close with his former Criminal Minds co-workers, and showrunner Erica Messer has said that they are more than willing to bring him, or any other familiar face from the original show, into the Paramount+ rebranded series. For context, Gubler is set to spearhead CBS’s Einstein, which will premiere as part of the network’s 2027 schedule. Since it’s a network series with far more episodes to produce per season, the production scheduling is rigorous, making it more difficult to incorporate Reid into Criminal Minds moving forward. That said, the procedural isn’t fully without options to address this storytelling issue.

While it could pose some narrative issues in the future, revealing more about Reid’s whereabouts and current work could help viewers understand why he hasn’t been involved with helping JJ and the kids throughout this ordeal. Understandably, keeping his status vague allows Criminal Minds to pivot in case there’s an opportunity to bring him back into the fold more substantially. That said, there are ways to keep his presence in the series without jeopardizing his potential future. A conversation about how Reid is with the kids or how he dropped by to spend time with them off-screen would be better than fully sidelining him.

Ultimately, the goal is to make sure that it’s properly established that Reid hasn’t abandoned his friends. Although he was close with the whole BAU team, he had a very special bond with JJ and her family, probably because they were both the babies of the original squad when the series debuted in 2005. It’s difficult to imagine that he won’t even try to check up on her from time to time after Will died.

Criminal Minds season 19 releases new episodes every Thursday on Paramount+.