After fighting for the last two seasons, it has been confirmed: our beloved "Criminal Minds" will come to an end with a ten-episode season 15.
"Criminal Minds" debuted September 22, 2005, and tells the story of a group of behavioral profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU). The show follows the team as they investigate crimes across the country and at times, worldwide, all while tackling their own personal struggles.
I was five years old when this show began but that isn't to say that it wasn't one of my favorite shows growing up. When I was old enough to understand the idea, I decided from a young age that I wanted to be a cop (or something of the sort). So, from around the age of nine or ten, I watched "Criminal Minds," "Bones," and other such crime shows, dreaming of the cool bad guys I would someday catch.
To me, this show is a strong reminder of:
Saturdays in my parents' bed while my mother folds laundry and my pigsty of a room which was supposed to be cleaned the night before, is blatantly ignored.
Sunday mornings on the couch while my family devours homemade pancakes, eggs, and bacon, like every other Sunday morning.
Snow days once I celebrated the closing of my school for two inches of snow.
Every spring and summer break.
Who I wanted to be.
"Criminal Minds" was a show that was constantly playing repeats even if a new episode was coming out that week. Needless to say, I saw a lot of it. It is a true binge-worthy show and I re-watched it my first semester of college (from what was already available on Netflix). I'd have it play in the background as I worked tediously on my assignments.
Each season has usually been released with roughly 13 episodes. Sadly, in season 12, the show fell into a rhythmic formula, which became predictive and stale, after the firing of Thomas Gibson (Aaron Hotchner) however, it has since recovered miraculously in seasons 13 and 14. I suppose the uphill battle was lost though.
"Criminal Minds" will be coming to an end after the finale of the 10-episode 15th season. The serialized crime drama genre is slowly dying off and it saddens me to finally have to say goodbye to another favorite show that seems like has been around forever. I wish over the course of the series that we had been given more details about the character's lives and that we were given more time to see the ongoing character arcs of Tara, Luke, and Matt. As for Reid, Garcia, Prentiss, Rossi, and JJ however, thank you for filling my head with crime-stopping fantasies that got me to where I am today. I will miss your current life updates, but you will continue to live on in my Netflix legacy.
As another one bites the dust, I think all of us can agree in hoping that "Grey's Anatomy" isn't next.
