Season Eight

Season Eight. On March 14th, 2012 CBS announced the renewal of Criminal Minds for the 2012-2013 TV with season, ordering 24 episodes.

Ratings
No ratings information is available at this time.

Cast

 * Joe Mantegna - David Rossi
 * Thomas Gibson - Aaron Hotchner
 * Shemar Moore - Derek Morgan
 * Matthew Gray Gubler - Dr. Spencer Reid
 * A.J. Cook - Jennifer Jareau
 * Jeanne Tripplehorn - Dr. Alex Blake
 * Kirsten Vangsness - Penelope Garcia

Highlights
Jeanne Tripplehorn will join the series as a regular, portraying Alex Blake, filling Prentiss' spot in the team.

In the fourth episode, Reid gets a girlfriend named a mysterious neuroscientist. Unfortunately, she is killed by her stalker.

Thomas Gibson and A.J. Cook hinted that "a strange criminal" will be stalking the BAU throughout the entire season. Later on, Erica Messer confirmed that fact, explaining that for the first time, they will be able to feature a season-long unsub, something producers have wanted to do for a while but had never gotten approval on until now. She has also added that "...this guy is replicating crimes we've solved. [...] We'll probably see him five or six times [throughout the season]."

Episode 23 "Brothers Hotchner" has been bumped to May 22 at 9pm EST (8pm CST) and will air just before the season finale (which will be at 10pm EST). It will appear as a two-hour episode like last season.