Season Twelve

Season Twelve. On May 6th, 2016 CBS announced the renewal of Criminal Minds for the 2016-2017 TV season, with a standard initial order of 22 episodes. The season premiered on September 28, 2016.

Ratings
No ratings information is available at this time.

Cast

 * Joe Mantegna - David Rossi
 * Matthew Gray Gubler - Dr. Spencer Reid
 * A.J. Cook - Jennifer Jareau
 * Kirsten Vangsness - Penelope Garcia
 * Damon Gupton - Stephen Walker
 * Aisha Tyler - Dr. Tara Lewis
 * Adam Rodriguez - Luke Alvez
 * Thomas Gibson - Aaron Hotchner
 * Paget Brewster - Emily Prentiss

Highlights
The season will predominantly focus on the BAU tracking down and recapturing thirteen serial killers, who all escaped from prisons across the U.S. during the events of last season's finale The Storm. The team will particularly focus their efforts on serial killer by proxy Peter Lewis.

Two new agents will be introduced in this season as main characters. One will replace Derek Morgan, who was written out of the show last season, due to Shemar Moore's decision to leave. Showrunner Erica Messer clarified that the team will continue to cope with Morgan's departure and that this will initially affect their relationship with the new agent. The character, Agent Luke Alvez, is portrayed by Adam Rodriguez, introduced in the premiere episode, and was previously a member of the FBI Fugitive Task Force. The second agent is Stephen Walker, who is portrayed by Damon Gupton and was previously a member of the Behavioral Analysis Program, the FBI's counterintelligence division; he will be introduced in the eighth episode.

Paget Brewster will reprise her role as Emily Prentiss as a series regular. In addition, it was confirmed that Aisha Tyler would be reprising her role as Doctor Tara Lewis, filling another series regular role. Lewis was a recurring character introduced in the previous season.

Aaron Hotchner will no longer appear in the series after Thomas Gibson was dismissed due to an altercation between him and episode writer Virgil Williams. His absence will be written into the season, but he will still appear in the season's first two episodes. Hotch's role as BAU team leader will be filled up by Prentiss.

Jane Lynch will reprise her role as Reid's mother Diana for the season's eleventh episode, which is slated to air in February 2017 for what Erica Messer described as "a fun, Reid-heavy story-arc", which she later said will be dealt with in the season's last nine episodes and will feature the return of another unsub from the past. Lost alum Harold Perrineau will guest-star as a recurring character, former FBI agent Calvin Shaw, who was found guilty of killing an informant and whose innocence will be questioned by the team; Perrineau's character will be integral to this arc. Tatum O'Neal will guest-star in the sixteenth episode as Miranda White, a mother who suspects her son of being a serial killer. The episode was described by Rodriguez as "the most gruesome episode" he has ever seen.

A.J. Cook hinted that there will be an event that will "rock" JJ indirectly and give her "a hard time handling what happens."