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Criminal Minds shouldn’t see the entire team break up in the series finale

By Alexandria Ingham

"Believer" -- When Reid discovers former FBI Special Agent Owen Quinn (James Urbaniak) locked inside a storage unit, the BAU questions the credibility of Quinn's bizarre accounts of searching for an UnSub that he named "The Strangler," on the second episode of the double-episode 13th season finale cliffhanger of CRIMINAL MINDS, Wednesday, April 18 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured: Matthew Gray Gubler (Dr. Spencer Reid), Aisha Tyler (Dr. Tara Lewis), A.J. Cook (Jennifer Jareau), Joe Mantegna (David Rossi), Paget Brewster (Emily Prentiss), Daniel Henney (Matt Simmons) Photo: Michael Yarish/CBS ©2018 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved
"Believer" -- When Reid discovers former FBI Special Agent Owen Quinn (James Urbaniak) locked inside a storage unit, the BAU questions the credibility of Quinn's bizarre accounts of searching for an UnSub that he named "The Strangler," on the second episode of the double-episode 13th season finale cliffhanger of CRIMINAL MINDS, Wednesday, April 18 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured: Matthew Gray Gubler (Dr. Spencer Reid), Aisha Tyler (Dr. Tara Lewis), A.J. Cook (Jennifer Jareau), Joe Mantegna (David Rossi), Paget Brewster (Emily Prentiss), Daniel Henney (Matt Simmons) Photo: Michael Yarish/CBS ©2018 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved /
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The Criminal Minds series finale will be here very soon, and it looks like the team is going to disband. That shouldn’t be entirely the case.

As we get closer to the Criminal Minds series finale, it’s looking more and more likely that the team is going to disband. However, not everyone should leave.

I like shows to have a sense of realism, especially in the end. It would be easy to have the entire team go their separate ways, but that’s not how life would work, right? Some would leave and others would stay. That’s the way Criminal Minds should end.

There are a couple of characters I’d fully accept leaving the team. Prentiss would likely move to Denver to be with her partner and Rossi would likely finally retire after catching The Chameleon. I could also see Tara moving onto another job as she’s not been part of the team for too long. She doesn’t seem to have integrated as much as the others.

The ones who would likely stay

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Matt Simmons has already proven there are financial worries. While he’s coming on to join Rossi as a writer of fiction books, I don’t think Matt would want to fully give up his job as an FBI agent. He likes helping people. The same applies to Luke.

I could see JJ making the choice to leave for her family. Maybe she’s put in harm’s way again and it leads to a conversation with her husband and her boys. However, she loves the job she does and I’m not sure I could see her completely retiring. I’d actually love to see her become the head of the BAU instead.

As for Reid, I could see him going either way. But after so long with the team and helping to catch so many serial killers, he is a crucial member. I don’t think the team would work without him, and with that, I think he’d be one to stick around. The only thing that could change is if something happened to him, but we’ve already had a Spencer-focused storyline.

Finally, there is Garcia. She’s a needed part of the team and there’s nobody who can work the tech magic the way she can. There’s absolutely no way that I could see her choosing to walk unless the entire team was disbanded by a higher-up for some reason.

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Criminal Minds
“Date Night” — After a father and daughter get kidnapped, a former foe of the BAU returns with very specific demands for Dr. Reid that give a whole new meaning to the phrase “wheels up,” on CRIMINAL MINDS, Wednesday, Feb. 5 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Rachel Leigh Cook returns as Maxine. Pictured (L-R): Daniel Henney as Matt Simmons, Aisha Tyler as Dr. Tara Lewis, A.J. Cook as Jennifer “JJ” Jareau, Joe Mantegna as David Rossi, Paget Brewster as Emily Prentiss, and Kirsten Vangsness as Penelope Garcia Photo: Screen Grab/CBS ©2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. /

Nothing to indicate breaking up

Most seasons of Criminal Minds have given us a storyline of the team at risk of being disbanded. In some cases, they’ve been sent off to work on other teams or forced back into retirement. Thankfully, there have been no hints of the team disbanding completely.

It wouldn’t make sense to suddenly have someone pop in for the final two episodes to break up the team. Instead, I feel like Criminal Minds should end with some realism. As some of the team members head off to pastures new, others will stick around and continue to keep people safe.

This is assuming that everyone survives. There is the chance that one of our team members is killed off, but I sincerely hope the writers don’t do that to us.

Next. 7 Criminal Minds alums who need to return in the final season. dark

How do you think Criminal Minds should end? What would you like to see in the final episodes? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Criminal Minds airs on Feb. 12 at the later time of 10/9c on CBS.

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