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Criminal Minds showrunner talks what it would take for Shemar Moore to come back

Shemar Moore has said that he would be interested in coming back to Criminal Minds for the right story. Showrunner Erica Messer now shares what she thinks.

ByAlexandria Ingham|
“The Promise” – The team heads to Mexico to escort a fugitive back to the States when things go awry and Hondo has to save an old witness who tied to the case, in the season seven premiere of S.W.A.T., Friday, February 16 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs)*. Pictured: Shemar Moore as Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson.
“The Promise” – The team heads to Mexico to escort a fugitive back to the States when things go awry and Hondo has to save an old witness who tied to the case, in the season seven premiere of S.W.A.T., Friday, February 16 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs)*. Pictured: Shemar Moore as Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson.

Criminal Minds fans would love to see some faces of the past return. One of those is Shemar Moore.

Before SWAT Season 8 was confirmed, Moore did share that he would be interested in reprising roles from his past. One of those was coming back as Derek Morgan in Criminal Minds. Presumably not full-time, but as a one-off guest spot so we can catch up on where Morgan is now.

Fans will remember that Morgan left the BAU for personal reasons in Season 11. This was Moore’s choice as an actor, as he wanted to go onto other projects. Not long after, he landed the lead in the SWAT remake. He did make a reappearance in episodes in Seasons 12 and 13.

Erica Messer shares how Shemar Moore could return to Criminal Minds

Moore has been busy with SWAT since then. There was a chance that he could return to the revival when we believed SWAT Season 7 would be the last, but then CBS U-turned on that decision and renewed the show for an eighth season. So now, it looks less likely.

Of course, it’s not just up to Moore, though. Showrunner Erica Messer and the writers would need to have a storyline. TVLine talked to Messer about this, and she shared what it would take to bring Moore back onto the show.

Messer shared that it would need to be an emotional reason to bring a character back. This wasn’t just about bringing Morgan back, but also about bringing Reid or Matt. This suggests that should a character come back, there would need to be some sort of personal storyline. It wouldn’t just be for professional reasons.

"At this point, what could bring anybody back would be an emotional draw versus any case work."

Of course, professional and personal could mix a little. Morgan chose to leave the team to protect his son. He returned once because he got a text message from Mr. Scratch, and then he returned again to help Garcia on a case when she needed emotional support. It’s possible that something could happen to his family to bring him back to the team, or he could have a case linked to his current line of work that has an emotional element to it.

Either way, it looks like Messer is interested in bringing Moore back to Criminal Minds if the storyline and schedules align. It’s a little harder to do with Criminal Minds: Evolution due to the more serialized element to the storytelling.

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