Every now and then, BAU team members think about quitting. Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 2 saw Prentiss consider quitting again. This time, it was JJ who stopped her from doing it, and the way JJ managed it was perfect.
During the episode, Prentiss stayed at Penelope’s to contemplate the future. JJ headed over there to check up on her friend, which shows that while JJ is dealing with her own issues due to the deepfake porn site, she doesn’t blame Prentiss for everything that happened. She wants Prentiss to be around, knowing that Prentiss is a great team leader.
That meant having to stop Prentiss from quitting. With everything going on, Prentiss was done serving the BAU. That was even the case when she got the email to say that she was reinstated after the investigation into the arrest.
JJ reminded Prentiss of their friendship in Criminal Minds: Evolution
While many others have prevented Prentiss from quitting before. Remember when Reid reminded Prentiss of everything that Prentiss had done for the team. He put the focus on her skills in the field and in the job. That wasn’t what JJ did.
Instead, JJ put the focus on their friendship. She said that Gideon and Hotch has quitting in common, but I also think that they had the lone wolf mentality in common. They didn’t have that sort of relationship that JJ and Prentiss have.
When Prentiss faked her death, JJ was there for her. When JJ had a miscarriage, Prentiss was there for her. As JJ says, while the job takes so much from each other, the job also gave the two women each other. They have stood by each other and supported each other through everything. When JJ was fired, Prentiss made sure JJ got her job back by making it clear that the BAU wouldn’t have succeeded in capturing an UnSub without JJ.
They are the epitome of women supporting women. They are that female friendship that we all need to see on screen, and this episode gave us that reminder. This season has been worrisome with JJ learning what was really on the deepfake porn site, but it’s clear that it won’t affect their friendship. Prentiss just needed that reminder so that she didn’t quit.