'Criminal Minds' Renewed for 15th and Final Season on CBS
The case is closed on "Criminal Minds."
The long-running CBS crime drama will end after a 15th and final season, according to TVLine. The final 10 episodes will air during the 2019-2020 TV season.
“It’s really bittersweet, but I’m so, so grateful to CBS for giving us this heads-up,” showrunner Erica Messer told TVLine. “I think one of my biggest fears was always, ‘Oh man, what if we don’t know’ and then they just don’t bring back the show? But they respect this series and the cast and the crew and the fans enough to end this properly.”
"Criminal Minds" has been a solid and steady ratings performer for CBS, though not as the network's other procedural franchises like "NCIS." The show has experienced quite a bit of cast upheaval over the years, with original lead Mandy Patinkin departing after Season 3. Thomas Gibson was fired during Season 12 after an on-set altercation. Currently, Joe Mantegna and Adam Rodriguez lead the cast.
Season 15 will feature a time jump, Messer told TVLine, and more serialized storytelling. She teased "a bad guy that we meet toward the end of Season 14, who will be our main focus” for the final episodes.