rating every single Criminal Minds cast
i’ve just finished watching all 17 seasons of Criminal Minds - 15 seasons in the original CBS show and 2 in the 2022 Paramount Plus reboot called Criminal Minds: Evolution. considering how long this show has been on the air, the cast has remained remarkably stable. most of the show’s longest-serving cast members stuck around for at least a decade!
as with many primetime shows, the cast size has fluctuated over the years, but i think 7 is the magic number - enough for strong individual character development, but still a cohesive group. here’s my review of every single cast in the show’s 20-year run.
Season 1:
JJ, Penelope, Spencer, Hotch, Morgan, Gideon, Elle
this cast really only lasted one season, so i’m not particularly attached to this group. the show was still in its infancy and struggling (somewhat) to make the BAU feel cohesive. each character played a clear role from the get-go: Gideon the brooding mentor, Hotch the no-nonsense Unit Chief, Morgan the hands-on muscle guy with heart, JJ the savvy media liaison, Spencer the young genius, Garcia the humorous and quirky tech analyst, and Elle the passionate but troubled agent.
i never warmed to Gideon throughout his brief run on the show. i found Gideon cold and disconnected from the rest of the team - too many of his moments of “genius” happened in isolation, where he’d stare at a crime scene and suddenly just know the answer. the pattern got old quickly i.e. “We’re ready to deliver the profile.” i’m not saying that Gideon wasn’t collaborative, but he definitely felt isolated from the rest of the group at times.
i also didn’t warm to Elle as much as i thought i would. when she joined the squad, i was excited to see how her passion and drive would play into her work as a profiler, but her good work with the BAU was ultimately overshadowed by the circumstances of the character’s departure in early Season 2. as a team member, i found her rather snappy; it was slightly off-putting. however, i did somewhat enjoy her interactions with Spencer.
Season 2:
JJ, Penelope, Spencer, Hotch, Morgan, Gideon, Emily
as stated above, i did not like Gideon and this season still did not endear me to him. this might have been the result of Mandy Patinkin - brilliant actor, but his performance as Gideon felt detached. knowing how much he loathed the violent nature of the series, it does make sense that he was checked out and waiting to be written out of the series.
Emily was an instant upgrade over Elle, bringing intelligence, depth, and a quiet strength that complemented the team. she carved out a unique role as the “international intellectual” and differentiated herself from Elle immediately. her expertise wasn’t rooted in Spencer’s encyclopedic knowledge of science and languages but in a more practical, experience-driven intelligence shaped by her global background and diplomatic upbringing.
Seasons 3 to 5 and 7:
JJ, Penelope, Spencer, Hotch, Morgan, Rossi, Emily
this is the cast that i associate most closely with the show - the “classic” cast, if you ask me. it certainly helped that these seasons had some of the sharpest writing of the whole series, but i really liked each person’s contributions to the team.
this group embodied what i think an ensemble cast should feel like; there truly were no “weak” players and each character was explored in sufficient depth. the chemistry between the cast members was perfect. the balance of personalities - Hotch’s authority, Rossi’s experience, Morgan’s heart, Emily’s strength, Reid’s intellect, JJ’s intuition, Garcia’s levity - just worked.
Rossi was an excellent replacement for Gideon. i think he has much better chemistry with the rest of the team than Gideon ever had. unlike Gideon, who always felt a little distant, Rossi actually seemed to like the people he worked with. he had the experience and gravitas of a BAU legend, but he also brought humour, warmth, and vulnerability - his struggles with personal relationships, his ongoing arc with the case that haunted him. he wasn’t a perfect leader, but he was real, and that made all the difference. he quickly assumed the role of the group’s father figure/patriarch, which really suited him.
Season 6:
Penelope, Spencer, Hotch, Morgan, Rossi, Emily, Seaver
i didn’t particularly enjoy this season largely because of Seaver. it’s obvious that she was the intended substitute for JJ, whose absence was very conspicuous. the fact that fans revolted enough for the showrunners to bring JJ and Emily back was evidence enough that they should never have been written out.
watching Emily’s brutal “death” at the hands of Ian Doyle was tolerable only because i knew that she would come back to the show eventually. it really hurt seeing my favourite character go through such a nightmare. i’m so glad that she was rehired eventually.
i thought that Seaver’s addition to the team felt forced and premature - she clearly didn’t have the experience necessary to match up to the rest of the team and it didn’t help that Rachel Nichols’ performance was unmemorable. i’d go as far to say that she was the only main character (throughout ALL 17 seasons) to legitimately annoy me - she felt more like a liability than an asset to the BAU. she lacked experience for what is meant to be an elite unit, and her presence made the team feel less competent overall.
Seasons 8 and 9:
JJ, Penelope, Spencer, Hotch, Morgan, Rossi, Blake
Blake was a welcome addition to the team. it’s interesting that her character already had a long and thorny history with the BAU, because that added depth to her characterisation - her expertise and maturity were clear from the get-go.
it took a couple of episodes for me to warm up to her, but i appreciated her friendship with Spencer. she had an academic sharpness that made her a good counterpart to him. the level-headedness she brought to her work also made her a good contrast to the more hot-headed and/or emotional members of the team. i wish we’d gotten more episodes where we could see her vulnerability.
her departure in the Season 9 finale was low-key but heartfelt. it wasn’t as dramatic as previous exits, but it made sense for her character. i was sad to see her go.
Season 10:
JJ, Penelope, Spencer, Hotch, Morgan, Rossi, Callahan
Jennifer Love Hewitt’s performance was compelling, but Callahan never felt essential to the BAU team. her backstory with her sister’s death and raising her niece had potential, but the character just didn’t gel with the team as well as i hoped, as pleasant as she was. when she left, i didn’t feel strongly about her departure because she didn’t make a big splash. i would have loved to see the evolution of her character - perhaps she needed more time.
Season 11:
JJ, Penelope, Spencer, Hotch, Morgan, Rossi (*Lewis joins as a recurring character)
Lewis was a valuable addition to the team because of her criminal psychology background. she brought an analytical edge and a refreshing, low-drama presence to the team. she was roped into a case on her first day in the BAU office and her professionalism and willingness to work/learn stood out immediately.
Aisha Tyler’s comedic background was an unexpected asset. her timing was sharp, even in serious moments. Lewis was a refreshing character who truly felt like her own person and not simply a replacement for someone else i.e. Callahan or Blake.
Morgan’s departure was incredibly emotional and well-acted. he was the team’s heart in many ways, and his passion and emotion were good foils to Hotch’s stoic leadership and Reid’s intellect. his interactions with Garcia were a very distinctive part of the show for over a decade. he deserved a heartfelt send-off and i’m glad his character got a happy ending with Savannah, even if we had to watch him suffer for a couple of episodes.
Season 12:
JJ, Penelope, Spencer, Rossi, Emily, Lewis, Alvez, Walker
the circumstances of Thomas Gibson’s firing from the show closed Hotch’s eleven-season arc too abruptly for my liking, but Emily’s return was very much welcome and helped the show to stay on its feet.
with Morgan leaving and Hotch being written out of the show, the BAU needed a stable and reliable leader. Emily was the natural choice for that role - she was both warm and professional and had the Interpol experience necessary to handle the pressures of the job. at the same time, her style of leadership was distinct from Hotch’s - she was more collaborative and empathetic than Hotch and already had an emotional bond with everyone on the team, so her rapport with them was excellent.
i do think the cast for this season felt bloated, although the new additions were pretty solid. Alvez seemed right at home just a couple of episodes in, and even though he clearly was brought on as a replacement for Morgan, Alvez was refreshingly different from his predecessor. Lewis had more moments to shine after joining the main cast, and Aisha Tyler and Paget Brewster’s comedic backgrounds played well against each other.
unfortunately, the bloated cast meant that Walker didn’t have much of a chance to shine, and him getting killed off at the end of the season prevented us from seeing more of what could have been a compelling character. it really didn’t help that we spent most of this season watching Reid suffer in jail after being framed by Cat Adams, which took away the focus from the rest of the team back in Quantico.
Seasons 13 to 15:
JJ, Penelope, Spencer, Rossi, Emily, Lewis, Alvez, Simmons
strangely, this cast felt less bloated than the season 12 cast despite also having 8 members. i think Reid not being in jail helped matters greatly, because the jail arc sort of split the show into two - regular cases in Quantico and Reid struggling in prison. once Reid’s name was cleared and the team returned to business as usual, the 8-person cast functioned better.
Simmons fit into the group with ease; it helped that viewers of Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders would already have been familiar with him. this group had enough chemistry for me to be satisfied that the series (pre-Evolution) closed with this cast. i don’t think the show fully recaptured the magic of seasons 4 to 7, but this cast got it pretty darn close.
(Criminal Minds: Evolution 1) Season 16:
JJ, Penelope, Rossi, Emily, Lewis, Alvez
the shift to a serialised format allowed the show to slow down and explore character arcs more deeply. each team member had more room for development, since the team wasn’t rushing to resolve a new case in every episode. this structure made Evolution feel more personal and introspective, a change that worked well for long-standing characters who have been through so much.
i was worried that Matthew Gray Gubler’s decision not to join the cast of Evolution would have a significant impact on the show. after all, Spencer was one of the most consistent, distinctive and well-loved characters of the original series’ 15-season run. but i think that the serialised structure helped to conceal his absence somewhat. the grittier and more focused storytelling also meant fewer “team” moments in the traditional sense, making his loss slightly easier to stomach.
because Evolution was created for streaming, the show’s tone changed drastically - i’m not sure Spencer would have been a good fit for Evolution’s darker tone. the other characters rose to the challenge well, especially Rossi, Emily and Lewis. it is still greatly amusing to me that the characters can swear now that they’re no longer airing in primetime slots.
(Criminal Minds: Evolution 2) Season 17:
JJ, Penelope, Rossi, Emily, Lewis, Alvez, Green
Green’s introduction felt promising, but i still need more time to fully assess how he fits in because he didn’t quite grow on me in the first season of Evolution. i’m also not a huge fan of the Penelope-Alvez-Green love triangle and it feels like Green was written into the main cast specifically to generate tension there. at this point, the Criminal Minds universe is so established that any new member has big shoes to fill, and Green hasn’t quite made the impact the writers were probably intending for him.
overall, if I had to pick one cast as the definitive Criminal Minds lineup, it would be: JJ, Penelope, Spencer, Hotch, Morgan, Rossi, Emily i.e. seasons 3 to 5 and 7. this group defined the show’s best years, balanced intelligence with heart, and had no weak links. every member felt indispensable. i’m going to be absolutely insufferable when the 18th season drops on May 8th.
but overall, Criminal Minds has done a remarkable job of keeping its ensemble fresh while maintaining its core appeal. even with the weaker seasons and awkward transitions, it remains one of the best procedural casts in TV history. i’d argue that they’re even better than SVU, which has come to rely too heavily on Mariska/Olivia Benson ever since Christopher Meloni’s departure in 2011.