It's confirmed! Paramount+ will be reviving Criminal Minds for Season 16. It will be rebooted as Criminal Minds: Evolution.
When it airs, it will be its first time on the streaming service since it was previously on CBS for 15 years. The crime drama exited CBS in February 2020 after its 324th episode. It was canceled by CBS.
There are some reports that Criminal Minds will become a series regular on Paramount+. But then again, this will likely depend on how well Season 16 will be accepted by the viewers.
Now that the show is confirmed to return, many can't help but ask questions like when will it air and who will be back as its cast? And is it really a reboot?
Here are all the things we know about the show right now:
Criminal Minds Season 16 Release Date
Back when it was still a CBS series, episodes of Criminal Minds were shot a couple of months before airing. So the production team may be used to a quick turnaround for the show. But now that it will be on Paramount+, we can't help but wonder if they'll follow a similar format.
According to reports, the show will start production in August so it won't be aired for a while. Fans of the show were treated to a teaser by Joe Mantegna (as David Rossi) who posted this on his Twitter account.
The post shares a photo of the actor on set with a thumbs up. In the caption, he wrote: "Just doing a little inspection today for an upcoming project #criminalminds."
On August 9, 2022, Paget Brewster revealed that they have began filming through a tweet.
Criminal Minds Season 16: Is It a Reboot?
When it was confirmed, many wondered if the show is a reboot of the original series that ran for 15 seasons. But as revealed by Paramount+'s President for Original Scripted Series, Nicole Clemens: "For 15 seasons, Criminal Minds was at the forefront of cutting-edge scripted drama as it explored the psychology behind crime-- thrillingly. The series never stopped evolving during its run, and we are beyond excited to bring it back into a new era with new stories for a new generation of viewers at Paramount+."
And besides, it's not exactly a reboot since some of the actors will be returning to reprise their roles. They will be joined by new characters that will soon be revealed once production gets rolling.
The show is set for a 10-episode season and will be running on the streaming service for a limited run.
Criminal Minds Season 16 Cast: Who's Back and Who's Not
As mentioned, not all of the original cast members of Criminal Minds will be back for Season 16. Here are the ones who will be returning:
- Joe Mantegna (as David Rossi)
- Kirsten Vangsness (as Penelope Garcia)
- Adam Rodriguez (as Luke Alvez)
- A.J. Cook (as Jennifer Jareau)
- Aisha Tyler (as Tara Lewis)
- Paget Brewster (as Emily Prentiss)
- Zach Gilford (as Elias Volt)
And here are the actors who won't be reprising their roles in Season 16:
- Matthew Gray Gubler (as Dr. Spencer Reid)
- Daniel Henney (as Matt Simmons)
There are reports that the cast will feature a real-life former FBI profiler. He will be examining real cases and criminal behavior supplied by clips from the fictional series.
Criminal Minds Season 16 Story: Where Will It Pick Up?
It looks like Criminal Minds will be incorporating the COVID-19 pandemic in its storyline.
For the Criminal Minds Season 16 story, the team will be returning to fight an UnSub who builds a network of serial killers during the pandemic. And now that the world has started to open back up, this network of serial killers start to strike. It is the job of the team to hunt each of these serial killers down, as well as the mastermind behind this ploy.
As the streamer reveals, the team will do this one murder at a time. This signifies that the show will tackle a different case throughout its 10-episode run.
But many can't help but wonder if Season 16 will continue where Season 15 ended. In the double-episode series finale, we saw a face-to-face encounter and pursuit with the infamous serial killer "The Chameleon." Plus, there's the threat of Rossi's retirement. Will he be leaving the team to do the hunting on their own?
On September 3, 2022, it was revealed that some of the episodes will be directed by Joe Montegna.
Is There a Criminal Minds Season 16 Trailer?
Right now, there is no trailer available yet for the 16th season of Criminal Minds. We'll update this post once one becomes available.
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