10 Unpopular Opinions About Criminal Minds, According To Reddit

With the announcement of a Criminal Minds revival from Paramount+, fans are looking forward to seeing their favorite team of profilers come together once again. Although the series aired its final episode in February of 2020, the show had a great bit of success over its 15 seasons, gaining a large following during its 15-year run.

With 324 episodes, fans are bound to have opposing views on certain things and fans took to Reddit to discuss their opinions that may not apply to the masses, whether it’s hatred of Agent Gideon’s arrogance or discomfort due to Morgan and Garcia’s relationship.

Unsub Was A Terrible Final Boss

Agent Gideon abruptly left the BAU after season 3 due to the actor Mandy Patinkin leaving the show because of creative differences. Later in season 10, the BAU finds out that Gideon was killed by an unsub called Donnie Mallick, who Gideon had been trying to find on his own. Redditor Natural1forever feels that “Gideon’s killer was boring and unimpressive. Fine unsub concept by itself, but not interested enough to be the unsub [who] got Gideon.”

Every so often there is an unsub who acts as a “final boss” of sorts where it takes longer to catch them, but some believe Donnie Mallick didn’t fit the normal criteria for a final boss. Gideon is a very experienced profiler so getting outsmarted by an unsub, who didn’t have an impressive skillset or an above-average IQ, is a bit far-fetched.

Haley Was Right

Haley Hotchner was Agent Hotchner’s wife in the first few seasons of the series but divorced him due to the stress of Hotchner’s job. Many fans didn’t like that Haley left and resented her character for it because they believed that she knew what she was getting into when marrying him.

Redditor Cookie_Brookie believes that Haley was right to leave Agent Hotchner because “she married a lawyer. I’m sure she expected long hours, but nothing like she ended up with. As noble as Hotch’s job is, it doesn’t make it ok that he abandoned his family when his wife told him what a burden it was.”

JJ Shouldn’t Have Become A Profiler

Jennifer “JJ” Jareau is introduced as the media liaison for the BAU and fans thought this was a good fit for her character as she was good with people and the media. After spending a short time at the Pentagon, JJ comes back to the BAU as a full-time profiler.

While many fans loved that JJ was finally a full-time profiler, Redditor Uzuchiha1 believes that she shouldn’t have become one because they “liked her as the media liaison and [they] feel like she’s so great with people that [they] could see her as this powerful woman” and “profiler JJ was just drab to [them].”

Elle Was A Murderer

In season 2, Elle Greenaway left the BAU due to PTSD from being shot and because she killed an unsub after he is released from police custody. Elle is never held accountable for this. Many fans defend Elle’s actions saying it was “vigilante justice” because the unsub was a criminal.

While many believe that Elle is in the right, Redditor CMStan1313 believes that “Elle was a murderer, plain and simple” and that “the BS excuse for trauma the writers pulled out of their butts gives her no justification to shoot an unarmed man, scumbag or not.” While the BAU is known for bending the rules slightly to get justice, killing an unarmed sub is just too far.

Morgan And Garcia’s Relationship Was Uncomfortable

Derek Morgan and Penelope Garcia are known to have a flirty but platonic relationship, often being flirty and talking dirty during phone calls. Most fans of the show find their pet names and dirty talk to be endearing and entertaining.

Not all fans find this talk to be endearing though. Reddit user letsdieanywhereelse states “Garcia and her relationship with Morgan was sweet, but her constant, unprovoked comments about how attractive and sexy she found him made [them] increasingly uncomfortable.” While some flirtation between friends is sweet and entertaining, the dirty talk might be a little too much for a series about serial killers.

Never Too Early Or Too Late

For the most part, Criminal Minds episodes have the same general formula and the formula has worked well for most fans. The tension near the end when it comes down to the last second for the BAU to save the victim is something most fans enjoy.

Redditor Agent0424 doesn’t “like how the team always makes arrests right as the unsub is going through their endgame” and wondered “why are they almost never too early or too late to the scene?” The formula may work for most, but it’s a bit unrealistic that they would never arrive at the scene at the wrong time.

Gideon Was An Awful Team Member

Agent Gideon has many fans that believe he was a better BAU member than David Rossi, who took his place. Fans often debate who they preferred between the two, but most believe both Gideon and Rossi fit into the team in their own way.

Not everyone believed that Gideon fit into the BAU team though. Redditor aavvaa21 feels that “he didn’t work with the team and had superiority complex over the team. He will do things (specifically delivering the profile) without even speaking to the team. Also, the way he treated Garcia in season 1 was horrible.” Gideon may have been a good profiler, but he wasn’t a great team player.

The First Season Was Scariest

Criminal Minds is a show about a team of profilers catching a twisted serial killer and that can lead it to be a pretty scary and dark series, but with 15 seasons the simple formula of episodes needed to have a long-term plot woven in, and many fans appreciated that overarching storyline.

Redditor LadyMurasaki1982 doesn’t like everything the series added to the plot following season one and states that they “prefer the initial episodes’ hopeless, cynical, colder style. There wasn’t as much focus on the ridiculous, unhealthy codependent relationship the team members had with each other.” Sometimes less is more.

Prentiss’ Past Is Unrealistic

Agent Emily Prentiss is introduced to the BAU in season 3, and later in the series, the audience finds out that she used to be a spy for Interpol. Most fans accept this history of Prentiss and find the storyline an interesting character background.

Emily’s past doesn’t sit right with everyone though as Redditor thatweirdoritethere believes that the series’ creators “made Prentiss a bit unrealistic because there is no way she was a spy before the BAU because she started young.” It is a bit hard to believe that a younger woman like Prentiss was deep undercover for that long, faked her undercover persona’s death, spent more time with Interpol, and then joined the BAU.

Reid Forgave Emily and JJ Too Quickly

In season 6, Emily Prentiss fakes her own death to escape Doyle and JJ is informed that she is indeed alive, but the rest of the BAU believes she is dead. In season 7 Emily reunites with the team, but Reid takes a while to forgive Prentiss and JJ for lying as he took her death really hard.

Redditor a_ravenclaw believes that Reid forgave Emily and JJ too quickly saying “At the end of 7×2 Emily says ‘You mourned the loss of a friend, but I mourned the loss of six.’ When I first watched this episode I was waiting for Reid to say ‘yeah, but we weren’t dead.’ That line just pissed me off so much. She knew her friends were alive. He didn’t know that she was.” Two months of mourning can’t be fixed by one sentence.

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