Derek Morgan didn’t help the BAU when Spencer Reid was imprisoned in Criminal Minds, and there’s an interesting reason why. While the focus of its storytelling was always the weekly cases, CBS balanced out the police procedural’s narratives by also incorporating personal stories for the profilers. In some instances, cases were tightly connected to one or several members of the BAU to increase the stakes. That being said, there were a couple of times when things just got too close to the BAU, with some of its members getting directly involved in the case.
That was exactly what happened when the BAU started going after Aubrey Plaza’s Cat Adams, aka The Black Widow Killer. After Reid ultimately beat her in an intense battle of the minds, the UnSub crafted an elaborate ruse to frame him for a murder in Mexico. With mounting evidence against him and no clear recollection of what happened, BAU’s boy genius had no choice but to be imprisoned. It was the most harrowing case in Criminal Minds season 12. While the truth eventually came out, and Reid was freed, the whole process may have been quicker if Morgan got involved.
Criminal Minds’ Reid Didn’t Want Morgan To Hassle Himself
For context, Morgan retired from the BAU because Shemar Moore left Criminal Minds during season 11. By the time Reid got in trouble, it had been a year since he left the force to focus on raising his son with Savannah. Still, there’s no doubt that the profiler would have gotten involved had he known about the boy genius’ predicament. Given this, it’s curious why none of the profilers reached out to him. The answer came from Emily Prentiss during the Criminal Minds season 12 finale. According to the BAU chief, Reid specifically asked them not to bother Morgan about his situation.
Reid’s request didn’t happen on screen, but it isn’t difficult to imagine him doing this. Despite leaving the bureau, Morgan remained good friends with everyone. If the boy genius didn’t prohibit anyone from reaching out to him in Criminal Minds season 12, they would like have called their former co-worker for help. In addition to that, Reid had also gotten very aloof during his time in prison. He didn’t want to bother anyone, including his own team. At times, the profiler even refused to see any of them. So, it makes sense that he didn’t want to bother Morgan.
How Morgan Could Have Changed Reid’s Criminal Minds Prison Arc
When taking into account the behind-the-scenes situation, it made sense that Criminal Minds didn’t bother roping Moore back. The narrative took up the latter half of the year, and getting Morgan involved meant that he would have to appear in several episodes. However, if he did return for the storyline, it’s likely that Reid’s stint in prison would have been significantly shorter. While all members of the BAU get along very well, Reid was especially close to Morgan, who effectively functioned as a protective big brother to him. Given that, Morgan would have likely exhausted all options to ensure that Reid was exonerated quicker.
