Criminal Minds dropped its Spencer Reid drug addiction arc, and many viewers wondered why. An original member of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) in the show, the character (played by Matthew Gray-Gubler) was known for his smarts. But, Reid’s life wasn’t a walk in the park; while all characters on Criminal Minds went through a lot, he’s arguably had the most traumatizing experiences among them.
Throughout his 15-season arc on Criminal Minds, Reid was in several near-death experiences. One of the most memorable instances happened fairly early in season 2, episode 15, titled “Revelations.” In it, psychotic serial killer Tobias Hankel (James Van Der Beek) kidnaped Reid and proceeded to torture and drug him for two days straight until the BAU rescued him. While Reid survived, he developed an addiction to Dilaudid — a narcotic painkiller. Reid’s personal struggle played out but was mostly a secondary plot line until he suddenly got clean by late season 3.
How the Show Mishandled Reid’s Addiction Arc
Despite showing Spencer Reid overcoming his substance abuse, the drug addiction narrative wasn’t properly tackled. There were merely a handful of episodes that mentioned his personal struggle, and they only vaguely referred to it. There’s no clear reason why Criminal Minds didn’t follow through with the set-up regarding its Spencer Reid drug addiction, other than claims that Gubler personally requested for the plot line to be dropped. There are also speculations that Reid was an integral part of Criminal Minds’ BAU, and moving forward with the aforementioned arc would’ve hindered him in performing as an FBI agent. Without his involvement, most of Criminal Minds‘ cases would’ve been difficult to solve.
Gubler has stated in interviews that Reid has “hints of schizophrenia,” and therefore if the show needed an excuse to stop him from helping the BAU, they could’ve easily had the character take a hiatus for his mental health. Instead, incorporating a Spencer Reid drug addiction plotline posed a couple of storytelling issues on Criminal Minds.
Aside from distracting Reid from actively doing his job, there would also be complications regarding keeping his job, as his addiction could have also seen him suspended if not outright fired. As previously mentioned, Criminal Minds‘ Spencer Reid was important to the BAU; a lot of the team’s cases were solved thanks to his intellect, and it would be a massive loss if he had been suspended or dismissed from the FBI.
What Drugs Spencer Reid Got Addicted To
The Spencer Reid drug addiction storyline featured the drug Dilaudid. Spencer Reid became addicted to Dilaudid after the suspect in a case repeatedly injected him with it. Initially, Tobias Hankel injected Reid with the drug while the FBI agent was being held captive. Hankel originally believed he was helping alleviate the pain caused by his own father, but the repeated injections in a short amount of time caused Reid’s body to become dependent on the drug.
In reality, Hankel suffered from Dissociative Identity Disorder, and one of the identities he dissociated with was that of his father. Tobias’ DID symptoms were only intensified by his own use of Dilaudid to numb his pain in one of the best Criminal Minds episodes, “Revelations.”
Dilaudid, also called hydromorphone, is a derivative of morphine. Like morphine, it’s an opioid, and if used improperly or too often, it’s easy for a user to become addicted. Some emergency personnel prefer to use Dilaudid because the substance has a higher solubility rate, meaning it can be broken down and absorbed by the body very quickly. The withdrawal symptoms for someone addicted to Dilaudid might end more quickly than they would with another drug (less than 72 hours in most cases), but they’re also more intense. That’s part of the reason it’s so surprising that Spencer Reid was able to overcome his drug addiction in Criminal Minds so quickly.
Reid’s Dark Stories Were Some Of Criminal Minds’ Best Moments
Whether related to his drug addiction or the schizophrenia to which Gubler has alluded, Spencer Reid provided Criminal Minds with its darkest moments, as well as some of its best. These range from heartfelt interactions in the show between Reid and his mother, who had more severe schizophrenia, to the fully believable theory that Reid was a serial killer himself.
All of this means that Spencer Reid’s Criminal Minds season 16 absence has been keenly felt since the show was always at its best when leaning into this dark character. There was even talk of Reid returning to Paramount+’s Criminal Minds revival as a villain, but unfortunately, it seems that Gubler’s time on the series is at an end.
