The Criminal Minds reboot will thankfully feature the Behavioral Analysis Unit’s (BAU) most important character. Premiering in 2005 on CBS, the FBI procedural series ran for 15 seasons before it wrapped up in 2020. Criminal Minds followed the BAU as they hunt down serial killers by profiling them. Over the years, the roster changed several times, but there were some who continued to be pivotal parts of the show for years until it officially ended.
Not long after the BAU capped off their run on CBS, a Criminal Minds reboot on Paramount+ was announced. For a while, the project was stuck in production limbo until star Paget Brewster shared that it was no longer moving forward. After whatever hurdle they were facing was ironed out, Criminal Minds season 16 is officially moved forward with a 10-episode order on the streaming service. While most of the core cast from the show’s original network outing is confirmed, there will be a couple of profilers that won’t be involved, which is disappointing.
Luckily, the Criminal Minds revival will feature the BAU’s most important character — Penelope Garcia (Kristen Vangsness). Brewster, Joe Mantegna, Adam Rodriguez, A.J. Cook, and Aisha Tyler are all joining her in the reboot as officially confirmed. Noticeably absent from the roster is original Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders star, Daniel Henney, who played SSA Matt Simmons, and long-time cast member Matthew Gray Gubler who portrayed Criminal Minds‘ genius Doctor Spencer Reid. Admittedly, there’s an assumption that the team’s core player is Reid, which is totally understandable. He is one of the only two characters who had been in the show from the beginning until it wrapped up — the other one being Jennifer Jarreau (Cook). Aside from his experience in the field, Reid also has immense knowledge in just about anything thanks to his eidetic memory. This makes him really valuable during profile deliberations and even when examining the scene. All that being said, Reid is no Penelope Garcia.
Why Penelope Garcia Is BAU’s Most Important Member & Not Reid
Each member of the BAU brings something unique to the team. That’s why in assembling the FBI cell, the chemistry among the profilers is as important as their individual capabilities. While Reid is experienced in the field, he still isn’t the most veteran member of the BAU. That accolade goes to David Rossi (Mantegna), who founded the FBI unit. No one is as inherently smart as the cell’s golden boy, but the BAU has solved cases before without Reid. Penelope, on the other hand, is a tech whiz, and she’s the only that can do what she does in the whole of BAU. Granted that the FBI has other people who function like her, she remains to be the most thorough and efficient among all of them. That’s very important when trying to pin down an UnSuB as quickly as possible. Storytelling-wise, her quirks and cute interactions with her co-workers balance out the show’s darkness.
The Criminal Minds reboot is set to start filming in August. While Gubler’s return as Reid to the BAU remains unlikely, it doesn’t mean that he will never be involved ever in the upcoming Paramount+ project. Perhaps, he can come back down the road. In the meantime, the FBI cell would be just perfectly fine and effective because Penelope is around.
