“Criminal Minds: Evolution” will end after its 20th season, but two words keep turning up in the cast’s goodbyes: “for now.”
Paramount+ announced Oct. 30 that the season arriving in 2027 will be the procedural’s last, Variety reported. That closes a run of 15 seasons on CBS and five on the streamer, where the series returned in 2022 under the “Evolution” title.
How Kirsten Vangsness Reacted
Kirsten Vangsness, who has played Penelope Garcia since season 1, responded in an Instagram video while pointing to a story about the cancellation.
“This has happened. It’s being canceled but then it says right there it’s ending ‘for now,'” she said.
Vangsness called the news “a little bittersweet,” comparing it to Charlie getting the chocolate in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Twenty seasons, she said, “doesn’t happen ever.” She wasn’t ready to close the book, though.
“But I love my job and my boss Erica Messer says there’s so many more stories to tell. So if we get to keep telling them somewhere that would be amazing. I know all of us feel the same way,” she said, as quoted by The Hollywood Reporter.
She also told fans on Instagram that she learned the news about 90 minutes before it went public, Page Six reported.
A Final Season That Wasn’t Filmed As One
The timing explains some of the shock. Season 20 had already wrapped before the decision was made, and the episodes reportedly weren’t shot as a series ending, according to Deadline as cited by Showbiz Cheat Sheet.
Messer, the showrunner, spoke to that in her statement to TVLine. “While suddenly navigating the end of this chapter, I’m filled with gratitude for our remarkable cast, writers, directors and crew who have poured their hearts into this show,” she said.
What The Rest Of The Cast Posted
RJ Hatanaka, who arrived in season 16 as Tyler Green, a character who has since become an FBI agent, posted a group photo with the caption, “Just the finest group of people.”
That photo traveled. A.J. Cook, the show’s Jennifer “JJ” Jareau since season 1, shared it to her Instagram Story and wrote, “These people own my heart forever and always.” Aisha Tyler, who joined in season 11 as Dr. Tara Lewis, reposted it with “Family for life.” Tyler also shared a ranking of 2026’s most-streamed titles that placed “Criminal Minds” at No. 11 with 13.15 billion minutes watched, according to Page Six.
Paget Brewster, who first joined as Emily Prentiss in season 2, posted a photo of herself with the words “Free Agent.”
Then came Halloween. Cook shared a photo of herself holding a tombstone for her character, with the caption “Rest in peace JJ (for now).”
Is ‘For Now’ Anything More Than Hope?
So far, it’s hope. Vangsness and Cook are the ones leaning on the phrase, and neither has pointed to an actual plan. Paramount+ hasn’t announced any move to another network or streamer, EntertainmentNow noted.
There is a precedent, though. CBS ended the original series in 2020, and the team was back on Paramount+ two years later. Vangsness floated another move in her video, saying “maybe this goes somewhere else.”
What’s Next
Paramount+ hasn’t set a premiere date for season 20 beyond 2027. Joe Mantegna, Adam Rodriguez and the rest of the cast are all back, and the season may belong to Mantegna’s David Rossi. When TV Insider asked Messer after the season 19 finale who the next season would focus on, she said, “Probably Rossi.”
Whether that story reads like a goodbye is something fans will have to judge for themselves in 2027.
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