‘Criminal Minds’ Lifespan: Is season 12 anywhere close to the end?

“Criminal Minds” is at present a series at a crossroads in many ways. While the show has lasted an incredible eleven years on the air, it is entering its first year without original cast member Shemar Moore. Sure, it does still have Thomas Gibson and many other regulars aboard, but this is a show predicated around the family that is the team. It’s a different structure now, and there could be many different things that come about as a result of that.

Ultimately, we don’t know what the ratings are going to be next season; moreover, we don’t know how long the remainder of the cast wants to be around, or if the creative will be stronger than ever going into the fall. There are still countless questions, and not many answers.

What we want to know is this: Do you think season 12 should be the last? While we’d like to see more beyond it, we do think it is starting with a premise that is fitting for a final season: A story revolving in part around former UnSubs coming back around after a prison escape. It puts the show more in touch with its past; in some ways, this is like the “13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo” version of the show where they gotta get everyone back stored away before they cause any more problems in the world.

On the flip side, maybe you do want the show to go out doing something a little bit more traditional, which is the heroes at the BAU taking out new UnSubs, with a new Big Bad tearing their way through at various points in the year. So long as the ratings stay close to where they were for season 11, we’d be shocked and admittedly disappointed if season 12 does turn out to be the end.

In your mind, should it be? We want to hear what you think in the poll below!

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