Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders series finale: The demise of season 3

Tonight, the Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders series finale is airing sadly on CBS, and this may be emotional for many viewers. When the episode was filmed, there was no guarantee that the show was going to be ending; there had to be some semblance of hope that CBS would find a way to bring it back, even with the ratings not blowing anyone’s mind.

The goal of this article is twofold: To offer up a venue for discussion on the finale, but to also explain more why the cancellation happened and celebrate what the show did so well.

First, it’s important to get to the “why” in terms of why this happened to a show with a pretty solid, loyal following. It’s not as though Beyond Borders did anything wrong. Unfortunately, it was the victim of many unfortunately circumstances. First, it premiered on CBS as a last-minute replacement for the canceled Doubt, and did not have the benefit of excess promotion. Beyond that, it aired in a timeslot that routinely has plagued the network for a while. Even though Code Black survived during it over the course of two seasons, it was rather touch-and-go for a long time before it was renewed.

Ultimately, the other big issue here is that of ownership. Criminal Minds and its offshoots have ties to ABC Studios. This mean that CBS doesn’t have the ownership of the franchise in the same way that it does many of its other shows. This is an era where shows from outside studios do have a tendency to be in danger faster, given that the market is so saturated and networks need to figure out a way to make money. CBS is the most-watched network on TV, and they can be rather ruthless when it comes to their cancellations. Remember, they did also cancel 2 Broke Girls earlier this month after six seasons and without a proper series finale.

Ultimately, Beyond Borders should be remembered as a crime show with some fascinating twists, and an appealing element of geography to the story around every turn. It was certainly entertaining, but it just couldn’t find an audience. Unfortunately, the odds are pretty low that the show finds a home elsewhere.

Nonetheless, do you want to see Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders land somewhere else? Feel free to share now in the attached poll! (If you are on mobile and don’t see it, click to view the Non-AMP version at the bottom of the article.)

Meanwhile, head over here for some further news on Beyond Borders. (Photo: CBS.)