Criminal Minds season 13: Kirsten Vangsness, AJ Cook returning
According to Deadline, Vangsness and Cook have reached an agreement on their contracts that basically puts the two of them on par salary-wise with their co-star Matthew Gray Gubler, which is much of what they were seeking in order to return to the show for season 13. This has been a key part of negotiations for them for a long time now, and it looks as though everything is getting wrapped up now. We are happy to hear that they are on the same pay scale as other cast members and it’s something that should’ve been done from the onset as they have been important characters to the show (and to fans) for years.
Beyond this, the question now is whether or not Criminal Minds is done with their casting, or will they choose to bring anyone else on for the upcoming season. If we were to guess, we’d say that they are done given that they do still have two reasonably-new characters in Luke Alvez and Dr. Tara Lewis to play with. They’ve also still got the return of Paget Brewster as Emily Prentiss. With this lineup they have seven series regulars, which may be enough for a procedural like this. It may also be a little costly to add another regular now given the raises for Cook and Vangsness and also lower ratings expectations that come with fatigue / a new timeslot. Theoretically, though, it’s still possible that at some point the show could decide it wants a different energy.
New episodes for season 13 are being worked on as we speak. The good news about ABC making sure that these contracts are all cleared up is that they ensure that there are no more problems when it comes to turning scripts around at the last minute if there was a sudden departure. This is something that the writers had to work through last year after Thomas Gibson was fired, and they could use a little more stability this time around to get the show back on track.
Criminal Minds will premiere this fall; once there is some further news to report on the subject of the show’s future, we will be sure to have it for you over at the link here.
For now, what do you think about the news that both Vangsness and Cook are returning? Do you have any good story ideas for Garcia and JJ? Be sure to share in the comments below! (Photo: CBS.)