‘Criminal Minds’ season 12 spoilers: Damon Gupton added as new series regular

With us now only a matter of one episode away from the departure of Thomas Gibson from “Criminal Minds,” the CBS series is adding to its cast for the future.

Sources confirm that Damon Gupton (“The Player,” “Bates Motel”) has been cast in the series-regular role of Special Agent Stephen Walker, a man who is coming over to the BAU team after previously working within the Behavioral Analysis Program. He’ll have his own set of skills that prove useful to the tam, and hopefully will be a worthy addition to a team very much in flux. Hotch’s departure next week is the second character we’ve lost on the show over the past year; Shemar Moore was written out of the series earlier this year as Morgan opted to raise his family and get away from the rigors of this job. Whether or not these changes will be embraced in the long-term remains to be seen.

Gupton will make his first appearance a little later this season. Adam Rodriguez made his first appearance as new series-regular-character Luke Alvez in the premiere, and in episode 3 Paget Brewster is going to return as Emily Prentiss, a once-temporary move that has since been made permanent.

Ultimately, what we’re really looking at here is replacing two actors in the end with three, but if you think all the way back to Jennifer Love Hewitt’s exit after only one season, then all of this may balance itself out further in the end.

What’s your take on this latest announcement, and are you giving Gupton an open mind? Share below, and head over here if you want to see a preview right now for the next new episode of the show! Also, sign up over here to secure some other TV news on everything we cover via our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: CBS.)