‘Criminal Minds’ season 12, episode 8 preview: Damon Gupton arrives in ‘Scarecrow’

Through much of “Criminal Minds” season 12, reshuffling is a very clear part of the landscape. Last time, the show seemingly lost Hotch (Thomas Gibson) for good, while earlier this year we said goodbye to Morgan (Shemar Moore). We’ve met the new team that includes Luke Alvez (Adam Rodriguez) and we’ve seen the return of Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster), but the show is still looking to add one additional member to the BAU team before we get around to the end of the year.

This brings us now to “Scarecrow,” the next new episode of the series airing on December 7. Damon Gupton will finally make his long-awaited debut on the show in this episode, playing a man named Stephen Walker who has a serious amount of experience within the FBI and should be more than capable of having this reshuffling of the group end in success.

Synopsis – “The BAU team heads to Yakima, Wash., after the remains of a dozen people are found along a creek bed, on CRIMINAL MINDS, Wednesday, Dec. 7 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Also, they welcome new team member Stephen Walker (Damon Gupton), a seasoned profiler from the Behavioral Analysis Program of the FBI.”

Given that there aren’t too many other details available about Walker as a character, we’ll have to wait and see how he fits in with the remainder of the group. For the time being, however, we do consider ourselves to be reasonably optimistic regarding his appearance given that this show has shown numerous times over the years an adaptability that many other shows lack. It may take getting used to, but we’re interested in seeing what the new team dynamic will look like once the new characters are officially settled in and mixed in with some of the established favorites.

As for the case itself, it at the very least sounds high-priority and mysterious. How do the remains of this many people end up there?

For more news on “Criminal Minds,” including our reviews for season 12 episodes, head over to the link here. (Photo: CBS.)