Criminal Minds season 12 finale forecast: Should Mr. Scratch be over?

For this Criminal Minds season 12 finale forecast, we want to look at the story through the lens of Mr. Scratch. He is the most notorious baddie of the season, and he’s certainly one of the most notorious of any foe for the entire series. Think about his impact — he’s tortured Tara, he almost killed Morgan, he’s put Reid in prison, and he drove Hotch out of town.

Here’s what we know: Scratch is sticking around until the Criminal Minds finale in some capacity, given that we’re going to see the return of Morgan (Shemar Moore) with some valuable clues on his whereabouts. With that, he’s going to do his best to lend a helping hand to catch him. Beyond that … well, that’s what we’ve got to figure out within this article.

What should happen – First of all, the Reid arc should be dead and buried at this point. We do still like the idea in theory and find it ambitious, but it was incredibly problematic from the start. It’s hard to be excited about something that separates a main character from other main characters for so long when you have a show that is really an ensemble cast.

What we want for the finale is to see the team come together, defeat the bad guy, and then have a moment of normalcy … a rare one. They all get together, have a drink, and maybe go over to Rossi’s so that he can make them some of his famed carbonara from earlier this season. No huge cliffhanger, and no big shock departure. There’s been enough turmoil and drama as is this season. End on a quieter note and figure out season 13 and its story down the road.

What will happen – The one thing that you can probably rule out is a Thomas Gibson cameo. Even with Mr. Scratch gone, the show will probably still find a way to write around him not coming back on the show. That’s just something that you have to be prepared for.

In general, we anticipate that the end is nigh for Mr. Scratch, and as a result of that, we’ll see the show either introduce a new associate of his or actually do what we’re suggesting. We don’t imagine them going off in some extreme direction at the end of this season. Typically, Criminal Minds is a show that doesn’t do a cliffhanger every year, and we’re coming off of a huge one in “The Storm” last season. This is a chance to shake things up and do something different so that when the cliffhanger comes, it’ll be more interesting.

Oh, and we think Morgan will tell Garcia to be nicer to Alvez. That’s something that we’ll be demanding until the cows come home. This hasn’t been the best season from the vantage point of making Penelope as likable as she’s been in the past.

How do you think that the Criminal Minds season is going to end this time? Share in the comments! Meanwhile, be sure to head over here to score some additional news when it comes to the show. (Photo: CBS.)