Criminal Minds season 13: Matthew Gray Gubler and creepy clowns

Creepy clowns are certainly all the rage in 2017, and that’s probably going to become even more so with IT coming back into prominence and with American Horror Story bringing back some element of Twisty for their upcoming season.

For this specific article, though, we’re largely invested in talking about Criminal Minds season 13 and a story that Matthew Gray Gubler will be directing. In speaking to TVLine, Gubler noted that his episode, which he described using the word “clown,” will absolutely freak many people out: “I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s going to be the spookiest episode of Season 13.”

If you’ve got a fear of clowns, that’s probably sure to make your skin crawl. (We’re actually not in this group and don’t have any problem with clowns at all. Still, Criminal Minds does a good job of freaking you out even without playing into phobias, so this should prove interesting.)

One other thing that is noteworthy about Gubler’s quote here is that it serves as a nice reminder that Criminal Minds isn’t necessarily all that interested in drifting too far from some of its original premise, even if it did do that prison arc with Spencer Reid for the second half of last season. (For the record, we do think that Gubler gave an Emmy-worth performance in that even if the overall arc was polarizing.) There are still going to be UnSubs, and there are also going to be people who have to go to great lengths in order to stop them.

New episodes of Criminal Minds premiere this fall and the biggest change is the departure of Damon Gupton coupled with the addition of Daniel Henney’s Matt Simmons. Earlier this week, we reported some of the circumstances surrounding Matt joining the BAU — they revolve around a scandal apparently destroying the International Response Team, leading him to get an invitation to head over to Prentiss’ unit. There is already a built-in rapport here with Simmons and some members of the BAU, so this won’t be that jarring of an addition to the series. It’s a little bit different than someone completely new joining the team, as we saw with Adam Rodriguez last season. (We do hope that there are some great stories for Luke Alvez this coming season, given that he did get a little lost in the shuffle at times last season.)

What do you think about a clown-specific Criminal Minds story?

As always, we want to hear some more of your thoughts on the subject in the comments! If there are some other storylines or suggestions that you have for creepy characters, we’d also love to get some more of your insight on those, as well.

Meanwhile, head over to the link here in the event that you do want to get some additional news and insight when it comes to the series. (Photo: CBS.)