Criminal Minds season 13: Boss on Damon Gupton – Daniel Henney moves

When Criminal Minds season 13 premieres on CBS later this year, it’s going to look and feel very much different than what it did for much of season 12. Damon Gupton, who was a part of much of the second half of this past season, is gone. Meanwhile, Daniel Henney of the Beyond Borders spin-off series, is officially coming on board. Matt Simmons is the latest series regular with the show.

So why make these changes now, especially since Gupton and his character of Stephen Walker were relatively new to the series? Speaking to TV Guide, the first thing that showrunner Erica Messer noted was that making these sort of moves is not something that she or anyone else behind the scenes takes lightly. There is a great deal of thought that ultimately goes into them:

“It was difficult … As you know, these decisions aren’t made quickly or anything like that. Everything was a thoughtful decision.”

Messer also revealed that a big part of the decision-making in regards to Henney joining the show came about not long after his previous program was canceled:

“The discussions were, ‘Do you think Daniel would want to join Criminal Minds?’ But of course to add one more that means someone’s not coming back and that’s never an easy thing when someone isn’t returning to the show.”

In the end, the producers decided to settle on Gupton, who was the most-recent arrival to the series and in that way, it made sense. Also, it seemed like the decision to bring him on was made more on a network level than a production level. We thought Stephen was a compelling character, but the good news here is that he’s already got another job over on Black Lightning. He gets to move forward with an exciting new gig, while Criminal Minds as a show moves on with what should be a strong season for it. We liked Henney a lot over on Beyond Borders, and it should be great to see what he brings to the table here.

How is he coming on over to this show?

As previously reported, the move by Henney over to the new show seems to be coming as a result of a scandal that has hit the International Response Team. It is one that is serious enough that it is causing that division of the FBI to be split up. In the end, what matter is that Simmons has a new team in order to work with, and he carries with him a unique skill set that should prove to be rather useful to the rest of the crew at the BAU.

What do you want to see on Criminal Minds season 13, and are you happy to see Henney on board the show? Share in the comments!

Meanwhile, head over to the link here in the event you want some other news when it comes to the show. (Photo: CBS.)