Beyond criminal Minds season 14, what’s the series’ long-term future?

We’re entering now Criminal Minds season 14 and with that, there are obviously many different questions regarding the future of the series. As a matter of fact, there have been so many that the episode count for season 14 is even a subject of debate. That’s not something you often really see with long-running shows, and that plus some of the last-minute renewals as of late likely do have you wondering one simple question: Is the end actually near? Are we having to prepare for the end of the road for the long-running CBS series? While we certainly don’t want to see that come to pass, it is something that we are prepared for, whether it is this season or some other point the road.

Ultimately, we think that the future of Criminal Minds will be determined by one thing and one thing only this season: The ratings. If it manages to hold onto the audience that it got for season 13, which is when it first moved to its new Wednesday timeslot, we do think that it will be back for another season. 10:00 p.m. series often have a difficult battle when it comes to securing viewers, and we absolutely think that this is the case when it comes to this show, as well. It had a lead-in courtesy of SEAL Team that performs solidly, but isn’t necessarily delivering home-run figures. It has to rely mostly on its regular base at this point, since it’s also not getting enormous publicity or doing stories that will generate a ton of buzz from mainstream viewers who don’t know the show all that well.

If we had to guess, for now, we’d say that Criminal Minds makes it at least one more season to season 15. At that point, CBS could bill it as the final season in advance and they could really start to build towards the end. We think that a show that is this important to TV history deserves a chance to go out with some sort of big celebration, one where notable guest stars from the past can help send it off into the sunset. We don’t want to see Criminal Minds have to pivot midway through a season after learning that it is ending; meanwhile, we don’t ever want to see the ratings fall to where it barely registers for the average TV fan.

Related – Should Aubrey Plaza return as Cat Adams on season 14?

Do you think Criminal Minds season 14 is the show’s last, or are there many more in your mind on the other side? Sound off right now in the comments!

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