‘Criminal Minds’ season 9: AJ Cook, Kirsten Vangsness’ future in doubt

As we near the CBS upfront presentation in May, the fate of some shows is starting to become more and more clear. Meanwhile, for “Criminal Minds” we are starting to near the critical fork in the road.

While we still do expect to see the highly-rated drama series picked up for a ninth season, there are a few roles in particular that are really starting to become questionable as to whether or not they will continue to be a presence on the show. According to a report from Deadline, AJ Cook and Kirsten Vangsness are at an impasse with the studio, and rejected outright the most-recent contract offer for a ninth season. What was the major reason? They want to see an increase that shows parity between themselves and some of their male co-stars. The difference here is really pretty shocking: The two ladies are paid less than half of some of their male leads.

We don’t want to try and get too heavily into politics and whatnot here, but there are two separate ways in which to look at this salary dispute. From one angle, you can say that Thomas Gibson and Joe Mantegna are being paid more due to what they did prior to the show starting. However, this is the ninth season of the show coming up, and even if you do want to use resumes as an argument, it is still unfathomable why the disparity here is as substantial as it is.

Hopefully, the studio will do the right thing and give the actors what they deserve. After all, Gibson and Mantegna are both reportedly near deals, so can’t there be a way to bring the full cast back? For those curious, showrunner Erica Messer has already signed a new contract to return for next season.

Photo: CBS