‘Criminal Minds’ season 9 spoilers: Who else is returning for 200th episode?
As it turns out, you are going to get a chance to see more than just Emily Prentiss as a returning guest star on the upcoming 200th episode of “Criminal Minds” airing next year; you’re also going to head back in time to see a few scenes featuring a woman who was a big part of the show until the character’s sudden death. Of course, we are talking about the former section chief Strauss, taken out cruelly via the Replicator at the end of last season. Speaking to TVLine, Shemar Moore confirmed that Jayne Atikinson will be reprising her role via flashbacks during the episode.
Just in case you did want to hear a little bit more about the idea behind this episode to bring back old faces, Moore states that the goal is to make it a reunion of (almost all) the faces that you’ve come to love over the years:
“We’re getting the core group of people that we’ve had through the years. The only one missing is Mandy Patinkin.”
Ultimately, we would say that Mandy has as good of a chance at returning to this show as Charlie Sheen does “Two and a Half Men.” His departure here was a pretty bitter one, brought on by what appeared to be just a general unhappiness on his part. He said after getting “Homeland” that joining the show in the first place was the biggest “mistake” he had ever made in public. While there are some different people working on the show now, it still doesn’t matter. Given the hoops that the writers had to go through to change season 3, that’s just not going to happen. (Another good comparison would be Katherine Heigl ever returning to “Grey’s Anatomy.)
Even without Mandy, there’s still quite a bit to look forward to from this story if you are an avid “Criminal Minds” fan. You are going to see a mystery that actually could turn JJ into the victim, and a search to save her that will force the new section chief Mateo Cruz to open up about the past that he shared with her dating back to when the character was not a part of the show.
Stay tuned; we’ll have more on the big episode soon.
Photo: CBS