Is ‘Criminal Minds’ season 12 changing Penelope Garcia too much?

Tonight marks the final Wednesday for at least a little while that there will not be a new episode of “Criminal Minds” coming on CBS — that’s the good news. The bad news is what we have to get into for the remainder of this article.

For the majority of the series, we’ve considered the character of Penelope Garcia to be the lifeblood of the series to go along with Spencer Reid — while they have their demons at times, they often provide a spirit of something different on the show. For Garcia, she’s often the light in the midst of the darkness, the comic relief, and the person who helps to balance the town out. Often, procedural television is comfort food; you watch it because you enjoy the actors and the characters, and more often than not you have a pretty clear indication as to what you are going to get week in and week out.

This is where things get a little more disconcerting when it comes to Garcia this season; she’s become a very different character. While she was at one point a positive beacon of light for many of the characters in the cast, she’s become since decidedly negative, and her relationship with newcomer Luke Alvez is uncomfortable to watch and is one of our least-favorite parts of the whole season.

Why is she so mean to him? This is a question that, for whatever reason, the show hasn’t really addressed. Their only real moment of bonding came in a discussion about dogs; otherwise, she’s treated him like he’s less than the average team member and since that dog discussion happened, it’s been completely abandoned.

We understand how one of the prevailing theories for this behavior is that Luke is not Morgan, and she never wants to feel as though Alvez is taking his place. Yet, we haven’t gotten the sense that she’s treated any other newcomer to the team like this or plans to moving forward. It almost feels as though there’s something specific about Luke that is causing him to be targeted in such a way, and the show’s not explaining it.

If Garcia’s behavior as of late was not related to Luke at all, and he’s just a way for her to channel her frustrations, that’s also fine — but just tell us why! This is the pickle that “Criminal Minds” finds itself in when it comes to this character. Nobody would blame Garcia if she was dealing with matters outside of work that were causing her to act differently; it happens to the best of us. It’s the lack of the explanation that is unnerving. This is a season and a year of tremendous change, and while Garcia is still there, she doesn’t feel like the same person we once knew and loved.

Do you agree that Garcia’s become a very different person so far this season, and what should be done to fix it — provided that it needs fixing? Share below!

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