Criminal Minds Beyond Borders season 3: Are the odds dimming?

Rooting for Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders season 3 is not too hard to do in practice; as for whether or not it will happen, there is a different debate to be had there.

Last night, the 11th episode of the season drew a 0.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic, down versus the week before. Perhaps more challenging than that is the drop-off from Criminal Minds proper, which drew a 1.5. If there was ever a natural lead-in out there fore the show, it would be the flagship series. Losing that much of a viewership is indicative of why the show could be canceled. It may not be what anyone on the site wants, but the reality still is the reality and upon last glance, things weren’t looking that good.

As of right now, season 2 of Beyond Borders is averaging a 0.8 rating. That is better than Elementary; however, it’s worse that much of everything else on the CBS schedule. Even The Amazing Race is faring better by just a sliver in the demo. Is it frustrating that television is such a money-minded industry? Absolutely, and it definitely doesn’t help that the Criminal Minds franchise is an ABC Studios product. It doesn’t make CBS as much money as anything produced in-house, so it’s another reason to be wary of a cancellation.

The good news is that this renewal / cancellation season is ripe with surprises. Nobody thought that Taken would get a 16-episode season 2 — at most, maybe the assumption was ten. Meanwhile, Last Man Standing getting canceled after six seasons proved to be a complete shock, and it’s something that leads to all sorts of conspiracy theories that probably shouldn’t be mentioned in here.

If there’s one big of advice that can be offered, it’s rather simple: Show Beyond Borders as much love as possible online. Make the cast and crew know that you care, and continue to hope for the best. Be grateful for two seasons, since that’s hardly a given in this modern age. Think about all the shows getting canned this year after a single year — heck, think of Doubt, which only got two episodes before it was kicked to the curb by CBS. One of the worst thoughts imaginable is to put in that kind of time into a product only for no one to see it.

Preview the finale

No matter what happens, there are still two more Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders episodes coming on the air. Synopses and further information can be found over here. (Photo: CBS.)