‘Criminal Minds’: Aisha Tyler Looks Back on Her First Episode & Defends Short Wig She Wore (VIDEO)

What better way to celebrate the return of Criminal Minds: Evolution (for its 18th season, third as the revival) on Thursday, May 8, than with a bit of a throwback? When the suspenseful drama returned for more on Paramount+ following a 15-season run on CBS, it did so with nearly everyone back we’d last seen with the BAU (Behavioral Analysis Unit). That included Aisha Tyler, as Dr. Tara Lewis, after her introduction in Season 11.

And so when Tyler dropped by TV Insider during Season 17 to chat all things Criminal Minds, we had her watch a scene from her very first episode, Season 11 Episode 1, “The Job.” In it, the team’s search for a serial killer helped them find the person who filled the open spot left by Kate’s (Jennifer Love Hewitt) departure. Tara impressed the team, especially Hotch (Thomas Gibson) and Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness) in the most on-the-job interview there is. Watch her watch and react to that scene in the video above.

Looking back on filming that first episode, Tyler told us, “I love acting and I love television and I love being on set, so I remember being super happy to be there. And I also remember that they made me feel very welcome. I was just a guest star, but right away, I had a chair with my name on the back. … I thought, ‘I’m only going to be here for six episodes, but at least I’m going to be able to take my Criminal Minds chair back home with me when I’m done.’ So it was a great, great time.”

She also fondly remembered her “really short wig, which I loved, despite the internet being full of short hair haters.”

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Tyler “hadn’t seen that many episodes” of the drama when she first joined the show. “I knew of it,” she said “I’m more of a TV person now. But back then, I was a big film person. So I went back and I watched a lot of it to just understand the show. But what I did know is that it was a global phenomenon, which it still is.”

She called being on the show “one of the most defining seminal moments of my career. It’s been really, really special. It’s where I formed lifelong friendships. It’s where I got my Director’s Guild card for my first episode of television. It’s been such an incredible ride and I think creatively, the fact that we’re still growing and expanding and doing just really challenging work, not just for us, but for the audience, for the fans, has been really, really wonderful.”

Watch the full video above for more from Aisha Tyler reflecting on Criminal Minds.

Criminal Minds: Evolution, Season 18 Premiere, Thursday, May 8, Paramount+