‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’: Will Matthew Gray Gubler, Shemar Moore or Others Return in Season 19?

Criminal Minds: Evolution is heading into its 19th season. When the drama returned on Paramount+, it did so with a majority of the cast that had been with the show when Criminal Minds ended its 15-season run on CBS in 2020: Joe Mantegna as David Rossi, Paget Brewster as Emily Prentiss, A.J. Cook as Jennifer “JJ” Jareau, Kirsten Vangsness as Penelope Garcia, Aisha Tyler as Dr. Tara Lewis, and Adam Rodriguez as Luke Alvez. Matthew Gray Gubler (Dr. Spencer Reid) and Daniel Henney (Matt Simmons) didn’t return, with scheduling making it impossible for guest spots — until Season 18.

Gubler returned in the third episode of the season, for the funeral of JJ’s husband Will (Josh Stewart).

“We were so lucky to get him, that the stars aligned for him to be there and for such an important episode and such an emotional time. And I feel like that’s what friends do for one another and both onscreen and off, right? It’s like, ‘Can you be here for this?’ And it just worked out that he could, which was a dream,” showrunner Erica Messer tells TV Insider.

Reid’s reunion with the BAU was brief, with limited dialogue but his and JJ’s bond was still clear, and A.J. Cook told us at the time that was “by choice.”

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“They didn’t need a monologue. They didn’t need a bunch of dialogue. It’s all in looks,” she shared. “And when we were in the conception phase of this episode, Erica and I — it would feel like something major was missing if we didn’t have Spence, it just would. It would feel weird not having him there. So I, of course, picked up the phone and called him and said, ‘Hey,’ and explained what we were doing.  And he was just like, ‘Are you kidding me? Of course I’ll be there.’ Like a true friend does. You show up in those moments. And we were so lucky to get him back. And yes, it was a brief moment, but it was so impactful and it felt so great having him there, just kind of felt like a homecoming. And my kids love Matthew and Matthew’s like my third kid. It was pretty cute. Seeing him back on set with everybody, it was pretty special.”

Gubler celebrated his return to the series in a statement obtained by TV Insider after his episode aired. “It’s a joy to get to tell stories with people you love so I will always cherish any moment, big or small, that I get to hug my Criminal Minds family or slip back into my dear friend Spencer’s oversized wingtips,” he said.

But looking ahead to a possible return from Matthew Gray Gubler or, say, Daniel Henney or Shemar Moore (Derek Morgan), nothing is planned at the moment.

“Season 19, we got going in the writers’ room in February of this year, and we’re now shooting. So when we’re figuring out our season, we don’t know. We can’t really count on those guest stars because they can’t tell us if they’d be available or not, six months from then or whatever,” explains Messer. “So we don’t have any plans right now, but you never know.”

Who would you like to see return in Season 19? Let us know in the comments section below.

Criminal Minds: Evolution, Season 19, TBA, Paramount+