Where Are the ‘Criminal Minds’ Romances Going Into the Final Season? (PHOTOS)
JJ and Reid
Back in Season 1, Reid tried and failed to ask JJ out on a date, and 14 years later, the series is asking what could have been between the teammates.
“I’ve always loved you,” she told him while being held at gunpoint. “I was just too scared to say it before, and now things are just really too complicated to say it now.” The two then exchanged meaningful glances at Rossi’s wedding (with JJ’s husband Will right by her side), until Reid asked her flat out if she meant it. She never answered him.
“When we meet them in the first two episodes of Season 15, what we learn is they haven’t really talked about it because it’s made that much of an impact,” showrunner Erica Messer told ET. “Six months have passed story-wise and it’s time they talk about it. It gets muddy.”
JJ and Will
After fans watched JJ and Will meet, fall in love, have kids, and (eventually) get married, is her confession of love for Reid the beginning of the end of their relationship? That’s unclear, but chances are it has to shake things up a bit. (The poor guy was just standing around while his wife and friend were exchanging more-than-friendly looks at Rossi’s wedding.)
“Her confessing that doesn’t mean she doesn’t love the life she has tremendously,” Messer said. “Without giving away too much of the actual dialogue that’s coming up, she’s been defined by the love in her life and the love in her life is Will and the kids, it’s Reid, it’s her friends, it’s the work that she does.”
Reid and Max
Rachael Leigh Cook will guest star in at least two episodes as Max, “a quirky, kind-hearted, candid woman who strikes up an unusual relationship” with Reid, TVLine reported. Though that relationship won’t necessarily be romantic, it is one to keep an eye on, especially after JJ’s declaration.
Rossi and Krystall
Rossi and his third ex-wife remarried in the Season 14 finale. Though there are no signs to suggest it won’t work out this time, should we be worried about Everett Lynch (Michael Mosley) still being out there, given Rossi’s fight with the serial killer?
Prentiss and Mendoza
Prentiss and Mendoza might not have gotten off to the best start — she admitted to blowing him off early on due to scars from past relationships — but they were still going strong in the finale. Though she didn’t bring him to Rossi’s wedding because it would be “too much,” she told Kristy that she would get to meet him.
Matthew and Kristy Simmons
These two have to be the most solid relationship on the show, and fortunately, we’re not seeing any signs that will change. When we first met Simmons in the Beyond Borders backdoor pilot, we heard about his big family — and it’s growing (again), as Kristy told him in the finale that she’s pregnant with their fifth child.
Luke and Lisa
Despite hitting a snag in their relationship when they were moving in together in “Luke,” they were still together in the Season 14 finale. She missed the wedding because she picked up an extra shift.
Criminal Minds has never been a show about romance, but the members of the BAU do have personal lives.
Some are married (and perhaps more happily so than others), while others are taking important steps in their relationships. The Season 14 finale even featured a wedding and a confession of love — though the latter does shake things up for more than just the two involved.
At least one team member keeps her personal lives private. The others didn’t even know Tara (Aisha Tyler) had been married until her ex-husband brought her a case. (To be fair, we can’t blame her for not wanting to answer questions about their marriage.) And it’s probably about time that Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness) get a love interest we see on-screen as much as we saw Kevin (Nicholas Brendon) in the early seasons.
Click through the gallery above to see the state of JJ (AJ Cook), Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler), Rossi (Joe Mantegna), Prentiss (Paget Brewster), Simmons (Daniel Henney), and Luke’s (Adam Rodriguez) romances going into the final season.
Criminal Minds, 15th and Final Season, Coming Soon, CBS
