Criminal Minds season 15
The fifteenth season of Criminal Minds was ordered on January 10, 2019, with an order of 10 episodes. The season premiered on January 8, 2020, and concluded on February 19, 2020.
It was the final season to air on CBS, and was intended to be the final season overall. Two years later, Criminal Minds returned for a sixteenth season in 2022 on Paramount+.
Cast
The entire main cast from the previous season returned.Main
- Joe Mantegna as Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi
- Matthew Gray Gubler as Supervisory Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid
- A. J. Cook as Supervisory Special Agent Jennifer "JJ" Jareau
- Kirsten Vangsness as Special Agent Penelope Garcia
- Aisha Tyler as Supervisory Special Agent Dr. Tara Lewis
- Daniel Henney as Supervisory Special Agent Matt Simmons
- Adam Rodriguez as Supervisory Special Agent Luke Alvez
- Paget Brewster as Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss
Guest
- Jane Lynch as Diana Reid
- Aubrey Plaza as Cat Adams
- Ben Savage as Young Jason Gideon
- Beth Riesgraf as Dr. Maeve Donovan
- Jayne Atkinson as Erin Strauss
- C. Thomas Howell as George Foyet
Recurring
- Josh Stewart as William "Will" LaMontagne Jr.
- Mekhai Andersen as Henry LaMontagne
- Kelly Frye as Kristy Simmons
- Declan Whaley as David Simmons
- Stephen Bishop as Andrew Mendoza
- Michael Mosley as Everett Lynch
- Sharon Lawrence as Roberta Lynch
- Alex Jennings as Grace Lynch
- Rachael Leigh Cook as Maxine Brenner
- Gail O'Grady as Krystall Rossi
- Joseph C. Phillips as Deputy Director James Barbour
Production
Development
Criminal Minds was renewed for a fifteenth and final season with an episode order of 10 episodes on January 10, 2019. It was revealed that the final season had been held for mid-season and would premiere on January 8, 2020, in its original time slot with a two-hour season premiere and the season would wrap up with a two-hour series finale.Production on the final season began in the spring of 2019 as Erica Messer, the showrunner, wanted production on season fourteen and fifteen to be continuous with no break in between.
On April 26, 2019, it was revealed that Kirsten Vangsness and showrunner Erica Messer would be co-writing the series finale, with long-time director and executive producer, Glenn Kershaw directing. This was the fifth episode they co-wrote together. It was also revealed that the episode would be titled "And in the End". The title comes from The Beatles song "The End". Messer and Vangsness chose that as the title because "those were the final lyrics ever recorded by the Beatles, a group the characters always loved."
Former showrunner, Edward Allen Bernero, directed the fourth episode of the season "Saturday".
Casting
On February 4, 2019, it was announced that Jane Lynch would reprise her role as Diana Reid, the mother of Spencer Reid. Later that month, it was announced that Rachael Leigh Cook had been cast in a recurring role as Max, who is a love interest for Reid. Max is described as "a quirky, kind-hearted, candid woman who strikes up an unusual relationship" with Reid.Aubrey Plaza reprises her role as Cat Adams in the sixth episode "Date Night".
It was revealed that Jayne Atkinson, C. Thomas Howell and Beth Riesgraf would reprise their roles as Erin Strauss, George Foyet and Maeve Donovan in the series finale. Ben Savage would also reprise his role as young Jason Gideon.
Thomas Gibson, who played Aaron Hotchner, would not be returning for the final season.
Messer revealed that Shemar Moore, who played Derek Morgan, would also not be returning for the final season.