Criminal Minds was an excellent show and extremely popular to boot. It followed the members of the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) as they investigated disturbing murder cases all across America, and garnered a massive fan following. However, after fifteen years on air, Criminal Minds aired its last case earlier this year.
Considering how long it had been on television for, there will of course be many aspects that fans will miss about the crime drama, including the likability of the main characters. On the other hand, though, there were some aspects about the show that, now that it's over, are best left forgotten.
Will Miss - The Characters
Criminal Minds has had so many great characters come and go over the years that it would be a crime if they didn't get a special entry all to themselves. Certain characters like Penelope Garcia, Spencer Reid and JJ have been part of the show since the very beginning.
Other characters like Luke Alvez and Tara Lewis were fairly new additions to the team, but they still became a core part of the show. Now that the series is truly over, the fact that fans will never see any of these characters again is definitely upsetting.
Won't Miss - The Behind The Scenes Drama
Many long lasting television shows tend to have some sort of drama occur when the cameras aren't rolling, but Criminal Minds has seemingly had more than most. Mandy Patinkin left abruptly at the beginning of the third season, and this was only the start.
Possibly the most outrageous thing to happen behind the scenes was the firing of actors Paget Brewster and AJ Cook during Season 6. This was a wildly unpopular decision, and both the cast and fans condemned the move vehemently.
Will Miss - The Villains
Sometimes, as shows get older, it can become more and more difficult to think of compelling villains to terrify the viewers and engage them at the same time. However, Criminal Minds never seemed to struggle with this potential problem.
Naturally, some villains were better than others but there were no awful major antagonists. Villains like The Reaper and Cat Adams were among the finest villains to come out of Criminal Minds, what with their ability to (nearly) outwit the BAU.
Won't Miss - The Inconsistent Storylines
This is probably one of the most annoying things about the show but the storylines just don't appear to stick. In Season 2, for example, after Reid was kidnapped, he began to develop a drug addiction. However, after a few episodes, this plot was dropped for no reason.
The show didn't learn from its mistakes either, as JJ was kidnapped, tortured, and almost killed in Season 9, yet didn't suffer from any PTSD until a year later. Even then, JJ only struggled for one episode before the whole thing was brushed under the carpet.
Will Miss - The High Stakes
Whatever viewers though about Criminal Minds, there was no denying that the tension in most episodes was completely unbearable. Particularly in the early days of the show when viewers didn't know what to expect, the show could be pretty tough to watch.
The BAU covered many different cases over the years, including bombings, arson, home invasion and cults, to name but a few. All these different situations created massively high stakes, which was also aided by the fact that sometimes the victim wouldn't survive.
Won't Miss - The Violence And Gore
While Criminal Minds was an excellent show, it could be incredibly difficult to watch at times. Many of the cases that the team worked on each week were pretty gruesome and honestly, it was absolutely terrifying watching people getting hunted down in their own homes.
There was also a dark, psychological element to the show as well which didn't help matters much. Of course, all this was one of the reasons why Criminal Minds worked so well as a crime drama, but it did make the series uncomfortable to binge watch.
Will Miss - The Special Episodes
Almost every episode of the show was entertaining in its own way, but dotted throughout each season were a couple of special episodes which strayed away from the show's usual format. Sometimes, this entailed one of the main characters getting kidnapped, which was especially exciting.
Whatever the reason, these particular episodes were always pretty exciting, as it felt as though anything could happen, which raised the stakes massively. The milestone episodes were especially nail biting, particularly after the events of "100".
Won't Miss - The Spin Offs
Criminal Minds was an extremely successful show, and so it was no surprise when not one, but two spin offs were commissioned a couple of years apart. However, despite the popularity of the parent show, both spin offs simply flopped.
Neither show had the charm of Criminal Minds but the main thing that hindered their success was that they weren't based off any characters from the parent show. Now, if the spin offs followed the lives of Kate Callahan, or Derek Morgan after leaving the BAU, perhaps they would have been more successful.
Will Miss - Derek Morgan And Penelope Garcia's Friendship
Despite Morgan leaving the show at the end of Season 11, fans have been clamoring for him to come back just so that they can watch the outrageous amount of chemistry generated between him and Garcia. Their friendship was one of the highlights of the entire series.
With Criminal Minds having officially ended now, there is no chance now to see these two best friends flirt with each other, which is actually rather devastating. However, their friendship was also unbelievably supportive and loving.
Won't Miss - The Formulaic Structure
Although the plots and murder cases were all intriguing, as with all long running television shows, the episode layout did start to become slightly predictable.
Almost every episode would start with an awfully graphic depiction of a murder. The BAU would then arrive on the scene with their sunglasses and get to work solving the case, with help from the local police. They'd figure out who the killer was, and then they'd arrive just as the most important victim was about to be killed.