Summary

• Mandy Patinkin left Criminal Minds due to his aversion to the show's "disturbing content," which took a toll on his mental health.
• His character, Jason Gideon, was written out of the show in season 3, with his fate revealed in season 10.
• It is unlikely that Mandy Patinkin will return for future revivals or the reboot of Criminal Minds due to his past experiences and concerns about the show's content.

The Criminal Minds character FBI Special Agent Jason Gideon originally led the series until he was written out of the show shortly after season 2 leading to a lot of questions about why actor Mandy Patinkin left Criminal Minds. The procedural series, which originally ran from 2005 to 2020, was well-known for its revolving cast, as only a few of Criminal Minds’ original stars remained until the season 15 finale. While many primary cast members and characters like Thomas Gibson’s Aaron Hotchner or Shemar Moore’s Derek Morgan would depart the show as well, Gideon's Criminal Minds exit made a visible impact on the series early on as one of the earliest team members to exit the series.

With what eventually happened to Agent Gideon, it's clear Mandy Patinkin will not be returning to play Jason Gideon in future revivals of the series. Though Mandy Patinkin left Criminal Minds in season 3, Jason Gideon's fate was revealed in season 10. The show managed to survive the early and drastic change to the cast, but years later, fans are still wondering why Mandy Patinkin left Criminal Minds at the height of the show and his character's popularity.

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When And How Gideon Left Criminal Minds

Criminal Minds' Disturbing Content Motivation Mandy Patinkin's Exit

When Criminal Minds first debuted, Mandy Patinkin, who is best known for his iconic role as Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride, was the headlining actor of the series. While Patinkin wasn’t the first main cast member to leave Criminal Minds, as Lola Glaudini exited as Ellie Greenaway at the beginning of season 2, the abrupt departure of the top-billed actor revealed the impermanence of the BAU Agents very early on. After completing a notable storyline with serial killer Frank Breitkopf (Keith Carradine) in season 2, Jason Gideon permanently left Criminal Minds’ BAU in season 3, episode 2, "In Name And Blood."

Although the official reason given for the Gideon Criminal Minds departure was “creative differences,” later interviews with the actor suggested he had a profound aversion to the show’s “disturbing content.” In 2012, about five years after he left Criminal Minds, Mandy Patinkin stated (via New York Magazine) that joining the crime drama was the “biggest public mistake” he had ever made as he felt the content matter was “destructive to [his] soul and personality.” The Jason Gideon actor elaborated that he didn’t know Criminal Minds would depict the murders and rapes of women “every week, year after year,” and the intense violence took an overwhelming toll on his life.

The season 3 premiere episode was originally filmed as the finale for season 2. The episode, however, which featured murders on a college campus bore similarities to a real-life event that happened around the time it was expected to air. Producers and CBS executives opted to make the season 2 finale the season 3 premiere instead, and once that decision was made, Mandy Patinkin also made his decision to leave Criminal Minds. That's why his character appears in the season 3 premiere, then goes "missing" in the subsequent episode, promoting Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler) to try and track down his mentor, only to learn that Jason Gideon is leaving the BAU in that same episode.

Mandy Patinkin Left The Regular Criminal Minds Cast For His Mental Health

Mandy Patinkin’s exit shocked Criminal Minds’ creators, with the actor fearing that his abrupt departure would mean he’d never work in television again. Only a few years later, the Princess Bride actor was cast alongside Claire Danes in Homeland, a series that he felt was “the antidote” to Criminal Minds because Showtime’s series questioned why violence was necessary in the first place.

The actor later recollected (via the New York Times) that he “behaved abominably” when leaving the Criminal Minds’ cast, which coincides with the reports that Gideon had gone “AWOL” after Criminal Minds season 2. Patinkin revealed that he wrote apology letters to the rest of the Criminal Minds cast, but still maintained that his departure was necessary for his well-being.

While Mandy Patinkin’s last Criminal Minds episode occurred early in season 3, it wouldn’t be the last time Jason Gideon appeared on the series. In Criminal Minds season 10, the BAU discovered that Gideon was murdered by an unsub he initially targeted in 1978, which effectively squashed any notion of Patinkin returning for a Criminal Minds cameo. The episode features flashbacks to a young Gideon alongside a young David Rossi, who replaced Patinkin's character in Criminal Minds season 3. Alongside several other cast members like Thomas Gibson who exited Criminal Minds, Mandy Patinkin’s Jason Gideon was featured in the series finale episode via flashbacks to the character in scenes from the first few seasons.

Why Gideon Probably Won't Be Back For The Criminal Minds Reboot

Mandy Patinkin Has Not Commented On A Criminal Minds Return

Like Matthew Gray Gubler's Spencer Reid, it's highly unlikely that Mandy Patinkin's Criminal Minds character Agent Gideon will be returning for Criminal Minds: Evolution. The revival series has been renewed for a second season and is expected to continue beyond that as well. The character's definitive end comes in season 10, episode 13, "Nelson's Sparrow" when it is revealed Gideon is murdered offscreen by killer Donnie Mallick though Mandy Patinkin doesn't appear. As a result, it's impossible for him to return in the reboot. Before Criminal Minds: Evolution, Gideon appeared in several flashbacks. However, these were usually through Spencer Reid's eyes, as Gideon was his mentor.

Matthew Gray Gubler's Spencer Reid did not return for Criminal Minds season 16 (what is really the first season of Criminal Minds: Evolution) either, much to audiences' chagrin. Because Gideon has most often appeared after his departure from Criminal Minds when connected to Spencer Reid, it's unlikely he'll return in any form without Gubler also appearing in the revival series. Mandy Patinkin has neither confirmed nor denied that he'll show up for the Criminal Minds reboot in the future, but given his aversion to the show's content, it's improbable.

Mandy Patinkin's Career Doesn't Need Criminal Minds

Patinkin Has A Long Career Of Cult Hits And Successful Series

A huge star in his own right, Mandy Patinkin's Criminal Minds stint comprised 47 episodes from 2005 to 2007, which is actually just a small part of the veteran actor's extensive and still-growing film and television career. Prior to being Criminal Minds' Agent Gideon, Patinkin famously played Dr. Jeffrey Geiger in Chicago Hope. Meanwhile, after Criminal Minds, Patinkin starred in Homeland as Saul Berenson alongside Claire Danes' Carrie Mathison from 2011 to 2020. In that decade, Patinkin also appeared in movies such as Before You Know It, Life Itself, The Queen of Spain, and Wonder — he even provided the voice of Papa Smurf in Smurfs: The Lost Village. He will also headline a new murder mystery on Hulu called Death and Other Details.

In short, though it would be great to see more of Mandy Patinkin's Agent Gideon in some future Criminal Minds flashback, the actor's career doesn't really need it. Combined with Patinkin himself voicing concerns about how the show's content had affected his mental health, the chances of Gideon returning are even lower. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, however, as both Mandy Patinkin and Criminal Minds themselves have long proved that they can thrive independently of each other.

Mandy Patinkin Has Left Criminal Minds - But Jason Gideon’s Character Deserves More Screentime

A Criminal Minds Prequel Could Continue Gideon's Story

One of the great aspects of Criminal Minds is that there is a rich history of the Behavioral Analysis Unit that the series - or even a potential spinoff - could explore. Even though Mandy Patinkin’s Criminal Minds tenure ended with season 3 of the series, his character, Jason Gideon, appeared in flashbacks in a later episode of the series. That episode proves that there is still more Jason Gideon story to tell if the Criminal Minds writers want to.

Criminal Minds’ Behavioral Analysis Unit is based on a real-life FBI unit formed to study serial killers. The beginning of the unit is referenced numerous times throughout the series with both David Rossi and Jason Gideon being named as instrumental in the early workings of the BAU. The season 10 episode “Nelson’s Sparrow” actually gives the audience a glimpse of that. Even though Mandy Patinkin doesn’t return to Criminal Minds for the episode, Ben Savage plays a younger version of Gideon in flashback.

The episode features ties to a case that Gideon and Rossi worked on during the early days of the BAU in 1978. During that time, the knowledge base for how serial killers approach their victims, patterns of behavior, studies on victimology, and more were not well-known to BAU members. Rossi and Gideon were forging those paths and beginning to study killers then. That’s why the flashback to their case is so fascinating. They don’t have the same level of resources and knowledge that the modern BAU does.

Flashbacks to those early days of the BAU would be a great way to explore the working relationship and friendship between Rossi and Gideon, two fan-favorite characters. A step further would even be a Criminal Minds spinoff series featuring Rossi, Gideon, and other characters who have been mentioned in the series before they became experts in their field. That’s one Criminal Minds spinoff that would be a fascinating watch with a different dynamic than the original series.

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  Criminal Minds

  Summary:

  Criminal Minds centers on cases of the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), a group of elite criminal profilers who analyze the country's most notorious criminals as they look to anticipate their next moves before they strike again. Starting in 2005, Criminal Minds ran for 15 seasons before getting a revival show, Criminal Minds: Evolution, in 2022.

  Cast:

  shemar moore, Kirsten Vangsness, Paget Brewster, Thomas Gibson, Joe Mantegna, Matthew Gray Gubler, A.J. Cook, Mandy Patinkin, Lola Glaudini, Rachel Nichols, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Aisha Tyler

  Genres:

  Mystery, Drama, Crime

  Rating:

  TV-14

  Release Date:

  2005-09-22

  Seasons:

  16

  Writers:

  Jeff Davis

  Network:

  CBS

  Streaming Service(s):

  Paramount+

  Franchise(s):

  Criminal Minds

  Showrunner:

  Erica Messer, Jeff Davis