9 things about the new season!

[a_blackpanther]

This very spoilery article talks about the changes that the teams faces in season 7. It's very informative and interesting.

MAJOR SPOILERS BEHIND THE CUT

"People everywhere were coming up [to me] and saying, 'Why did you die?'" Criminal Minds star Paget Brewster told the audience at Tuesday's Paley Center fall TV preview, which was moderated by TV Guide Magazine's Michael Schneider. "Fans did not want their show being messed with."

CBS' popular crime drama "messed with" Brewster's character Emily Prentiss last season when they wrote her off the show by faking her death within the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU). After leaving the series, Brewster shot another pilot, which ultimately did not get picked up, leaving her free to return to Criminal Minds. She credits fans worldwide with getting Prentiss back on the show for Season 7, which premieres on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 9/8c.

"I know 'muerte,'" said Brewster. "I now know 'death' in several languages. People in airports in Mexico would come up [to me to ask about Prentiss' death]. I'm like, 'I know. Lo siento!' The fan response was overwhelming for everyone I think."

Prentiss' BAU resurrection will be a pivotal part of the changes coming to Criminal Minds. Check out what else the cast and crew revealed about what to expect in Season 7:

1. Expect a different BAU. "It's a season where we get to explore our heroes a little bit more," showrunner Erica Messer said. "Every week we get to dive into what makes these bad guys tick, and this is the season where we want to explore all the layers that make up this team. We get started right away with Prentiss returning from the dead. ... This event has changed all of our characters' lives."

2. Things get hairy for Hotch. The Paley Center played a preview clip showing Unit Chief Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner (Thomas Gibson) sporting a full beard, at least temporarily, while he's out of the country. "Hotch, as you saw, was in Pakistan," confirmed Messer. "That was mainly because I saw this handsome devil with a beard and said, 'Can you keep that thing? We should write to it.'"

3. Morgan tracks down Prentiss' killer. "Morgan made it his life journey to get redemption for his friend," Shemar Moore said about his character, Special Supervisory Agent Derek Morgan. Messer added, "No matter what, he wasn't going to let Ian Doyle (Timothy V. Murphy) be out there in the world. ... Morgan's been looking for him. He did it in the traditional way that profilers do, by getting into the head of the bad guy. He realized that the whole thing that's keeping Ian Doyle going is that his son is still out there. Morgan and Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness) begin digging around: Where would Doyle's son be? Where would Prentiss, our friend, have hidden him? So they're [also] profiling Prentiss."

4. Hotch + Morgan = Splitsville? Moore said, "There was a sense of betrayal from Hotch, even though that's his friend, that's his boss." Gibson added, "I think the theme of broken trust within a family will have a chance to play in various ways and various times in this season and maybe beyond."

5. JJ got a promotion. A.J. Cook's character Jennifer "JJ" Jareau was also written off the series, but was brought back after fan outcry. Not only was she part of the conspiracy hiding Prentiss' faked death, but she's also been busy with new duties. "JJ's been back for three-and-a-half months," said Messer. "She's been promoted to a profiler in that time. And we hear a little bit more about that in Episode 2."

6. Garcia will control the remote. Since JJ's now profiling, she won't introduce the cases. That duty falls to tech analyst Penelope Garcia, whom Vangsness said will be in the field, "at least in the round table room, at least holding that remote, explaining some stuff, which she does not enjoy doing. She likes being with them, but she does not enjoy the violence, so there's a lot of 'Here's the thing' [and] look away."

7. Dr. Reid will have family problems. "Reid had been dealing with his mom, which might have been something we lost in the premiere, but we touch on in Episode 2," Messer said. Matthew Gray Gubler, who wore two different socks (one pink, one blue-and-black striped) at the Paley Center event, couldn't reveal if his nerdy character's headaches would be addressed or if Reid would be getting a girlfriend. "I don't know, man," he said. "I'm always the last to know."

8. Rossi's first ex-wife could linger. As previously reported, Senior Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi (Joe Mantegna) will have to deal with his first ex-wife (Isabella Hoffman) when she comes to him for help. "It's kind of a two-part thing," said Mantegna. "We've established over the last few years that Rossi wasn't great at marriage. ... I thought if he were married three times to at least address a portion of that."

9. Ian Doyle will be back, briefly. "We see a wee bit of Ian Doyle [in Season 7]," Messer confirmed. "We're thinking that maybe [we should write that] he has an evil twin brother because [Murphy is] so great."

SOURCE

I think It's very interesting that JJ is now a profiler. I expected her to take over Strauss' job, actually, not profiling. I suppose she will split administrative duties with Hotch anyway. But if Garcia is manning the remote now, does it mean she's involved with picking the cases like JJ used to do?

I can't wait for the new season, that so many great storylines to look forward to! And I love that Erica Messer decided to write for Hotch's beard!

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_touched/]

This, I'm totally in agreement on. It just seems like a little much and a bit of a stretch for her to all of a sudden be "profiler material" just because she worked for a year with the pentagon. for me, it's just another way to give her more screen time over Prentiss or any of the "real" profiler's.

[a_blackpanther]

Erm, JJ's been profiling since season 1, it just wasn't in her official job description. That ep where Hotch asks her why doesn't become a profile? It's in season 2. Being the media/police/family liaison requires some profiling skills, otherwise they'd have to deal with uncooperative cops all the time and rate families.

Plus you've no evidence that this will give her more screentime above any of the "real" profilers. It's a way to develop her character.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_touched/]

Maybe it does entail some profiling skills, but in my opinion it still doesn't necessarily mean that she needs to be promoted. I feel like she worked perfectly fine in the current position that she was holding prior going to work for the pentagon. I also remember that episode where Hotch asks her why doesn't she become a profiler.

Thing is, you can possess some profiling skills and use them quite a bit and frequently, and still not exactly be a profiler in the sense that that is your job (you went to school for this and you had all the necessary training and experience) and it's the one thing that you do out and out on a daily basis.

When it's actually stated on the show that JJ is really a profiler and she's had all of the necessary training, certificates from schooling, etc. That's when I'll believe that she's a full blown true profiler.

And, I wasn't necessarily stating that I had any evidence that it will give her more screen time, so much as I was expressing an opinion the way other's here have done so. I was actually assuming that she would just naturally be given more screen time, now that they've made her a profiler of sorts.

I guess I just feel like her character has already been developed. From what I've seen of the show, I think I'm pretty well okay to in my assumptions to think that it's only going to bolster her screen time a great deal. I know that she's been given more screen time than character's like, Prentiss for example, in past seasons.

[a_blackpanther]

I'm not coming after anyone. I just don't understand why people feel that JJ becoming a profiler is OOC and completely unexpetcted.

It's the only way it makes sense for her to come back to the team. As much as we'd all like to, we can't ignore season 6, and coming back to an inferior job that likely pays less doesn't make much sense, even if she hated being forced to leave in the first place. Moreover, Hotch stated that they needed another profiler on the team after Emily's "death" (boubly so after Ashley leaves). From what I've read the season premiere is a timejump away from the finale and I'm guessing JJ comes back during that time. It's probably what Rossi and her were plotting at the end of the finale.

Also, IMHO characters (and people) evolve constantly. Having the same characters do the same thing year after year, well that's just your generic CSI series.

And Emily is my favourite character, but I really don't think JJ has had more screentime than she has.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_touched/]

It's a bit OOC for me, because when asked why doesn't she become a profiler, her reply was because she didn't want to. I realize that people can and do change their minds often, but there had to be something big to make her all of a sudden decide that she wanted to be a profiler.

She worked perfectly find being the media liason and choosing the cases they took, as well as presenting them. She even got to be in the field doing it for the most part, dealing with the family members, and other people in authority, etc. I personally see absolutely nothing at all wrong with that role and I feel like she was really fantastic at it, so why change it up? For me, personally, it just doesn't make much sense.

I'm aware that people grow and change, but I'm not exactly too thrilled about that change. Plus, Emily will be coming back from the dead, so there's their profiler that Hotch was saying they needed. And I'm also not too sold on her being her previous job at the BAU being that inferior.

I disagree that it's just your basic generic CSI show. It's just a group of people doing what they actually know they're good at. There can still be room for personal growth in there somewhere, if they want to grow character's.

I tend to feel as if JJ has had more screen time than Prentiss.