Season 12 of the American police procedural drama TV series “Criminal Minds” will premiere on CBS on September 28 and based on the trailer for the pilot episode, it seems like the show will give a heavy focus on new character Luke Alvez, to be played by new series regular Adam Rodriguez.
Alvez will be the newest character in the TV series and the premiere episode will see him transition from being a lead member of the FBI Fugitive Task Force into becoming the newest member of the bureau’s Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU).
It can be recalled that during the Season 11 finale of “Criminal Minds,” a total of 13 serial killers managed to escape detention.
The FBI Fugitive Task Force was tapped to recapture all the convicts. At the start of Season 12, the task force would have captured the eight escapees already and just needs to apprehend the five others, notes Buddy TV.
Apparently, the task force would need the help of the BAU to capture one of the remaining five escapees because of his psychological history that the BAU is familiar with. It is not clear who the particular convict that is being referred to but it was previously said that it is going to be Mr. Scratch.
The collaboration will establish the connection of Luke Alvez with the BAU and he will then be transferred to the latter unit and work from there.
Consistent with the previous reports, Alvez will not be replacing Derek Morgan, played by Shemar Moore. Neither will he come in to serve as a replacement for the fired Thomas Gibson, who plays BAU supervisory special agent Aaron ‘Hotch’ Hotchner in the TV series.
It is likely that Alvez will still meet and touch base with Hotch when he joins the BAU in the first episode, titled “The Crimson King.” Accordingly, Hotch will make his graceful exit from “Criminal Minds” around the second episode of Season 12.
Based on the trailer of the first episode of “Criminal Minds” Season 12, it would also seem that Alvez has studied all the members of the BAU before he agrees to join the team which would actually surprise the BAU team members because of the massive information he has on each one of them.
Gone for good
Fans of “Criminal Minds” are actually disappointed with the firing of Thomas Gibson from their favorite show because the actor has been with the TV series right from the start nearly 12 years ago.
The actor was fired from the TV series after his onset altercation with the show’s writer-producer Virgil Williams.
It is said that after the incident, Gibson was suspended for two weeks but a few days later, the producers decided to just sack him for good, reports Headlines & Global News.
While Gibson offered his apology for allegedly kicking Virgil Williams, the producers felt that he has already gone out of bounds since it is not his first time to have such incident with a fellow cast member of “Criminal Minds.”
Subsequently, the actor reportedly tapped a top law firm in Los Angeles to pursue legal claims against ABC Studios and CBS Television Studios relative to his firing.
In a recent statement, he said that he felt sorry that he had to leave the show the way it happened because he has been part of the TV series for almost 12 years and it is something that he has come to love.
Speculating on Hotch’s exit
The reports are also saying that since Gibson has already filmed some scenes in “Criminal Minds” Season 12, it is likely that he will be written off the show around the latter episodes. As to how it is going to happen, those spawned a guessing game among fans of the TV series.
But subsequent reports said that Gibson’s Hotch shall be exiting the show in the second episode. Previous reports were saying that he will be sent on a temporary assignment somewhere, which hopefully opens the possibility of him returning back to the show in the future.