Did you watch all the episodes with C. Thomas Howell as The Reaper? He was in a bunch starting with Season 4 episode Omnivore through Season 5 100?

Yes! I saw those. That's where one of my fav quotes from Hodge came from.

"Sometimes there are no words, no clever quotes to neatly sum up what's happened that day. Sometimes the day just .... ends. (that's where he turns around and comes face to face with The Reaper. You here a gun go off .. then the show ends.)

I have a feeling Gideon might return here and there for a few episodes.

If something happens to Reid he will. That's who he was closest to, although he left the show because he felt it was to violent.

I like the one on episode 100 where he talks about playing with monsters.

was that the steven king quote?

"there are monsters in all of us and sometimes they win."

No, Matthew Gray Gubler is the one who did the Steven King quote.

ahhh, okies.

I'm watching 3rd Life right now, great episode. Dr. Reid going up against a mob hit man.

UPDATE TUESDAY 11AM: A source close to CBS stressed that the casting changes on Criminal Minds were a creative, not financial decision, and a way to "refresh a veteran drama series." A new regular female cast member will be brought in sometime next season to fill the void that will be left by Cook's departure.

EXCLUSIVE MONDAY 7:50PM: Heading to Season 6, CBS’ successful crime drama Criminal Minds is trimming the female portion of its cast for what I hear are financial reasons. I'm told the option of series regular A.J. Cook has not been picked up and co-star Paget Brewster is being made an offer to stay for only a reduced number of episodes next season, leaving fan favorite Kristen Vangsness as the only remaining full-time female cast member. I hear negotiations are underway with Brewster for a new deal that would keep her on the show. If she agrees, she will continue to be formally a regular but won't appear in every episode. Talks are also ongoing with Cook to possibly appear in several episodes next season to wrap her character Jennifer Jereau’s storyline.

Among the broadcast networks, CBS has been aggressive in trying to rein in series costs, especially on its longer-running, more expensive dramas with large ensemble casts. Criminal Minds has had seven regulars as part of its core cast. Staying on are Joe Mantegna, Thomas Gibson, Shemar Moore, Matthew Gray Gubler and Vangsness. With the exception of Vangsness’ quirky nerd goddess Penelope Garcia, which has developed a strong following, the series has largely been perceived as a male-centered ensemble, with the boys getting most of the action.

Cook has been on the show since the first episode, joining after the pilot in 2005. Paget Brewster came on board nine episodes into Season 2, replacing original cast member Lola Glaudini. But aside from the Glaudini-Brewster switch and the forced replacement of original lead Mandy Patinkin with Mantegna following Patinkin's abrupt exit after Season 2, the cast on Criminal Minds has been pretty stable, with Gibson, Moore and Vangness all on board since the pilot.

http://www.deadline.com/2010/06/cbs-criminal-minds-trims-cast/

Matthew Gray Gubler can be a tough guy to reach.

But when he finally phoned recently, after more than a week of missed calls, he had an excuse that was better than most: He'd spent the past six days in the woods, tied to a chair, being tortured and shot full of heroin by James van der Beek.

It has been a busy couple of weeks for Gubler, the 26-year-old graduate of the Las Vegas Academy of International Studies, Performing and Visual Arts, as he put the finishing touches on his biggest project: the two-part episode of the out-of-nowhere smash "Criminal Minds" that will begin immediately following the Super Bowl (Sunday on KLAS-TV, Channel 8).

In the special episode, which Gubler calls "incredibly crazy," his character, awkward genius Dr. Spencer Reid, and fellow FBI profilers -- played by, among others, Mandy Patinkin, Thomas Gibson and Shemar Moore -- are called in when a wealthy couple is murdered following, naturally, a Super Bowl party. (Part two, airing next week in the show's regular 9 p.m. Wednesday home, finds Dr. Reid kidnapped by the multiple-personalitied killer, played by the former "Dawson's Creek" star.)

"I didn't know it was such a big deal," Gubler says of the most coveted time slot on television, the post-Big Game hour that launched "The A-Team," "The Wonder Years" and "Family Guy" and helped make "Friends" and "Grey's Anatomy" the most talked about shows on TV. "I don't really know much about sports. But someone finally sat me down and explained it to me. ... I'm just happy the network is finally acknowledging our existence."

"Criminal Minds" was largely ignored, not just by CBS but by viewers as well, when it debuted in the fall of 2005. It was too dark for some, too much like all the other crime procedurals for others. And it was pitted against the water-cooler show of the moment: "Lost."

"Everyone was like 'Oh, don't even unpack your bags,' " Gubler says. " 'You're going to be canceled in a week and a half.' "

The series finished that first season in 30th place. But something -- probably the show's stand-alone nature that lends itself to repeats -- began to click with viewers. In November, just before "Lost" left for its fall break, "Criminal Minds" overtook it in the weekly ratings and it's now TV's 11th most popular series. (When "Lost" returns next week, it will move back an hour to 10 p.m., having conceded the time slot.)

But it's still The Series The Media Forgot.

"No one I know has even heard of the show," Gubler says. "People think I'm making it up when I tell them I'm on TV."

But get him to a Red State -- say, Texas or parts of the Midwest and South, where he went on a recent press tour -- and he's treated like a rock star. "These are, like, real Americans watching it," he says, as opposed to "the pretentious idiots in New York or Los Angeles."

Las Vegans also seem to get the show, something he has noticed during his frequent visits. The actor -- the son of attorney John Gubler and Marilyn Gubler, a ranch owner and former chairwoman of the Nevada Republican Party -- says he comes home at least once a month. "I work in L.A., but I live in Nevada."

Since he moved to New York to attend film school, Gubler's life has followed a Forrest Gump-like trajectory. He fell into a successful modeling career after being "discovered" on the street. Being cast in "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou," as what he calls a joke, led to the beginnings of a promising acting career, something else he never sought. Now, he finds himself in a movie with Mr. Gump himself. (The upcoming film, "The Great Buck Howard," in which he plays an assistant to John Malkovich's magician character, co-stars Tom Hanks.)

"It was all a total accident," Gubler says of his acting career, and he feels a little guilty about his success-to-struggle ratio. "But I couldn't be happier."

He wasn't completely unprepared to be an actor -- he majored in the craft at the Las Vegas Academy, but only because the school didn't offer his true passion: filmmaking. And it's that initial calling that helps him block out some of the twisted crimes, many of which he says come from true stories, that "Criminal Minds" portrays.

To keep things loose on the set, he has been making short films, featuring co-stars and members of the crew, that cast him as a pampered diva who yells at children and sexually harasses co-workers.

"I'm incredibly proud of those," Gubler says, and he lights up when you mention you've seen them on YouTube.

"Sadly, I focus more attention, I think, on those fake documentaries than on the actual show. But having that is a real nice safety blanket, I think, to keep you from going crazy."

Also helping to keep him sane is his art, which he has exhibited in the Czech Republic and on his handwritten Web site, www.matthewgraygubler. com. He also has taken up photography and is an aspiring children's author and illustrator. And, he says, "I want to get better at badminton. That's my goal for this year."

He has even reached that level of fame where he's the subject of a growing Internet rumor: that he's the basis for the Killers' song "Mr. Brightside," in which frontman Brandon Flowers sings about watching another man seduce his girl. Gubler, who's working with a mutual friend on a small project for the band, says that claim "blew my mind," but it's not true.

"I don't think so, anyway. I haven't really asked Brandon about it," he says. "I think I'd rather not ask him about it."

"But," he adds in closing, "I am Roxanne from the Sting song."

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2007/Jan-29-Mon-2007/living/12200440.html

It looks like all those letters, tweets, and petitions (sort of) paid off: Exiting Criminal Minds star A.J. Cook will be back this fall for a brief stint to tie up JJ’s storyline.

Additionally, a Minds source confirms that her costar Paget Brewster — who has been ironing out a reduced-episode arrangement with the show — has finalized a deal to return as well.

Keep reading for details on the length of the actresses’ respective returns…

“Thanks for your undying support but it’s a done deal,” Cook confirmed this evening via Twitter. “I’ll be doing 2 [episodes] to wrap up [my storyline]. [I am] excited for what’s next and hope you’ll come along!”

Brewster, meanwhile, will be back as Prentiss for “a significant number of episodes,” says a Minds insider.

The CBS procedural is also moving forward with plans to introduce a new female agent at some point this fall.

What say you Minds fans? Does news of Cook’s short comeback take some of the sting out of her departure? Or will you settle for nothing less than a full-time return? Sound off below!

http://insidetv.ew.com/2010/06/25/criminal-minds-cook-brewster-return/

At least J.J's coming back to tie everything up. Wish she would stay though.

Actually she already did. It was the first two episodes of season 6. I don't see why they are trying to fix something that isn't broke.

Drama .. it's all about creating drama.

aw, it's ok. I promise it will all be okay. I know how you feel about change

I just read that the guy who plays Morgan is gay in real life and got photographed at a gay nude beach!

Why change something that works and is rated really highly.