The work the profilers on Criminal Minds do means they rarely have reason to smile, but when the show offers a look into their personal lives, they do. For Hotch, that’s where Beth has come in as of late, but that soon is coming to an end. When series star Thomas Gibson spoke to TVLine about his latest turn behind the camera (he directed the latest Halloween episode, “Boxed In,” about children who were abducted on the spooky holiday and released 364 days later), he addressed his character’s relationship .
Going into this season, it wasn’t kept secret that Hotch and Beth’s relationship has an expiration date. On-screen, Beth’s absence was addressed with a job offer in New York in season 8. While that same season did see Hotch and Jack visit her in “Brothers Hotchner” and in season 9’s “Route 66,” it is mentioned that she is in Italy on a business trip, their relationship has been long-distance ever since “Through the Looking Glass.” Unfortunately, with Bellamy Young playing Mellie the First Lady on Scandal , Gibson has told TVLine that the end of their relationship will be dealt with in an upcoming Criminal Minds episode.
“That’s not this week, but yeah, it’s coming up. Unfortunately, you know, I was dating the First Lady and she’s busy!…It’s actually dealt with in a nice way. Rossi then of course decides that he needs to play matchmaker for me, and we get very few opportunities for lighter moments like that.”
The actor went on to tease that they’ve been shooting those scenes recently, so that’s something to look forward to seeing play out in an episode. That does lead to the question of whether or not the show will address how Jack feels about the breakup since Criminal Minds has shown Beth and Jack getting along quite well.
In the same interview, Gibson also teased that the show will address its 10-year anniversary in a way that’s “going to be good,” but he didn’t have any other details to share. (Last season, Criminal Minds celebrated episode 200 by revealing what happened to JJ in her time away from the BAU.)
While Gibson has been part of Criminal Minds since day one, this season has introduced a new character in Jennifer Love Hewitt’s Kate Callahan , and the actress has told Zap2it that she’s still learning to play an FBI agent as also previously reported by the Inquisitr .
“I thought there was going to be some kind of crash course, but this all happened very quickly, so I did not have a chance to do that. On the second day of work, we were in a house searching for a criminal with guns drawn… and I remember sort of looking around and wondering, ‘What is happening right now?’”
“Of course, everyone else in the cast knew how to do everything. A few people on the set were very kind to me and took me aside and were like, ‘Do you need some help?’ And I said, ‘Yes. I really need help.’ They showed me, and I’m still learning. It’s fun, though.”
Criminal Minds season 10 airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on CBS.
[Image via CBS]