The BAU may have lost one member in the Criminal Minds season 10 finale (but fortunately, Kate didn’t die, so she can always come back), but Jennifer Love Hewitt’s character won’t be the only one MIA when season 11 begins.
As the Inquisitr previously reported, while Hewitt is leaving Criminal Minds to take care of her baby and on the show, Kate told Hotch that she was going to take a year off to take care of her baby (watch that below), A.J. Cook is not leaving the series too when she gives birth. Instead, they wrote in her pregnancy just like they did back in season 4.
In the season 10 finale, Reid found JJ snacking on the crackers she had bought earlier for Kate and put the pieces together that she was pregnant. He asked if he was getting another godson. She told him maybe and it could be a goddaughter. Well, an interview TVGuide.com did with executive producer Erica Messer reveals that JJ will be having a boy because Cook is having a boy, and yes, Reid will once again be the godfather.
Messer explained to Entertainment Weekly that that brief conversation between JJ and Reid was their way of setting up what will be mentioned in the premiere, that JJ is on maternity leave. That’s because production on Criminal Minds season 11 will be starting when Cook is due.
With both Kate and JJ gone at least at the beginning of the season, Messer told Zap2it she hopes to bring in “a fun guest star” for Cook’s maternity leave and use it as an opportunity to address the fact that there hasn’t been as much turnover as there maybe should be in this job.
“We’ll probably be really reflecting on the comings and goings of people. In the beginning of the season we’ll be acknowledging that kind of thing. How rare it is for the team to be together for as long as they have been? That’s not a normal working experience anywhere, let alone the FBI where people come and go traditionally all the time. We want to write to that as much as we can.”
While many people will obviously want to see Paget Brewster return to Criminal Minds as Emily Prentiss, who was last seen in “200,” the EP did acknowledge to TVGuide.com that “it might be time to check in with her again,” but she’s not the only familiar face who may show up again.
In fact, one name that was thrown out there is Jordan Todd, who appeared last time JJ was on maternity leave, though that was back when JJ was the team’s communications liaison and not a profiler. When JJ returned to work, Todd returned to the Counter Terrorism Division. For now, Messer hasn’t named anyone definitively.
“That would be cool. A lot of people liked [Todd]. That’s definitely a possibility. I feel like when you look at 10 years of people we could bring back, it would be fun to be able to do that. We know the BAU is a lot bigger than just our heroes.”
There is also the possibility of no one filling the spot left open by Kate’s departure, as the EP explained they might use that in their plan for season 11.
“Because it’s Season 11, we want to focus on them a little bit more. That’s why I think it might also be a good idea to leave [the position] open so we don’t have to spend time introducing a new character for fans, but really dive into these people we’ve known and loved for 10 years. I think there are also conversations to be had about people who have come and gone in the past 10 years and bringing people back. … I think we’ll be seeing more familiar faces next year.”
Who would you like to see return to Criminal Minds for season 11?
[Image via CBS]