The roller coaster ride of Paget Brewster on Criminal Minds appears to finally be ending: the actress is leaving the show at the end of this season.

Last year, Brewster's character of Emily Prentiss was initially killed off after the star left to film a pilot... only for her to be resurrected when that pilot did not make it to series. Now, however, with her contract up this summer, Brewster has made the decision to pursue new options.

“After six wonderful years playing Emily Prentiss, I have decided it’s time for me to move on,” she said in a statement to Deadline. “As much as I will miss my Criminal Minds family, I am excited about the future and other opportunities."

Said Thomas Gibson, who is locked in to next season along with Joe Mantegna, Shermar Moore and AJ Cook: “We all love Paget and her character and will miss her greatly but I know that she will have continued great success.”

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.