Criminal Minds Season 12 Nabs Adam Rodriguez as Season Regular

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This casting news should help stem some of the bleeding remaining after the departure of Shemar Moore.

Adam Rodriguez has been added to Criminal Minds Season 12 as a series regular.

“We’re all big fans of Adam’s and are excited to welcome him back to the CBS family as part of the terrific cast of Criminal Minds,” said CBS Entertainment president Glenn Geller.

While it's unclear how this will come to light, Rodriguez will be a special agent with the FBI Fugitive Task Force who comes to join the Behavioral Analysis Unit.

Given that the Criminal Minds Season 11 finale ended with 13 fugitives on the run after the prison break, it makes sense BAU would be working hand in hand with the Task Force.

But it should be interesting to see if his position with the BAU will be temporary in nature, seasonal while the arc of the fugitives is played out, or if this guy will really see something special about working in BAU.

“We’re thrilled to introduce a new special agent by adding the very talented Adam Rodriguez to our amazing cast,” said executive producer/showrunner Erica Messer. “We have exciting storylines planned for his character and the entire BAU team as we head into our 12th season.”

Rodriguez joins returning stars Joe Mantegna, Thomas Gibson, Matthew Gray Gubler, A.J. Cook and Kirsten Vangsness.

There has been no official word yet on whether Aisha Tyler will return to Season 12 as Tara Lewis, but there were no goodbyes said at Season 11 ran down the clock.

Even with the casting of Rodriguez and the return of A.J. Cook, Tyler could still be walking in the shoes unfilled when Jennifer Love Hewitt left the series.

I've come to really like Tara, and found it quite tense when she could have been killed in the finale.

That's always a good test of whether a character sticks. Are you on the edge of your seat when they're ready to die, begging for them to survive, or are you pushing them into the pack of wild animals?

For me, it was the latter.

Aisha Tyler has noted that despite her incredibly busy schedule (she appears on The Talk everyday and stars on Archer), she loves working on Criminal Minds and would love to continue.

We still don't know if Adam Rodriguez is going to put down roots on Criminal Minds in light of all the other shows on which he's been visiting of late. 

Since his long-term role on CSI: Miami, Rodriguez has starred and/or guest starred on Reckless, The Night Shift, Empire and Jane the Virgin. We also got to see him in Magic Mike XXL (whoa!), and he has CHiPs upcoming, as well.

New episodes of Criminal Minds return to CBS this fall on Wednesdays at 9/8c.

If you want to catch up, you can always watch Criminal Minds online right here via TV Fanatic!

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.

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