Prentiss returns to Criminal Minds this season.

Bringing back the character entails more than Paget Brewster simply showing up on set, though. After her mysterious, open-ended departure this spring, there's a lot of explaining Prentiss (and the CBS show's writers) have to do this fall.

The first order of business this season, according to the veteran actress, is “resurrecting” Emily, whose death was a ruse to throw off the infamous Ian Doyle.

The Season 7 premiere, set for September 21, "is about how I have to come back,” Brewster told TV Line, and needless to say, “some people are surprised.”

J.J. and Hotch were in on it, but others, such as Reid and Garcia, were very much not. Expect Matthew Gray Gubler's character to take the deception hard.

A.J. Cook, who is also returning to Criminal Minds full time this season after a tumultuous campaign that saw her fired, adds that “Relationships will unravel!”

At least there's one person Emily doesn't have to worry about: “Some of the gang are peeved,” says Kirsten Vangsness, “but I’m just like, ‘Whee!’ Garcia is happy.”

Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.