Criminal Minds: Evolution was abruptly canceled. It will return for one more season, its 20th, before going off the air. The news was completely unexpected. The cast were reportedly not given the heads-up and were blindsided by the news. Keep reading to find out what one beloved cast member had to say about it.
Criminal Minds: Evolution To End After Season 20
Criminal Minds is one of the most popular police procedurals. The show, which follows a group of profilers in the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), premiered on CBS in 2005. The original show ended in 2020 with a 10-episode send-off. But fans’ devoted interest in the series led to a Paramount+ revival in 2022. The show was rebranded for streaming as Criminal Minds: Evolution.
But now the show is ending again. Paramount+ revealed at the end of the week that the FBI drama’s upcoming Season 20 will be its last.
“It’s hard to put into words what Criminal Minds has meant to all of us who have been fortunate enough to be part of this extraordinary journey, first on CBS for 15 seasons and then on Paramount+ for five,” showrunner and executive producer Erica Messer said in a statement.
But fans weren’t the only ones blindsided by the news that the show was ending.
Cast Blindsided By Abrupt Cancellation
Joe Mantegna, AJ Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Aisha Tyler, RJ Hatanaka, Adam Rodriguez and Paget Brewster are all reportedly returning for the final season. Kirsten Vangsness, who has played Penelope Garcia since the show’s inception, revealed on social media that she found out about the cancellation at the same time as everyone else.
She took to Instagram to share her reaction. “Social media is sort of like getting to do your own press conference I guess. This has happened. It’s being cancelled but then it says right there it’s ending ‘for now,’” the actress said while pointing to a new report on the cancellation.
“You know the part in ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ where Charlie gets the chocolate and it’s a little bittersweet. He’s like, ‘Thank you so much for the chocolate. Look at how long [20 seasons], that doesn’t happen ever,’” she added.
this is devastating. the criminal minds cast definitely didn’t know this was happening https://t.co/tnGTXMajUQ
— CherryPie (@cherryxprentiss) October 30, 2026
Fans took to the comments to share their reaction to the cancellation.
- “If SWAT was able to be saved as many times as it had, I believe that the same thing can happen with Criminal Minds”
- “Everyone revolt!!!! We the fans got the show back, we can give it five more seasons.”
- “None of us are ready! Need another network to pick it up!”
- “if erica wasn’t running it into the ground and listening to the fans then i truly think it wouldn’t have been cancelled”
Kirsten Vangsness praised the Criminal Minds: Evolution showrunner. “But I love my job and my boss Erica Messer says there’s so many more stories to tell. So if we get to keep telling them somewhere that would be amazing,” the actress said about the possibility of another network or streaming service picking up Criminal Minds.
Share your reaction to the sudden cancellation in the comments.
Jennifer Havener grew up in a small town in Upstate New York. She earned her B.A in Writing & Literature from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. She always knew watching reality TV shows and soap operas, particularly ‘Days of Our Lives’, would come in handy someday. When she’s not writing, she’s playing with her dogs, Lola and Ruger