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How to watch the original Criminal Minds series and spinoff in release and chronological order

Wheels up in 30, folks, it's time to delve into Criminal Minds' BAU

A promotional image of the cast of Criminal Minds — Image credit: CBS

Guides by Jules Chin Greene, Contributing Writer

Published on Mon Nov 18 2024

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If you've watched a show or movie featuring FBI agents, you might be familiar with their profilers. As seen in shows like Mindhunter and Criminal Minds, the FBI's profilers are specially trained in criminal psychology. They analyze crime scenes and develop behavioral profiles for "unsubs," or "unknown subjects" who have committed a crime. Criminal Minds centers on a group of profilers working in the BAU, or Behavioral Analysis Unit, of the FBI, as they work to unmask some of the most heinous criminals in the country.

Criminal Minds is still going strong under the new name of Criminal Minds: Evolution on Paramount+. Since the spinoff has been renewed for a third season, it's never been a better time to hop over to Quantico and delve into the world of Criminal Minds. If you've never watched the show, let Popverse guide you. We'll get into everything you need to know about the show, plus how to watch it in chronological and release order.

How to watch Criminal Minds and its spinoffs in release order

Watching Criminal Minds in release order is simple because the show doesn't have too many spinoffs. If you're only interested in the core cast of the show, then you can just watch Criminal Minds seasons 1 through 15 before hopping over to Criminal Minds: Evolution. Criminal Minds: Evolution is a continuation of the original series, and there are 2 seasons of the show available to stream now on Paramount+.

However, if you want to get the full picture of the franchise, including its spinoffs, you can follow this watch order below:

Criminal Minds - seasons 1-6 (2005-2011)
Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior - season 1 (2011)
Criminal Minds - seasons 7-11 (2011-2016)
Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders - season 1 (2016)
Criminal Minds - seasons 12-13 (2016-2018)
Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders - season 2 (2017)
Criminal Minds - seasons 14-15 (2018-2020)
Criminal Minds: Evolution - seasons 1-2 (2022-2024)
Criminal Minds: Evolution - season 3 (TBA)

How to watch Criminal Minds in chronological order

Criminal Minds, thankfully, doesn't feature much time skipping at all. Almost every episode of the main series takes place a matter of days or weeks after the previous episode. Here's a full rundown on when everything takes place in the shows.

2005: Criminal Minds season 1 episodes 1-11
2006: Criminal Minds season 1 episodes 12-22, season 2 episodes 1-12
2007: Criminal Minds season 2 episodes 13-23, season 3 episodes 1-11
2008: Criminal Minds season 3 episodes 12-20, season 4 episodes 1-11
2009: Criminal Minds season 4 episodes 12-26, season 5 episodes 1-11
2010: Criminal Minds season 5 episodes 12-23, season 6 episodes 1-11
2011: Criminal Minds season 6 episodes 12-24 and season 7 episodes 1-10, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior season 1 episodes 1-13
2012: Criminal Minds season 7 episodes 11-24, season 8 episodes 1-11
2013: Criminal Minds season 8 episodes 12-24, season 9 episodes 1-11
2014: Criminal Minds season 9 episodes 12-24, season 10 episodes 1-10
2015: Criminal Minds season 10 episodes 11-23, season 11 episodes 1-10
2016: Criminal Minds season 11 episodes 11-22 and season 12 episodes 1-8, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders season 1 episodes 1-13
2017: Criminal Minds season 12 episodes 9-22 and season 13 episodes 1-10, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders season 2 episodes 1-13
2018: Criminal Minds season 13 episodes 11-22, season 14 episodes 1-10
2019: Criminal Minds season 14 episodes 11-15, season 15 episodes 1-8
2020: Criminal Minds season 15 episodes 9-10
2022: Criminal Minds: Evolution season 1 episodes 1-10
2023: Criminal Minds: Evolution season 2 episodes 1-10

Whew, that's a lot to work through, but it will all make sense in practice. There are moments in some episodes where a character may flash back to a previous time in their life, but that is only in relation to the current case that the team is working on.

Will there be a season 18 of Criminal Minds?

A promotional still from Criminal Minds: Evolution — Image credit: Paramount+

Yes, there will be, as Criminal Minds: Evolution has filmed a third season of the show, at this time of writing. The Criminal Minds: Evolution seasons are interchangeably referred to as the 16th, 17th, and 18th seasons of the mainline Criminal Minds show. A release date for Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3 has not been announced yet.

Why did Penelope Garcia quit?

A still of Kirsten Vangsness as Penelope Garcia in Criminal Minds — Image credit: CBS

If you remember at the end of season 15 of Criminal Minds, Garcia reveals that she's gotten a new job at a non-profit. Throughout Criminal Minds, we see Garcia struggle with the stresses of her job, and it's totally understandable why she would want to decamp for much calmer waters. If anyone needs a relaxing vacation where nothing horrible happens, it's Penelope Garcia.

Does Penelope come back to Criminal Minds season 16?

A promotional still of Garcia and Alvarez on Criminal Minds: Evolution — Image credit: Paramount+

While not all the main cast members of the original Criminal Minds show came back for Criminal Minds: Evolution's first season, luckily Kirsten Vangsness's Penelope Garcia came back for the revival. Evolution puts a greater emphasis on her character's personal life, and features a charming sequence showing her self-care routine. Given how stressful her work life has been, it's good to see that Penelope Garcia knows how to unwind.

Is Reid coming back to Criminal Minds season 17?

A promotional still of Matthew Gray Gubler as Spencer Reid in Criminal Minds — Image credit: CBS

Everyone's favorite whiz kid, Spencer Reid, did not appear in Criminal Minds: Evolution's second season. However, there's a chance that Matthew Gray Gubler's character may return for an upcoming season of Criminal Minds: Evolution. Showrunner Erica Messer revealed to TV Insider that they were not able to facilitate the return of Spencer Reid in Evolution's season 2 because of the impact that the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes had on production. Messer did affirm that both Gubler and the folks behind Criminal Minds: Evolution would love to have Reid at the BAU again, so let's all keep our fingers crossed.

Will Garcia and Alvarez get together?

A promotional still of Alvarez and Garcia on Criminal Minds — Image credit: CBS

Garcia and Adam Rodriguez's Luke Alvarez have quite a "will-they-won't-they" thing going on. As seen in season 1, episode 9 of Criminal Minds: Evolution ("Memento Mori"), Garcia and Alvarez went out on a dinner date at a fancy restaurant, but the experience was incredibly awkward. The two of them acknowledged that it wasn't going well, and they agreed that while romance doesn't seem to be in the cards for them at this very moment, they still care a lot about each other. Perhaps in the future the two FBI agents can work something out, we shall see.

What does Matthew Gray Gubler do now?

Earlier this fall, Deadline announced that Matthew Gray Gubler would star in an upcoming CBS procedural tentatively titled Einstein. It is based on a German TV series and is described as a "drama with comedic undertones." Einstein centers on the great-grandson of Albert Einstein, who lives as a tenured professor at Princeton University until his brushes with the law lead to him helping a local cop solve crimes. Gubler is also producing the show, so we would imagine that he's going to be pretty busy with that. It's still not known if Gubler's character, Spencer Reid, will return to Criminal Minds: Evolution.

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Jules Chin Greene: Jules Chin Greene is a journalist and Jack Kirby enthusiast. He has written about comics, video games, movies, and television for sites such as Nerdist, AIPT, Multiverse of Color, and Screen Rant.