‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ Stars A.J. Cook, Paget Brewster and More React to Series Cancellation: ‘Rest in Peace’

Following the news that “Criminal Minds: Evolution” has been canceled at Paramount+, stars A.J. Cook, Paget Brewster, Kirsten Vangsness and more are looking back on the crime drama’s 20 Season run.

The announcement seems to have come at the perfect time to mourn a TV show, as Cook chose to mark the end of this installment of “Criminal Minds” with a photo of her dressed up for Halloween, wearing a tombstone for Jennifer Jareau, the special agent who she’s played since “Criminal Minds” debuted in 2005. (Jareau, also known as JJ, was the BAU’s media/police liaison before becoming a profiler in later seasons.) She captioned the snap, “Rest in peace JJ (for now) #criminalminds #halloween #stillprocessing.”

Brewster, who played FBI supervisory special agent Emily Prentiss since “Criminal Minds” Season 2, shared a black-and-white photo with the text “Free Agent.” RJ Hatanaka also kept his tribute short and sweet, sharing a photo of the cast with the caption, “Just the finest group of people.” Hatanaka, who played FBI agent Tyler Green, joined the show in Season 16.

“Social media is sort of like getting to do your own press conference I guess. This has happened. It’s being canceled, but then it says right there it’s ending ‘for now,’” said Vangsness in a video shared on Instagram. The actress, who played Penelope Garcia, a technical analyst beloved in part for her relationship with agent Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore) during the show’s original run, has portrayed the character since Season 1.

She continued: “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, that doesn’t happen ever,’” she continued, referencing the show’s 20 Season run. “But I love my job, and my boss Erica Messer says there are so many more stories to tell. So if we get to keep telling them somewhere, that would be amazing. I know all of us feel the same way.”

In the video caption, she wrote that her “heart fireworks in appreciation for the time at this job @criminalminds and my co-horts at fake murder camp @pagetpagetgram @ajcook @aishatyler @rjhatanaka @adamrodriguez @joemantegna.”

News first broke that the long-running procedural would end with its 20th season on Friday. “Evolution,” which picks up after the events of the original “Criminal Minds,” was originally revived for Season 16 back in 2022, and continued the show after it was renewed for a fifteenth and final season at CBS in Jan. 2019. Season 19 aired between May and July earlier this year. Season 20 will air in 2027.

“Evolution” also stars Joe Mantegna, Aisha Tyler and Adam Rodriguez.