“Criminal Minds: Evolution” is set to end after a 20-season run, and the news appears to have caught several cast members off guard.
The long-running crime drama premiered on CBS in 2005 before moving to Paramount+ in 2022. The streaming service announced Friday that its final episodes will be released in 2027.
Joe Mantegna, AJ Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Aisha Tyler, RJ Hatanaka, Adam Rodriguez and Paget Brewster are all expected to return for the concluding season.
Vangsness, who has portrayed beloved technical analyst Penelope Garcia throughout the series’ 20-season history, addressed the announcement online just hours after it became public.
“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,’” she said in an Instagram video, with the cancellation report displayed behind her.
Vangsness compared her reaction to the moment in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” when Charlie receives the chocolate but realizes the experience is bittersweet. “Thank you so much for the chocolate. Look at how long [20 seasons], that doesn’t happen ever,” she said.
In replies to fans on Instagram, Vangsness said she found out about the decision only 90 minutes before it was announced publicly.
Her video also made clear that she is not yet prepared to say goodbye to the series.
“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. I know all of us feel the same way.”
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“Everything’s OK. Aren’t we all in a death and rebirth cycle? Yes, so maybe this goes somewhere else? What an adventure,” she added.
Hatanaka, who plays FBI agent Tyler Green, posted a group photo of the cast on Instagram with the caption, “Just the finest group of people,” followed by a heart emoji.
Tyler, who portrays Dr. Tara Lewis, reshared Hatanaka’s photo and wrote, “Family for life.” She later posted an article listing the most-streamed titles of 2026, placing “Criminal Minds” at No. 11 with 13.15 billion minutes viewed.
Cook, who has played Jennifer “JJ” Jareau since the show’s first season, also shared Hatanaka’s post. “These people own my heart forever and always,” she wrote, adding heart and broken-heart emojis.
“Criminal Minds” premiered on CBS in September 2005. The series follows FBI profilers in the Behavioral Analysis Unit as they investigate criminals by studying their psychology.
The original series concluded in early 2020, but the franchise returned to Paramount+ in November 2022 under the title “Criminal Minds: Evolution.”
The franchise also produced two short-lived spinoffs: “Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior,” which starred Forest Whitaker in 2011, and “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders,” led by Gary Sinise from 2016 to 2017.
The announcement follows Brewster’s clash earlier this year with ScreenRant critic Shealynn Scott over a negative review of the series. Brewster accused the review of potentially threatening 350 people’s jobs and told Scott to “do something better than what you do now.”