The season premier of Criminal Minds 2011

Last night was the premier for Season 7 of my favorite show, Criminal Minds.  Last year CBS wrote out the character of "JJ" Jareau (A.J. Cook) at the beginning of the season, and then with only around 5 episodes left, they wrote out the character of Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster). That left only 1 female character, computer guru Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness).  Don't misunderstand me, Garcia is my idol, since I'm a fashionable computer geek.  And I love every single male character, most especially Hotch (Thomas Gibson) and Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler).  But the show just wasn't the same without the female agents.  They make me believe that women have the opportunity to have jobs like FBI profilers.  (In reality, the percentage of women in the real-world BAU is pretty small.)  The show Criminal Minds shows the world that women can be beautiful and kick-ass smart at the same time.
Thank God the fans of the show are passionately loyal, and very vocal.  When they first found out the women were not having their full year contracts renewed, they started a petition that was signed by over 40,000 fans.  And all throughout last season, fans commented every week on CBS's Facebook page "We want JJ back!", etc.  And once Emily Prentiss was written off, many, including myself, threatened to not watch anymore if she wasn't brought back this season.
Lastly, Thomas Gibson's (Agent Hotchner) contract was up for renewal, and as the show's writers began this season, they didn't know whether to include Hotch or not.  No contract was signed yet.  Weary fans complained again.  This time, I didn't threaten not to watch the show anymore. I said  I would not watch it if they did not give him a good contract that he would sign.  Seriously - they paid Charlie Sheen over 2 million.  For what??  Certainly they could pay loyal, sane, good actors what they were worth.
Thank God all of this came together again & all of the Season 3 cast is back now.  The first episode was great, and I'm sure the rest of the year will be the usual top-notch psychological suspense show that it has been.   There are so many stupid, mindless tv shows, at least we can have a few that challenge our minds and hearts.
Thank you, CBS.
photo from CBS studios

photo from Thomas Gibson

photo from Kirsten Vangsness, AJ Cook, and Paget Brewster

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