Criminal Minds was renewed for a twelfth season with an episode order of 22 episodes on May 6, 2016. The season began on September 28, 2016. The entire main cast returned for the season, except Shemar Moore, who left the show during the eleventh season.
Casting
After Shemar Moore's departure in the previous season, former star Adam Rodriguez was cast to fill his void in the twelfth season. He will play Luke Alvez, a new recruit to the BAU from the FBI's Fugitive Task Force, tasked with helping to capture an escaped killer from last season. On July 21, Kirsten Vangsness confirmed that Paget Brewster would reprise her role as SSA Emily Prentiss for multiple episodes. On August 10, 2016, Aisha Tyler, who joined the show in the previous season as Dr. Tara Lewis, had been promoted to a series regular. reprised his role as Derek Morgan in the season finale. On August 30, 2016, Brewster was promoted to series regular, following Thomas Gibson's firing. Jane Lynch reprised her role as Dr. Diana Reid, Spencer Reid's schizophrenic mother after eight years. She appeared in the second half of the season in a multi-episode arc. To fill the void after Gibson's firing, Damon Gupton was cast in the series regular role of Special Agent Stephen Walker, a profiler from the Behaviorial Analysis Program in the FBI. He will make his first appearance in the eighth episode. Shemar Moore reprised his role as Derek Morgan in the season finale as his character tried to help catch Mr. Scratch after bringing the BAU a lead in the case against him. During April 2017, it was revealed that Gia Mantegna would reprise her role as Lindsay Vaughn in the final 3 episodes of the season. It was also revealed that Beth Riesgraf would reprise her role as Maeve Donovan in the season finale.
Gibson's suspension and exit
On August 11, 2016, Deadline reported that Thomas Gibson had been suspended and therefore written out from two episodes due to an on-set altercation with one of the producers. He was also cut from directing one of the episodes. The following day, Gibson was fired following the on-set altercation. A joint statement from ABC Studios and CBS Television Studios read, "Thomas Gibson has been dismissed from Criminal Minds." Gibson's character's exit was explained in the sixth episode of the season, "Elliot's Pond", when it was revealed that his character retired and went into witness protection because of Mr. Scratch stalking his son.
Episodes
Ratings
Live + SD ratings
Live + 7 Day (DVR) ratings
Live +7 ratings were not available, so Live +3 ratings have been used instead.
