The thirteenth season of Criminal Minds was ordered on April 7, 2017, by CBS with an order of 22 episodes. The season premiered on September 27, 2017 in a new time slot at 10:00PM on Wednesday when it had previously been at 9:00PM on Wednesday since its inception. The season concluded on April 18, 2018.
Cast
The entire main cast from the previous season returned for the season, except Damon Gupton, who was written out of the show. His character was killed off in the season premiere off-screen. Following the cancellation of , it was announced that Daniel Henney would join the cast this season as a series regular.
Criminal Minds was renewed for a thirteenth season with an episode order of 22 episodes on April 7, 2017. The entire main cast from the previous season returned for the season, except Damon Gupton, who was fired from the show. Matthew Gray Gubler directed the seventeenth episode of the season and it was said to be "the spookiest episode of Season 13" and involved clowns. On August 10, 2017, it was revealed that Aisha Tyler will make her television directing debut and direct the sixth episode of the season. On August 12, 2017 it was revealed that Erica Messer and Kirsten Vangsness will be co-writing the eleventh episode of the season, which will be the fourth episode they have co-written together. On October 31, 2017, it was announced that Adam Rodriguez will make his Criminal Minds directing debut and direct the sixteenth episode of the season.
Casting
On June 11, 2017, it was announced that Damon Gupton had been let go from the show after one season. CBS said his departure was "part of a creative change on the show". On June 20, 2017, CBS announced that Daniel Henney, who was a series regular on as Matt Simmons, would join the main show as a series regular for the thirteenth season. On October 12, 2017, it was announced that Shemar Moore would reprise his role as Derek Morgan in the fifth episode of the season. His character returned to help Penelope Garcia get through a tough time.
