In the past few years, Criminal Minds has somewhat remarkably revamped its narrative strategies to incorporate serialized stories, and did so while simultaneously dealing with high-profile casting changes. As the show heads into Season 14, CBS has remained just as quiet as it did before the renewal itself, when fans were worried the crime drama was on its last legs. Thankfully, executive producer Harry Bring seems to have revealed the Criminal Minds Season 14 premiere date, as well as another interesting tidbit that we'll get to below. Right now, though, mark your calendars.
Now, we're going to take Harry Bring's words with a grain of salt, since he's the only one out there sharing that date. Though other networks have gone public with their detailed fall primetime schedules, CBS hasn't unveiled any of its upcoming lineup beyond the basic nightly outline. There's no reason to be suspicious of anything weird or wacky happening, but it is somewhat noteworthy that the network has be cagey at all about Criminal Minds, which has been one of its flagship dramas for over a decade. Still, an executive producer's word is better than no word at all, so we're optimistic that Criminal Minds fans will be following up on that Season 13 cliffhanger events when September 26 rolls around.
The second big detail that Harry Bring may or may not have confirmed involves the Season 14 episode count, which has also been a subject of concern among the fanbase. Here's how Bring put it when asked on Twitter if he knew how many episodes were coming.
15 ordered with more possible if lots of things fall into place. Uncertain of that.
Again, this is unconfirmed, so it's currently just Harry Bring's word against a wall of silence. But if he's right, then that creates an interesting situation for Criminal Minds. Never have any of the previous seasons' episode counts dipped below 20, which happened only once in Season 3; Season 4 had the most installments of them all, with 26. With its roots in procedural storytelling, this is a show that tends to utilize the traditional long-form season, and CBS is usually right on board. But if Season 14 only gets 15 episodes, then fans might have even more of a reason to think that this will be the show's final year.
Of course, Harry Bring does mention that the episode count could get additional entries if "lots of things fall into place," though he makes no references to what those things might be. Perhaps it's a scheduling issue that will affect the midseason slots. Perhaps it's a scheduling issue with one or more of the main stars. It could be a budget problem, too, or any number of other reasons. Let's just hope it all gets figured out accordingly.
For now, we know that Criminal Minds Season 14 will debut on CBS at some point this fall, and it'll probably be on Wednesday, September 26, at 10:00 p.m. ET. Check out what stars Joe Mantegna and Kirsten Vangsness told us they loved about Season 13, and then head to our summer premiere schedule to see what's coming soon.
