Criminal Minds closed its thirteenth season with a cliffhanger that left two characters' fates in question. The episode ended with Reid and Garcia held at gunpoint by members of a serial killer cult. As if that wasn't bad enough for fans dying to know what would happen next, the show hadn't even been renewed just yet. Well, Criminal Minds did finally score a renewal order, and fans could look forward to a Season 14 premiere that also happened to be the series' 300th episode. The show has big things planned for the 300-episode milestone, as showrunner Erica Messer recently revealed.
According to showrunner Erica Messer, the 300th episode kicks off with the team other than Reid and Garcia trying to determine what happened to the duo and what happened with VICAP Agent Meadows, who seemed like an ally for much of the Season 13 finale. The crisis will reach a climax, as to be expected, but the impact won't end when the final credits roll. Garcia in particular will be affected by what happens in the 300th episode. As if she didn't have enough of an emotional ride in Season 13! In her chat with TVLine, Messer revealed that "what she does to survive" is something they "never truly played before."
Garcia has spent far less time in the line of fire than most of the BAU, so perhaps what she does to survive will take her to some heretofore unexplored violent places. Could Garcia need to cross personal lines to escape? She'll undoubtedly want to help Reid and assist the BAU in catching the bad guys as well. No wonder she'll deal with the effects of what she goes through in episodes beyond the 300th in Season 14, which may get more episodes than we expected.
Maybe Shemar Moore could drop by as Derek Morgan one more time to give her some support and perhaps a shoulder to cry on. Fans undoubtedly wouldn't mind seeing Moore back with the BAU, even if only briefly. He wouldn't even need to switch networks to drop by Criminal Minds from his own show. Who do I have to talk to for S.W.A.T. to lend Moore for an episode of Criminal Minds?
The 300th episode -- appropriately titled "300" -- will see the rest of the team following clues in their own history to figure out why Reid and Garcia were targeted by Benjamin Merva and his cult. The BAU only has a certain amount of time to find and save them, as a "Believers" prophecy is set to be fulfilled. While we probably don't have to worry than Criminal Minds is going to kill any major characters off, all signs point toward an intense 300th episode that could be rewarding to longtime fans.
You can see for yourself when the 300th episode of Criminal Minds airs Wednesday, October 3 at 10 p.m. ET on CBS. For more important fall TV dates, be sure to take a look at our 2018 fall premiere schedule.
