Despite having ended its initial broadcast run in early 2020, and also despite the character Derek Morgan making his own exit during Season 11 back in 2016, Criminal Minds and Shemar Moore will likely always go hand in hand within the brains of those that make up the CBS drama’s massive fanbase. And by extension, it’s almost impossible to think about Morgan without immediately thinking about him being on the phone with Penelope Garcia, beaming his signature smile and calling her “baby girl.” It became such a ubiquitous part of their relationship, and the show itself, that one might think it was an intentional addition from the get-go. But that’s not exactly the case.
The origins of Criminal Minds’ use of the “baby girl” nickname are not tethered to the writers room, and they go back to even before Shemar Moore became a crime drama fixture. Let’s put our BAU caps on and dig into how the loving moniker came to be.
When Did Morgan Start Calling Garcia Baby Girl?
When Criminal Minds kicked off in 2005, Shemar Moore was hired on as a series regular, while Kirsten Vangsness was signed as a recurring actress, so there wasn’t quite as much back and forth between Derek and Garcia during the earliest episodes. But she was promoted to regular status in Season 2, and the sparks flew throughout those next ten seasons, even though the writers (arguably) wisely kept their relationship entirely in the flirty-but-platonic stage.
Within the series itself, as far as I can tell, the first time that Morgan uses the oft-heard epithet occurs in Season 2, Episode 10, titled “Lessons Learned.” That exchange takes place around the middle of the ep, following an explosion that temporarily has Garcia and A.J. Cook’s J.J. worried that Derek was caught in the blast. When the pigtailed analyst hit up his phone, she was comforted beyond belief to hear his voice, and after revealing that another agent did die, he followed that up by suavely addressing her worries with the following exchange:
- Morgan: Don’t worry. Don’t think you’re gonna get rid of me that easy.
- Garcia: Do you need anything?
- Morgan: I know who to call if I do. Thanks, baby girl.
Criminal Minds actually did deliver a legitimate origin story for the nickname, which played out in Season 3, Episode 19, titled "Tabula Rasa." In a flashback to a point years earlier canonically, when Shemar Moore was almost too babyfaced for his own good, he was trying to get Garcia's attention in all the wrong ways, thanks to Reid offering up some bum info.
- Morgan: Hey, what’s that new tech girl’s name?
- Reid: Uh, Gomez, I think.
- Morgan: Excuse me, Gomez. [pause with no answer] Hey, baby girl.
And the rest, as they say, was history. Although a history in which Morgan and Garcia never made good on their continuous flirting.
Why Shemar Moore Calls Women Baby Girl
While the majority of male characters on TV probably couldn't pull off calling a female character "baby girl" with anywhere near the same amount of success without a hint of skeeziness, Shemar Moore has never failed to sell it in a way that warms fans' hearts (and more). And part of the comfort he exudes comes from having used those kinds of endearment nicknames for his entire life, to the point where it became second nature.
As he explains it in past interview with Tallboy, the S.W.A.T. star even points out that he started using that very phrase during his Young and the Restless days.
I call all the ladies ‘baby girl.’ I’ve been saying baby girl since I was young as all get out. I used to say baby girl, sweet thing. I used to say sugar tits. You can’t say that on television. [Laughs.] I’m crazy. I used to say all kinda things. I used to say baby girl on Young and the Restless. But I said a ‘baby girl’ on Criminal Minds, and it stuck.
Speaking of Young and the Restless, Moore actually returned to that show more recently than he did the world of Criminal Minds, having reprised the role of Malcolm Winters earlier this year. I don't recall if he called anyone "baby girl" during that ep, but he definitely didn't say "sugar tits" at any point.
How The Viral Nickname Happened To Make It Onto The Show
Now that we know when it happened, and why Shemar Moore is fond of saying "baby girl" in the first place, it's time to lay out how it actually showed up on our TVs in the first place. As the actor has explained in the past, Morgan wasn't scripted to refer to anyone by that name, but brought that energy into the scene himself. Speaking with Young Hollywood during an interview, he cited the first use happened in Season 1, though without further specifics. Here's what he had to say when asked to explain what the "baby girls" were:
If you don’t know about the baby girls, you’re sleeping, you’re missing out. You’re late to the party. But ‘baby girl’ is something I’ve said my whole life. I call ‘em ‘Shemar-isms.’ I’ve said little pet names my whole life, just goofing off. I just happened to be goofing around in a scene early in Season 1. There was a phone call between me and Penelope, and I said something like, ‘Garcia, I need some information on the white guy in a minivan, age 25 to 35.’ That was what was scripted. I was just in a goofy mood, and said, ‘Look here, baby girl, I need you to work your magic…’ . . . Something like that, and I mean, I was just talking mess. And the next thing you know, it was on television, and then the letters and the blogging started, and then it just kind of evolved.
Considering how many millions of people were watching Criminal Minds during its initial run, it's no surprise that fans immediately turned "baby girl" into a mini-phenomenon both online and off. To the point where it was front and center of past charitable efforts that Moore put together over the years.
But just because Shemar Moore knew how to effortlessly turn the charm on with unexpected ad-libbing, that doesn't mean the crime drama's writing staff was able to replicate the vibe themselves in later episodes. Reflecting on how the creative team did indeed attempt to expand and evolve his slice of genius, Moore continued:
They did it all wrong. They did it all in the wrong places. They did it too many times. They try, they try. Then I think a couple episodes ago, they wrote ‘Yo, baby G.’ I was like, ‘We’re skating by with baby girl. Now you want me to go Yo Baby G? I can’t pull that off, no way.’ And so no, that didn’t fly, and I just switched it back. But I’ll only say it one to two times an episode. I won’t say it more, because I don’t want to overkill it.
The final tally for uses of "baby girl" is somewhere south of 100, but fans would probably guess that it came up in all 252 episodes he starred in, so ingrained as it is in our brains. Will we ever get to hear him call Garcia by that name again in the franchise's future?
It all depends on whether or not Shemar Moore would be able to find time in his schedule to film an appearance for Criminal Minds: Evolution, which is available to stream with a Paramount+ subscription. A second season is coming at some point, with an update on the way for Garcia's love life, and I think we'd all love to know how Morgan would feel about all that.
