Criminal Minds will be coming to an end with its fifteenth season

Most every television series comes to an end at some point and it seems that that time has come for Criminal Minds, CBS' long-running crime drama which focuses on the members of the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) of the FBI. Currently nearing the end of its 14th season, CBS has announced that Criminal Minds will conclude with its upcoming 15th season which is to consist of 10 episodes.

As the series was on the verge of cancellation last year before finally getting picked up at the last-minute, executive producer/showrunner Erica Messer reached out to CBS to determine whether or not she could end season 14 with a cliffhanger. It was decided then that Criminal Minds would be coming to an end, but with enough time to conclude the series properly. "We wanted to make sure Erica had the time and ability to write a season (14) finale that honors the characters and the fans," said Amy Reisenbach, CBS’ EVP current programs. "We discussed wanting to keep the show in continuous production so 10 felt like the right number for us to roll straight into and give Erica enough episodes to end the series the way she wanted to." The final season will be more serialized than usual and Messer says that much of it will revolve around a "very worthy adversary for the team" who will be introduced before the end of the current season. Messer said that there's also hope that several fan favourite characters could return before the end.

I am very hopeful that we can honor all of those characters who have been beloved and with this team, with the audience for years, but I don’t know what that’s going to look like; I don’t know the logistics of anything or the story. That won’t be shooting until the spring, so I have some time to think about it, but the hope is to be able to honor all of that history, all of those heroes who have come and gone.

Although the members of BAU will likely be placed in jeopardy during this final stretch, Messer indicated that she doesn't have any plans to kill anyone off. "These people are family and friends to us at this point. I know it’s a drama, but I’m less likely to injure or write someone off in a way that says they’re not breathing anymore. I know a lot of shows, when they find out it’s going to be over, then characters are killed off or something like that," Messer said. "That’s not my instinct, mainly because I’ve been here for so long with all of these voices, I just don’t want that to be how it ends for them. So the jet won’t crash, I can tell you that." Despite hinting that its stars are seemingly safe from death, Messer nonetheless believes that the Criminal Minds finale will be very emotional. "My gut is tearjerker probably because that’s how I’ll be feeling," Messer added. "I think in honoring the series and saying goodbye, it’s probably going to feel like a little bit of a eulogy. So my guess is tearjerker more than anything else, that’s how I’d describe it."

Are you still watching Criminal Minds? Are you sad to see that the series will be coming to an end?