Criminal Minds Plot Holes That Still Bug Fans
Criminal Minds is a truly seminal show, but it still has its flaws.
Jeff Davis' procedural hit premiered in 2005 and ran for 15 seasons through 2020. The show was then relaunched for a revival, with the following season marking its 17th.
Despite the accolades the show receives, there are still some things that fans are not that happy about. Namely, some glaring plot holes.
Some of them seem to be minor blink-and-you-miss-it flaws, some appear to be a product of a lazy writing. Some, on the other hand, leave room for a larger discussion.
"The two separate flashbacks of Garcia and Morgan meeting – one in which Morgan seemingly meets her as the new tech girl, incorrectly calling her "Gomez" and then reverting to "babygirl" (thus giving us the origin story of the nickname).
The other shows Morgan being in Garcia's recruitment interview, where he's apparently meeting her for the first time as is Hotch," Redditor yates9987 gives an example.
When fans look back at the way characters' timelines, they notice that many things just don't add up.
"I swore it was mentioned that Morgan went to law school, but I dont think the timeline fits because it was also mentioned he was former Chicago PD, which means he would have joined them at age 25 at the earliest.
So when did he join the FBI and then the BAU?" Redditor pendletonskyforce asks, with their question backed by more fans.
The whole issue of JJ's family details is also a thing that comes to fans' mind when trying to peace things together, as many believe JJ's family history to be "such a mess."
On a larger scale, when the whole profilers' backstory comes into question, it "doesn't really work", fans note.
Not everyone is ready to blast their favorite show, rising to its defense.
"I would like to add that some of my initial "plot holes" could easily be considered continuity errors that were poorly explained or thought out, I completely understand how these plot points could be explained a different way!" Redditor yates9987 admits.
Sure, fans could cut it some slack with the show being on air for almost two decades. But when the very theme of Criminal Minds implies precision and attention to details, continuity errors become even more noticeable.
To do Criminal Minds justice, it's not the only long-running procedural that has had the similar problem, though.
The whole why-did-they-not-mention-Zack-in-6-years thing in Bones comes to mind, for instance, but that's something to discuss another time.