Do We Really Need Another Criminal Minds?

Last night CBS aired “The Fight” on Criminal Minds, which had in it the seeds for a spin off of the original show starring Forest Whitaker.

Criminal Minds, with its dark, intense psychological story lines, is undoubtedly my favorite TV series on the air. But despite Whitaker’s talents, I’m not sure we really need another version of the same thing.

Forest Whitaker and Thomas Gibson in "The Fight"

One of the best aspects of the show is that it portrays the intense relationships between members of a team forced to deal with some of the darkest parts of human nature on a daily basis. That’s also one of the things I like most about NCIS, which had a spin off show of its own this past year in the form of NCIS: Los Angeles.

If the NCIS spin off is in any way telling, then I don’t think a Criminal Minds clone would get much traction, at least not with me.

The cast of NCIS works so well together on the original show, making it funny, serious, action-filled and intimate in a way that can’t be easily replicated. It certainly hasn’t been in the new show as far as I’m concerned.

The same could be said of Criminal Minds. The relationships between Hotch, Rossi and the team can’t be easily replicated by just tossing another cast into the same formula.

I’ve heard the Criminal Minds spin off would be darker, and would take on more intense psychological stories — but I’m not sure that’s possible. And if a new show takes writers away from the old show, giving them less time to flesh out all the great story lines Criminal Minds has had over the past few years, then I’m certainly against it.

That’s not to say Whitaker wouldn’t be good in a new series, or even another crime series. But I just don’t want to see anything mess up the real Criminal Minds — even if the new show would include a cute Brit in it in the form of Matt Ryan.

Forest Whitaker and Matt Ryan (the actor not the football player)

The casts of NCIS and Criminal Minds are like slicked up machines working in top condition. Why mass produce them and kill the quality?

Anyway, that’s my two cents worth.
-SueVo

Update: By the way, if anybody is looking for a great Criminal Minds site, check out the Criminal Minds Fanatic Blog. Not sure who runs it, but there’s some wonderful information on there.