The truth about Gideon’s exit!
By fred | August 20, 2007
The truth is that, while this episode will never air, next season premiere will made extensive use of scenes from that episode. It will be re-edited to be shown as flashbacks, intercut with the scenes Patinkin shot in order to explain Gideon’s departure.
On those scenes, Gideon is seen writing a “cryptic note” to someone. As told before, this story will expand over two episodes, and during the second one we will find out whom the letter was intended for, leading to how Gideon will leave the show.
Apparently something was on Gideon’s mind, and he decided to act on it without the help of his co-workers, leaving them in the dark. As A.J. Cook pointed out, “[Writers] have left us all in the dark here [on Gideon's fate]. All I know is we’re looking for him…
We’re trying to figure out where he is and hunt the man down. What’s so funny is, it’s kind of art imitating life. In our read-through, we had lines in there that seemed to be pulled out of our lives — ‘Has anyone seen Gideon — or Mandy?’”
Cook said she’d be “personally shocked” if they were to kill off Gideon. Whether it is an indication or a guess from the actress is unclear, but she mentioned that “last season his girlfriend was killed and he was on the run trying to find the killer, so luckily [writers] had that, to set up his departure.”
Sounds like writers wrote an nice exit for Gideon that didn’t involved him being fired, maybe quitting, and going on what sound like a (personal) vendetta. Obviously he won’t come back from it, but there are indications that he might not die, or even be found, as hinted on a recent interview where Bernero talked about Patinkin’s successor and how he would be introduced on the show.
Bernero told that Mantegna’s character, “based on an amalgam of the original profilers“, will be introduced during episode five. He’s a retired profiler who left the job about 10 years ago, and will volunteers to come back to work in Gideon’s absence. Of course people will wonder why, and I think it means writers might not exclude the idea of having Patinkin to guest (much) later on.
In some respects, he’ll be a fish out of water : during his time, there was no women working for the BAU, and the work was done by a profiler, not a whole team. “He’s come back and he’ll have to learn to play by the new rules… and it’s a struggle for him“, Bernero told.
In the end, Bernero told that the unexpected exit of Patinkin turned out to be “invigorating“. To witness this and find out more about the “switch” between Patinkin and Mantegna, be sure to catch Criminal Minds, returning on CBS Wednesday, September 26 at 9pm.
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Shows: Criminal Minds
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