‘Criminal Minds’ Producer Explains Matthew Gray Gubler’s Absence

While Criminal Minds has been back for two seasons in the rebooted Criminal Minds: Evolution, one character who finished out the regular series has been mysteriously missing. Several characters left the series early, but Matthew Gray Gubler was part of the cast til the end. With that said, he wasn’t on the team when the show returned.

The characters have hinted at him, but no one has said where he is or why he isn’t there. The showrunner for the rebooted series, Erica Messer, has at least explained where he is in real life.

Why Isn’t Matthew Gray Gubler On Criminal Minds: Evolution?

It seemed strange when Matthew Gray Gubler wasn’t part of the cast when Criminal Minds: Evolution premiered. Everyone else who was a major cast member of the previous show returned, but Spencer Reid was nowhere to be found, and the only explanation was that he was assigned to a different case in Season 1.

Some fans thought that the show might bring back Spencer as an unsub, since he always feared he might lose control of his mind and follow in his mother’s footsteps. However, that hasn’t happened yet, and it probably won’t happen at all. When talking about Spencer missing from the show, Erica Messer said that it is all due to scheduling differences.

“We love [Matthew] and he’s always going to be a part of the family. We would love for an opportunity to arise to get him back,” Erica said. “We have tried — and he has tried.” She did say that “just hasn’t worked out timing wise.”

However, she also said that she won’t speak about season 3 since that is still in the works, and they are not close to filming that season yet (it was only just renewed in June 2024). “It’s not for lack of trying,” Erica said. “I think the characters also are going to acknowledge it.”

This Matches What Matthew Gray Gubler Said

This also matches up with comments Matthew Gray Gubler said in the past. There have been rumors that he refused to come back to Criminal Minds unless they also brought back Thomas Gibson, who played Hotchner. However, the show fired Gibson for alleged abusive on-set treatment of others.

Those are rumors and do not match up with what Gubler himself has said. When he appeared on The Six O’Clock Show, he said he wants to be on the new show. “They did a newer spin-off of the show, but it was filming during a time when I was shooting something else,” he said. “But I can’t wait — hopefully it will soon work out.”

Do you want to see Matthew Gray Gubler back on Criminal Minds: Evolution? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.