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Criminal Minds Fans, Get Ready to Reunite with The Most Notorious Character in Season 17 

Criminal Minds Fans, Get Ready to Reunite with The Most Notorious Character in Season 17 
Image credit: Legion-Media, CBS

The exit of the actor from the show was an ugly one, but maybe it is already a thing of the past.

Jason Gideon leads one of the best behavioral units in the world. Together they help other FBI teams identify serial killers using psychological profiles. When all the evidence leads to a dead end, Gideon's team, made up of people with very different personalities, goes in search of almost invisible clues.

So began the first season of Criminal Minds, which will soon return with Season 17. We know who you've all been waiting to see in the new chapter of the BAU team's investigation – almost everyone's favorite, Dr. Spencer Reid, played by Matthew Gray Gubler. But maybe this comeback should be postponed, because apparently Jason Gideon himself will return in the new season.

Mandy Patinkin Just Appeared on Cast List for Criminal Minds Season 17 Episode 1

Details about the first episode of the 17th season of Criminal Minds are now available on IMDb. There you can see not only the description of the episode, but also the cast. And yes, this time the cast includes not only regular actors like Paget Brewster, A.J. Cook and Joe Mantegna, but also Mandy Patinkin, who played the role of Agent Gideon in the first seasons of Criminal Minds.

As loyal fans will recall, Patinkin's departure was ugly: one day he simply did not show up on set because all the violence, of which there is a lot in every episode of Criminal Minds, had a destructive effect on his mental state. As a result, Jason Gideon was killed off-screen.

Mandy Patinkin Was Supposed to Appear in Season 15 Finale, Fans Say

Criminal Minds Fans, Get Ready to Reunite with The Most Notorious Character in Season 17 - image 1

While many viewers doubt that the actor will return to the show he left so abruptly and not very gracefully, one of the Reddit users claims that Patinkin was supposed to appear in the finale of the 15th season of Criminal Minds. But he had a scheduling conflict, and instead a young version of Gideon, played by Ben Savage, appeared on screen.

“Back in season 15, [...] Rossi had a 'conversation' with 'Gideon' in which they used Ben Savage as young Gideon. It was originally supposed to be Mandy Patinkin and Mandy was on board and willing to do it but he was in north Africa shooting Homeland at the time,” Reddit user mccabebabe wrote.

Keep in mind that this is unconfirmed information, but fans still have a chance to see Agent Gideon again. Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman has joined Season 17 and will play Gideon's ex-wife – maybe we'll see Jason through her flashbacks.