TV

Will Criminal Minds' Season 17 Be The Last One?

Will Criminal Minds' Season 17 Be The Last One?
Image credit: Paramount+

Criminal Minds was up and running for fifteen seasons since 2005; then it got renewed in 2022 under the name of Criminal Minds: Evolution.

The world has only seen one new season so far, but some of the fans are already concerned that the show might end soon. Why is that?

There are quite a few discussions on this subject, and people voice their concerns about the future of the series in a similar fashion.

They are worried that the show is not as popular as it used to be, and the main actors are getting older and might want to move on from the series after all these years, etc.

Some even say that even though they would personally like for the series to keep going, Criminal Minds will inevitably start squeezing the sponge dry.

But others disagree — and explain why there's no need to fear for the show's future.

Popularity

Even though it may appear that Criminal Minds fails to attract people anymore (if you judge by YouTube clips, I guess?..), in reality, it's quite the opposite.

The entire reason for Criminal Minds: Evolution's existence was that the older seasons remained a high view count on streaming platforms even after the show's end.

Will Criminal Minds' Season 17 Be The Last One? - image 1

Ratings

Moving on from the original Criminal Minds, there's the matter of the Evolution ratings and view count. And it's going very well, too: season 16 received overwhelming support from the fans and great ratings.

Some even make a bold claim that the show can have five more seasons immediately approved if they wanted, considering the new season's success.

Cast

Even though some of the original actors left, many core members of the cast still stick to the series and don't plan to leave abruptly. And let's be honest: the only way to really kill the show character-wise is by killing either Garcia or Spencer…

Or by making either of them turn to the dark side. If none of this happens, Criminal Minds will keep going strong.