With AJ Cook's Absence, Has CBS's "Criminal Minds" Lost Its Way?

The CBS series "Criminal Minds" (Wednesdays, 8 pm Eastern) may have "jumped the shark" when they released actress A.J. Cook. It raised an outcry among both fans and cast members, according to the fan website, http://www.criminalminds.net . The network and producers may have done it to save money, but fans feel that they reduced the female presence on the series, and that Ms. Cook's character, "J.J." Jarreau, was both the face and the heart of the BAU team, a team that works the darkest crimes imaginable - and unimaginable.

In the second episode of this year's Season 6, called simply "JJ," JJ does her usual work assisting the team and makes a discovery that leads to the rescue of a kidnaped girl. During the episode she receives offers of a job from the DOD, and by the end of the episode, FBI Director Strauss tells her that she must take the DOD job. She barely has time to say good-bye, and the team is left with an office filled with her things, but empty of her presence.

By episode 4 ("Comprimising [sic] Positions"), the team is trying to adjust to JJ's absence, and Penelope Garcia tries to take on JJ's former responsibilities in addition to her always amazing computer work. Although she finds that being in the field seems too much, she manages to identify the UnSub, leading to a bar confrontation with Emily Prentiss as bait. Garcia is good, but the darkness of the crimes, in addition to the team's job of trying to get inside the head of a serial killer, is a little too much for her.

On episode 7 ("Reflection of Desire"), televised on Nov. 10, viewers learn that Garcia has a secret: she's an actress in a local community theater. In the current play, she's playing the role of a victim of a serial rapist/murderer, the only one to survive, and her character is out for revenge. Meanwhile, Washington D.C. police find the body of a young woman in an alley. She is dressed and made up like a 1950s starlet, and the BAU is called in because the killer cut off the victim's lips, an act that they believe is a signature, leading to the conclusion that the killer either already is, or is about to become, a serial killer.

When another woman is kidnaped, it becomes clear that this killer has a preferred type of victim, and Hotch asks Garcia to step up and, using what she's learned in the theater, become that type and hold a press conference, focusing entirely on the missing girl, and avoiding all questions about the killer. From other evidence they discover the area where he lives, and police block it off. While Garcia talks to the press, other members of the team drive slowly through the area, searching for the killer. They find him, free the kidnaped woman, and chase the man back to his home. You can see the entire recap here. If you watched the show, you probably saw the creepy details of the ending coming, thanks to movies like "Psycho."

So, does Cook's departure mean the end of an era for the series? She is certainly missed, by both fans, colleagues, and her character's colleagues. But with two Garcia-centric episodes, and the stable presence of Prentiss, it just may be that the BAU team will find a new heart.

(Sources: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/criminal_minds/, http://criminalminds.net/, http://www.cbs.com/primetime/criminal_minds/recaps/602/recaps.php?season=6 )