Who is that blonde with Agent Rossi (Joe Mantegna, right)? None other than Jennifer "JJ" Jareau (A.J. Cook), who returns to the fold, on the sixth season finale of CRIMINAL MINDS on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Eric McCandless/CBS ©2011 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Right Reserved.
Joe Mantegna is calling it “the worst kept secret in the world right now,” but it appears that A.J. Cook, who played Agent Jennifer “JJ” Jareau is returning to Criminal Minds (Wednesdays, 9:00 p.m. ET/PT, CBS).
“It looks like A.J. will have finished her stint with the President of the United States and has decided that the FBI is where she needs to be,” Mantegna confirms to EntertainmentHeartbeat.com. “Nothing is totally resolved yet. We’ll have the whole next season to kind of explore what we do, but sometimes it’s good to shake things up a bit. But, I’m thrilled to be able to say that it looks like A.J. is going to be back.”
Maybe the network heard the screaming from the fans, who have been outraged since both Cook and co-star Paget Brewster, who starred as Agent Emily Prentiss, were eliminated from Minds. Or perhaps it was the producers scheming to add a bit of controversy to the storylines to boost interest.
It’s probably not the later considering Criminal Minds is enjoying a huge success that seems to grow with each new season. Either way, Mantegna is quick to point out that those decisions were not shared with the remaining cast members.
“You should never underestimate the lack of wisdom of powers that be sometimes,” he states with a healthy measure of irony. “I can’t explain it, I can’t defend it, I can’t address it because I don’t really know. Those decisions are made in a place beyond my control. Who’s to say…at one point somebody thought it was a good idea to put Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien in different places on a network schedule.”
The rest of the cast is set to return. In fact, Mantegna says Shemar Moore just firmed up his new deal to stay on Criminal Minds. The only person he hasn’t really been confirmed as returning yet is Thomas Gibson, who plays Aaron Hotchner, who heads of the BAU (Behavioral Analysis Unit) on Minds.
Still, the actor is confident Gibson will seal his deal shortly.
“I don’t know if Thomas’s has been done, but all things are pointing to us doing a bigger and better seventh season of Criminal Minds. We’re growing and I think we’re a valuable commodity.”
The season finale, which marks the return of A.J. Cook, airs May 18th.
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