20 Years Later, Paramount+’s Thriller Series Is So Good It Could Go On Forever

Of all the major crime procedurals, Criminal Minds is considered one of the darkest, thanks to its focus on serial killers and their often twisted psyches. But that is also the reason why this show has been around for so long, with its 19th season airing this year and its renewal for a 20th season already confirmed. Serial killers can be heinously creative, which means Criminal Minds still has so much inspiration to draw from and ideas to churn out. Really, the series could go on forever. Apart from pushing the bandwidth of morbid creativity, the show has a legacy that survived a rebranding, one that bodes well for its future.

‘Criminal Minds’ Finds Horror Realism In Even the Most Absurd Ideas

Criminal Minds dug into the niche of serial killers and gave it a psychological twist that makes every episode feel new, even if some of the basics are recycled. We’ve seen countless iterations of sexual sadists, yet by analyzing behavior, each episode feels fresh with different M.O.’s that can be traced back to the perpetrator’s childhood. Other times, there are antagonists whom we can’t help but sympathize with, or ones that chill us to our core, like children who turn out to be sociopaths. As social customs and technology evolve, the show’s capacity for creativity does too, leading to a hauntingly never-ending supply of ways to terrify.

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However, the true marker of success in Criminal Minds’ approach to episodes is that the show manages to root out horror realism in every idea. Of course, some are as simple as the awful sentiment of children being stolen from their families and tortured for years, or the terror of just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But even in the most seemingly outrageous ideas, like an underground social media for serial killers or a Norman Bates-styled hallucination or the psychosis of bugs crawling under one’s skin, the show maintains a grounded semblance of horror, as if these things could really happen. They feed on very real concepts of the dark web and mental health, then push it for entertainment value while never losing sight of why it’s so chilling. The formula works, and as long as Criminal Minds sticks to it, the show can continue to churn out grisly episodes while still provoking the same addictive response.

‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ Has Proved the Show’s Ability to Adapt

What really cements Criminal Minds’ longevity is its proven ability to survive and thrive after a rebranding. In 2020, the original show was canceled after Season 15, but only two years later, it returned in full force as Criminal Minds: Evolution. As the subtitle suggests, the show evolved from a crime procedural to something akin to a psychological thriller, where longer overarching storylines are prioritized over episodic ones. However, that doesn’t mean the show has forgotten its roots, as the cases explored during these three seasons are still creepily realistic in the most unexpected ways, even when it dips into bureaucratic conspiracies and schools for budding psychopaths.

Even though the episodic cases aren’t the foundation of the series anymore, it’s actually beneficial for the show. Opting for these longer storylines forces Criminal Minds to be more mindful about the occasional standalone case inserted into the season, while allowing the team to pace their creativity and offer killers that are more twisted than ever. Since the rebranding, we’ve gotten acid chambers, misogynistic zookeepers, and (shudder) spiders, all proving that Criminal Minds still has a deft handle on what makes them stand out in the world of crime.

Over the years, the show has adapted and pivoted to remain relevant, finding unique ways to inject a bit of terror into our lives while exercising its creative muscles. Serial killers will always hold space in the public imagination, and as long as that’s the case, Criminal Minds does too.