'Criminal Minds' Season 9 Spoilers: 'Insane Stakes' for BAU Team as Season 9 Closes (TRAILER VIDEO)
"Criminal Minds" aired the first of its two-part finale special last night, and now the stakes are even higher for members of the BAU. As showrunner Erica Messer told Yahoo! "The stakes are insanely high because the whole team is in jeopardy like they've never been before."
Esai Morales returns as BAU section chief Mateo Cruz, a man who was tortured alongside JJ while they were abroad. He brings the team to Texas for a special case, and at the end of the episode, he and Garcia join the team on the ground in Texas to help. Messer said that she wanted viewers to get a better sense of closure with Cruz's character, given his influence in JJ's life and with the BAU team in general.
"The last two minutes of [Episode] 23 are going to leave you like, 'Oh my gosh – what just happened?!' If we left the season like that, people would be freaking out. But they'll only have to wait a week," she explained. "Rossi and Blake each share something about their lives that we never knew. I'm a sucker in that I love to write about what makes our characters tick, and the stories these two share are really heartwarming and give a lot of insight. I think people will connect with Blake in a way they hadn't before."
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However, Messer has promised that there will be a definite conclusion to this season finale, as compared to finales of seasons past.
"Everybody taking a deep breath," Messer said when asked what to expect in the last minutes of episode 24. "The out of our first hour is so great, you really can't top it. I wanted our team to be like, 'OK, we survived that one. Now let's get some rest.' There's no cliffhanger, I promise," she said.
Adding to the calming quality of the season finale is music from Lily Kershaw, whose tunes have been featured on other "Criminal Minds" episodes.
The season 10 finale airs Wednesday, May 14 on CBS.
