Criminal Minds star lashes out at critic — and the backlash is swift

Here’s a bit of drama from the world of Criminal Minds—but this time, it’s off-screen. For anyone who might’ve missed it, the classic CBS procedural (the one where everyone stares at shadowy photographs of serial killers and says ‘Wheels up!’ a lot) got the streaming revival treatment and returned as Criminal Minds: Evolution. Paramount+ has been churning out these new 10-episode seasons since late 2022. They’ve moved away from the old ‘case of the week’ format and now focus on a single, season-long storyline. Bit of a marmite shift, really.

Anyway, just as the fourth season (officially called Season 19, if you’re counting all the way back to 2005) was mid-airing, what you might call a social media ruckus managed to upstage the show itself.

Season and Format—Not for Everyone?

The drama kicked off when Shealyn Scott from ScreenRant published a piece late June, stating that the new 10-episode format is essentially a downgrade—her words, but honestly, she’s not alone in thinking that. She argued that the shortened ‘bingey’ seasons actually undermine what made Criminal Minds good in the first place, which was arguably its ability to jump between lurid cases and twisty, bombastic reveals every week.

Paget Brewster's Public Backlash

Paget Brewster, who’s been on the show for yonks as Emily Prentiss, didn’t exactly take the criticism lying down. On 20 June, Brewster responded directly to Scott on X (yes, still pretending that’s a real platform name), posting a rather personal reply:

"Hello critic Shealyn Scott. You’re young. You don’t know that bad pics and bad reviews can lead to 350 people losing their jobs. Sell vintage. Work at a shelter. Do something better than what you do right now. Because right now you suck."

Not exactly ‘I respectfully disagree’. The backlash to Brewster’s post was swift. Journalists and editors from everywhere—Collider, ScreenRant, The Hollywood Reporter—jumped to Scott’s defence, saying Brewster’s outburst was over the line. Andy Behbakht, a senior writer at ScreenRant, called her comments ‘disgusting behavior’ and described it as ‘really tragic to see [her] tearing down a young female journalist’. Collider’s Maggie Lovitt called it ‘weird as hell’, and David Rooney at The Hollywood Reporter said it was a ‘very bad look’ for Brewster, suggesting it reflected more on her than on Scott.

Brewster Backs Down

To her credit, Brewster thought better of the tirade pretty quickly. She took down her post within a day and put up a full-blown apology, for all to see:

"Hi guys. I was mean to Shealyn Scott last night and I profoundly regret it. Shame on me for insulting a human being for doing their job I'm very sorry, Shealyn. And I'm sorry to those who follow me that you saw me behave like that. Turns out, last night, I sucked."

This pretty much put the matter to rest for now, with most onlookers relieved there was no further escalation.

Where Criminal Minds: Evolution Sits Now

• Revival launched in November 2022 on Paramount+
• Three seasons aired so far, each with 10-episode story arcs
• Currently mid-way through season 19 (that’s the fourth ‘revival’ season)
• The ensemble cast features most of the familiar faces, including Brewster
• Episodes stream Thursdays on Paramount+

The show’s future format or story direction hasn’t been officially changed in response to the backlash, online or in-episode.