A new video from the set of the Criminal Minds reboot reveals the first look at the return of Penelope Garcia. Despite being dead in the water for months, Paramount+’s upcoming police procedural revival’s production is finally in full swing as confirmed by several of its cast members. The Criminal Minds reboot will see the return of the Behavioral Analysis Unit’s (BAU) core team, excluding two members: Daniel Henney’s Matt Simmons and Matthew Gray-Gubler as Spencer Reid.
This means that Criminal Minds‘ best character, Penelope Garcia, will be back at Quantico to help BAU chief Emily Prentiss and the team’s new case tracking down a string of serial killers who took advantage of the coronavirus pandemic. Played by Kirsten Vangsness, the quirky tech-savvy squad member is known for her ability to quickly scour the internet for any information regarding the BAU’s UnSubs. Aside from that, she also has her signature colorful wardrobe and sassy personality — something that she will maintain in Criminal Minds season 16.
In celebration of the Criminal Minds revival moving forward, Vangsness took it to her official Instagram to offer fans a sneak peek at Penelope’s return. As seen in the clip, the actress is dressed up as the quirky BAU team member, complete with her signature headpiece and fun eyeglasses. Check out Vangsness’ video below:
Vangsness joins Paget Brewster and Joe Mantegna as the two Criminal Minds reboot stars who have shared content from the set of the upcoming Paramount+ show. However, considering Penelope’s quirky sense of style, the actress is the only one who is noticeably in character out of all the images that have come out from the project thus far. It’s clear that, despite previously quitting the BAU in the Criminal Minds season 15 finale, Penelope’s new job didn’t change her personality one bit. In the original series ender, the team’s tech analyst confirmed that she got a new job and was leaving the FBI. For some reason, however, the BAU managed to get her back, meaning she is part of the task force that will hunt down the new network of UnSubs that has been created during the coronavirus pandemic.
With filming now in full swing, it’s safe to say that it won’t be long before fans get an official look at the Criminal Minds reboot from Paramount+. Since the revival project is only 10 episodes long, it won’t take that much time to wrap up filming on the project, which means that it can premiere on the streaming service sometime between the end of this year and early 2023. Whatever the case may be, just the fact that Garcia and the rest of the BAU are returning on the small screen not long after they finished their stint on CBS is already very impressive. It only goes to show how the police procedural continues to be popular, especially given its availability on various streaming platforms.
Source: Kirsten Vangsness