Here come the waterworks. Matthew Gray Gubler bid an emotional farewell to his Criminal Minds character, Dr. Spencer Reid, hours before the CBS drama’s series finale aired.
“I’ve carried these 3 props with me almost every day for the last 15 years,” the actor, 39, captioned a Twitter photo of his FBI badge, pistol and watch on Wednesday, February 19. “After tonight i’ll just carry them in my heart where i will forever keep memories of the best crew, the best cast, and the best fands (fans/friends) a fictional crimefighter could ever have.”
i’ve carried these 3 props with me almost every day for the last 15 years. after tonight i’ll just carry them in my heart where i will forever keep memories of the best crew, the best cast, and the best fands (fans/friends) a fictional crimefighter could ever have pic.twitter.com/outlIaMEfZ
— matthew gray gubler (@GUBLERNATION) February 19, 2020
Criminal Minds premiered in September 2005, with Gubler among the main cast. The show, in its 15th season, also stars Joe Mantegna (David Rossi), A.J. Cook (Jennifer “JJ” Jareau), Kirsten Vangsness (Penelope Garcia), Aisha Tyler (Dr. Tara Lewis), Daniel Henney (Matt Simmons), Adam Rodriguez (Luke Alvez) and Paget Brewster (Emily Prentiss).
Gubler reflected on the show’s end in an interview with TVLine published on Wednesday. “I know that everything has its time and I’m in no way sad that the show is closing, because I feel like we’ve done it beautifully, and I feel like there are roots there for it to re-hatch later,” he teased. “I kind of liken it to if you go to a concert, at a certain point the band has to leave the stage in order to have an encore. It’s just the natural progression.”
The Emmy winner reiterated that the conclusion was nothing but a joy to film. “I got to be in the very last shot of the entire series, which was a nice bookend because when we shot the pilot, I remember, I was in the very first shot that we ever did of the entire series,” he recalled. “And in both instances, I got to operate the camera. They let me press the button and hit Record and everything. … If the show had only gone for six years, it probably would’ve been emotional, but because it’s been such a beautiful presence in our life for 15 years, it wasn’t sad. It was kind of beautiful.”
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According to Gubler, fans should expect their favorite characters to live on too. “The last two episodes, as all 324 episodes, have been written really beautifully and thoughtfully, and they’re teeing up, I think, something really special,” he said. “It’s a really beautiful ending, but they’re setting up a lot of different avenues of exploration for these heroes that we’ve come to love and have in our homes for so many years. It’s kind of interesting to see how it all will eventually shake out.”
The two-part series finale of Criminal Minds airs on CBS Wednesday, February 19, at 8 p.m. ET.
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