Criminal Minds' Matthew Gray Gubler Didn't Return To The Series For An Understandable Reason

Lynette Rice of Deadline, in her interview with Erica Messer about "Criminal Minds: Evolution," took just three questions to get to Matthew Gray Gubler's absence. In response to why the actor didn't join in on the action of facing down a team of unsubs, she had a very practical answer for fans. He was simply too busy to make it happen.

"He's been doing other projects, and a lot of those were lining up during our window," Messer said. "Our window of shooting was just August to December 2. It was the same with Daniel Henney, who was working on 'The Wheel of Time.' So I wasn't able to get them, but I could get the six other cast members. They've never been better. They're so happy. Their characters took the same time off that we had in real life, with the pandemic. The world has changed since we last saw the BAU. And because of that, the characters have changed. We needed to write to the reality of our everyone's existence."

The Gubler projects Messer was alluding to since the cancellation of "Criminal Minds" include the low-budget indie comedy, "King Knight," and a recurring role on the TV series, "Dollface." The film saw Gubler reunite with "Criminal Minds" alums Aubrey Plaza (who went head-to-head with Dr. Reid) and Angela Sarafyan (who appeared in the Season 6 finale, "Supply and Demand"). The series saw Gubler appear alongside Kat Dennings as an awkward love interest/catsitter for seven episodes in the short-lived, two-season run. But those weren't the only projects Gubler kept himself busy with. Yet another endeavor really surprised fans.