What Criminal Minds Gets Wrong About The BAU Team

In the show, the Behavioral Analysis Unit is a single team responsible for evaluating and profiling various violent crimes on behalf of the FBI. This couldn't be further from the truth for the real BAU.

In fact, the Behavioral Analysis Unit is separated into various divisions that respond to specific crimes, not just killers and sexual predators (per ScreenRant). The responsibilities of the divisions include arson, child abduction, corruption, and even white-collar crimes. While criminal psychology is primarily linked to catching killers and monsters in the media, it's a field of analysis that can be applied to non-violent crime as well.

However, if audiences wanted their favorite shows to stick to realism, the cases on crime procedurals would last for months, and the culprits wouldn't always be so obvious. "Criminal Minds" made the right call by embracing pulp over verisimilitude, and the result lasted 15 years and several cast changes. Only one year after its cancellation, the show appears to be getting a mini-series revival. That's a pretty amazing streak for a procedural that now dates back to a time before smartphones.