CBS President Nina Tassler reported earlier this week that they will be starting Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders. This good news was shadowed by the sad news that Anna Gunn will not be returning to the show for the spin-off.
Gunn was set to play the role of Lily Lambert, an international law expert. She would have partnered Jack Garett (Gary Sinise) and help out Americans who are endangered in different parts of the world. However, then came the sad news that Gunn’s name was cropped out of the star cast.
TV Line reported that Tassler had informed that Gary Sinise is larger than life and Garett, he was fulfilling most of the things that Gunn was supposed to be doing and hence they realised that there was no need for her character. Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders will, however, add some new actors, as stated the CBS President.
The network is planning on expanding the team before the series begins midseason. For now, there is report that Sinise will be leading the team of experts who take up a new assignment for BAU. Sinise will be helped by Tyler James Williams of The Walking Dead fame. He will be playing the role of tech expert Russ Montgomery. They will be joined by Daniel Henney who will play the role of Special Ops Agent Matthew Simons.
Criminal Minds is an important series for CBS, but the last spin off they had planned, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior didn’t do very well. The series had the regular names and the same format as the original series, but it wasn’t enjoying a good TRP and the network had cancelled the series before the end of the series.
Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders is being initiated after the backdoor pilot was successful. The pilot episode was launched during the spring screening of Criminal Minds Season 10 and it received great success.