One of the shows that stays just outside my radar each week is Criminal Minds, yet another of CBS’s vast assortment of crime procedurals. I predicted in season one that Mandy Patinkin would bail out first chance he got if the show was showed any sign of success…and I was proven right once again. He has done this before on Chicago Hope and on many stage productions. I love everything I have ever seen Patinkin do (Dead Like Me was brilliant), but I just will not set myself up for disappointment any longer. DVDs of the first 2 years of Criminal Minds will have to suffice.

Tonight, however, Criminal Minds picks up a replacement for Patinkin who is every bit as good and much more dependable for the long haul. TVWeek.com reports:

Joe Mantegna makes his first appearance on the now Mandy Patinkin-less “Criminal Minds” this Wednesday (Oct. 31 at 9 p.m. on CBS). Mantegna plays David Rossi, a long-retired agent who once helped found the Behavioral Analysis Unit and now returns to action, sez CBS’ press, with “some unfinished business of his own.” (Why are we not surprised?)

Actually, Criminal Minds was doing very well during this transition without either actor, but Mantegna will up the ante with his presence, and his character sounds like the perfect answer to the loss of Patinkin’s Jason Gideon, a character I always thought was just a little too close to the edge for my comfort. Mantegna is one of our finest actors who has had little luck with the television projects he has been involved in. Criminal Minds may finally be his ticket to weekly TV success and Mantegna may be the shot in the arm Criminal Minds needs to get me watching weekly.

This post was Guest Authored by Rob Walley

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