Why The Good Go Bad

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“It’s going to be different than the last time,” Mantegna tells Zap2it about the actress’ second exit from the series. “First of all, this is her choice. Second of all, it’s not being done in a cataclysmic kind of way. There will always exist a window for her to reappear in some capacity. I think she just wants to move on, but she’s open to coming in and having the Prentiss character still be involved.

“If she does a few episodes a season, it opens up a whole other window, because of the way her character has been established with these international capabilities and skills. She can be recurring and still contribute something, and still give the fans that thing of, ‘Oh! Prentiss is back.’”

Adding that he hopes Brewster “is happy with that situation,” Mantegna isn’t sure “Criminal Minds” — also seen in frequent repeats on A&E and ION — will hurry to fill the slot she’s vacating. “We’ll see whether it affords an opportunity for another character to appear or not. As far as I know, there’s no specific plan for that.

“It’s called ‘Criminal Minds,’ not ‘Magnum, p.i,’” Mantegna notes. “It’s a true ensemble show, as it should be. It has the kind of fan base that absorbs all the different characters, and people have their favorites … but at the end of the day, it’s the ensemble that carries the show. You look back at ‘The Honeymooners,’ and you didn’t watch it just for Ralph Kramden. And ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ and ‘M*A*S*H’ are other examples.”