While the added LGBTQ+ representation and alterations to Spencer Reid's storyline were the most popular changes viewers proposed, there were a few other ideas that "Criminal Minds" fans threw around in the Reddit thread. u/scullbag_Molder, for instance, said their change would be giving Emily Prentiss a child, either through adoption or her own pregnancy. Others agreed with this sentiment, with u/Asuna_Kikyo writing that the character "would've been a great mother."
u/ifyouseekamy_bae also backed up the idea, writing, "One thing I was always mad about was the fact that Emily never had a child." In their comment, the user brought up Emily's relationship with Carrie, a teen witness who helped the BAU with the case of her family's murder in Season 3, and Declan, the son of Emily's nemesis Ian Doyle, who she went to extreme lengths to save from his father. "She was ready to adopt Carrie and had looked like she would have been a great mom, which was proven by the Declan flashbacks," the Redditor wrote. "Honestly, I would have been fine with her taking over and raising Declan. Out of the whole cast, and other than Hotch and JJ, I felt that Emily should have been given/had a child."
Beyond Emily and Spencer, a couple of commenters said they wanted Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness) to be written more consistently. u/AvianBEJKS wrote, "I would have given Garcia a more cohesive storyline. One minute she's an only child, then she had brothers. She was in her 40s, then she was as young as Reid. The canon for how and when she joined the team also contradicts itself."
All in all, it seems safe to say that, as beloved as "Criminal Minds" is, its fans know exactly what they'd change about the series if they could.
