‘Criminal Minds’ Marks 300th Milestone Episode With Sneak Peek at Season 14 Premiere

Criminal Minds is marking its upcoming 300th milestone episode by sharing a sneak peek at the season 14 premiere.

The preview was provided by the show’s network, CBS, and reveals some details of what fans can expect from the episodes.

“When Reid and Garcia are abducted by Benjamin Merva (Michael Hogan), it’s up to the rest of the team to find them,” the press release explains. “The BAU finds surprising clues in their own history to solve why the two heroes have been targeted by a mass murderer. It’s a race to save them before a ‘Believers’ prophecy is fulfilled…”

The returning main cast includes Joe Mantegna, Paget Brewster, Matthew Gray Gubler, A.J. Cook, Aisha Tyler, and Kirsten Vangsness.

Gubler — who has been on the series since season one — recently spoke with ThoughtCo. and shared some insight into his character, Dr. Spencer Reid.

“He’s an eccentric genius, with hints of schizophrenia and minor autism, Asperger’s syndrome,” he explained. “Reid is 24, 25 years old with three Ph.D.’s and one can’t usually achieve that without some form of autism. They’ve hinted at shades of schizophrenia with Reid.”

“I know his mother was schizophrenic and he has a fear of going schizophrenic himself,” Gubler added. “I’d like to think that one day down the line he will go schizophrenic and maybe turn into the type of person they’ll chase relentlessly.”

He also shared that, while he is deeply connected to his character, their personalities are “not too similar” because Reid is a genius, while he is decidedly not.

“In the show, Reid was sort of hand-picked from college. He’s in the FBI, but he didn’t strive to achieve that or have any intention of doing that,” he said. “Gideon (Mandy Patinkin) recruited him and I feel kind of akin to that because I had no real intention of being an actor or being on a show. I’ve sort of fallen into it.”

“Reid makes the most of it and so do I. It’s fun and quite an honor,” Gubler added. “He’s a Ph.D. in physics and mathematics and nobody knows what the third one is and I’m in no way scientifically minded. I think he’s way more analytical than I am.”

Gubler also sent out a message to fans, saying that he is grateful for each and every one of them.

“I’m beyond proud and happy — I never imagined I would have one fan, and there seems to be a few,” he exclaimed. “I just couldn’t be happier that people seem to like what I’m doing and seem to respond to it. If they weren’t there, I don’t know what I’d be doing right now.”

Fans can catch Gubler and the rest of the Criminal Minds crew when the series returns for its 14th season on Wednesday, Oct. 3 on CBS.