‘Criminal Minds’ Boss Reveals How JJ’s Confession Will Affect Final Season

Warning — spoilers ahead for Criminal Minds.

Wednesday’s Season 14 finale of Criminal Minds saw J.J. (A.J. Cook) make a startling confession, with the BAU agent admitting under life-threatening circumstances that she’s always had feelings for her fellow agent, Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler).

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, showrunner Erica Messer shared that the confession won’t be swept under the rug when the series returns for its final season, which she referred to as “bittersweet.”

“It will definitely be explored,” she said of J.J.’s revelation. “Ultimately, it goes down to the relationships that people have been watching and seeing how they’ve grown over the years. There’s something real in people who have worked together for a super long time — certainly in law enforcement, where it’s life and death. Some people would say it’s like going to war together. You have a bond with people that can’t be defined. It’s one in times of incredible stress. We wanted to be able to acknowledge that but also be completely aware that this is going to be a bomb for a lot of people.”

J.J. made her confession while being held at gunpoint by an unsub, who forced her to reveal a secret she’d never told anyone. To stay alive, she told Reid that she has “always” loved him, but was always “too scared to say it before.” Since JJ is happily married to husband Will, who she shares children with.

“Her confessing that doesn’t mean she doesn’t love the life she has tremendously,” Messer said. “Without giving away too much of the actual dialogue that’s coming up, she’s been defined by the love in her life and the love in her life is Will and the kids, it’s Reid, it’s her friends, it’s the work that she does. There are a lot of things that define people and [Reid] is one of those things to her. Maybe if she had never met Will in season two, things would’ve been different. If in another time and place… There’s heartbreak to that but you would want to know that in a friendship or relationship. It’s complicated.”

Season 15 will pick up six months after Wednesday’s finale, at which point only J.J. and Reid know about the former’s confession.

“We didn’t want to play the ‘will they-won’t they’ or ‘she’s got to make a choice.’ It’s a little bit messier than that,” Messer said. “When we meet them in the first two episodes of season 15, what we learn is they haven’t really talked about it because it’s made that much of an impact. Six months have passed story-wise and it’s time they talk about it. It gets muddy.”

The showrunner also noted to TV Guide that J.J. may have made the statement up under duress.

“We all feel really conflicted about it,” she said. “And we thought, ‘That makes a good story.’… Did she tell the truth or not in that moment? And some people are adamant that she told the truth. Some people are adamant that she didn’t. And I was like, ‘Well, if it’s an argument where nobody can be proven right or wrong, that’s kind of interesting.’”

Photo Credit: CBS