The Unpopular Opinion Some Criminal Minds Fans Have About Garcia
"Criminal Minds" remains one of the most successful shows to ever air on television. The series ended in 2020 with its 15th season, though luckily for fans, a highly anticipated revival is currently in the works for Paramount+ streamers. With 323 episodes, devotees can always find an enjoyable episode to watch when they're missing Reid, Rossi, Morgan, and the rest of the BAU team.
The veteran CBS crime drama is regarded not only for its incredible, heart-thumping mysteries, but its memorable characters as well. While the BAU team is certainly qualified on their own to solve such high-stakes crimes, their chemistry helps the team catch the "unsubs" with greater ease.
However, some fans of the show have complaints about how the team works together to solve their crimes. In particular, Reddit users have voiced their displeasure with Penelope Garcia (Kristen Vangsness), the BAU's resident tech whiz. There's a very specific issue that people have with her abilities.
Garcia seems to always solve the crime
On the "Criminal Minds" subreddit, u/LordCoke shared their "unpopular opinion" on Penelope Garcia, asking, "Does anyone like her character a lot more when she didn't solve 90% of the cases. What I mean is. Does anyone like Garcia better in S1,2 and early 3 more than later seasons [sic]."
u/jluvdc26 agreed, saying, "Yes, as the seasons went on the amount of specific information she can pull up on every obscure person in the universe becomes increasingly unrealistic." u/BlueP0werRanger34 riffed on this take, saying, "Looking for a white male now in his 30s but in HS he drove a small compact car, pissed his pants in detention and didn't have a dad...keyboard typing...[Garcia]: I have 3 suspects!"
It is true that many "Criminal Minds" episodes, particularly in later seasons, end with Garcia frantically searching at her computer before giving the field team the vital information to find their killer. Though it may be repetitive that she is always the one to save the day, we still love seeing the eccentric former hacker flex her technical skills. If anyone is going to be a consistent hero, we can think of worse choices than Garcia.