Why Criminal Minds Fans Have A Problem With JJ's Husband
Unlike other network procedurals, like "Bones" or "NCIS," CBS' "Criminal Minds" has mostly avoided any inter-team relationships between its main cast members for its 15 seasons. There is no center romance between a will-they-won't-they duo, but instead, the team's significant others are mostly minor characters off to the side. This has its benefits, but it also serves to make fans less invested in these rarely seen, less developed characters.
One of the longest-running BAU spouses is William LaMontagne, Jr., played by Josh Stewart. He and Jennifer "JJ" Jareau (A.J. Cook) meet in Season 2: He's a cop on one of their cases in New Orleans and the two of them quickly start a relationship that's mostly off-screen — until her pregnancy convinces Will to move across the country to raise the baby together. JJ declines his Season 3 proposal until several seasons later when he nearly dies, and then they get married.
The only other romantic storyline for JJ is the one with her coworker, Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler). In the first season, they go on what is an attempt at a date, but it doesn't amount to anything until Season 14 when she confesses that she's always loved Reid. Fans have a lot of (mostly negative) thoughts about it. But while some fans hoped for JJ and Reid to get together, and many wanted her to hook up with Emily (Paget Brewster), few feel compelled by her relationship with her actual husband, Will.
Will has good qualities but lacks chemistry with JJ
Many fans simply don't like Will, despite his overall non-offensive personality. On Reddit, user u/Deep_Worldliness4783 started an r/criminalminds thread, thinking it was an unpopular opinion to point out how much they don't like Will. But they got quite a few people agreeing with them. However, lest this be mistaken for ship wars, they qualified their statement by saying they also aren't a fan of the romantic partnership of JJ and Reid. They simply find Will to be annoying with a "weird vibe." Some fans just do not like Will's southern accent, partially because they find it hard to understand.
User u/Delicious_Stress1233 agreed with the original poster, writing, "He was a good husband and dad but overall weird and boring. I didn't care about him." Many fans in the comments agreed that he's good in those roles, as he's often shown at home with the kids while JJ leaves for work, but they added that he seems to put more effort into the relationship than JJ. Perhaps it's not just Will that's bothering them, but JJ's lack of strong feelings for him that turns fans off. User u/the_scientist52 mentioned this, saying, "I just didn't see any chemistry between Will and JJ. I don't think he was a bad person but something about that relationship felt off."
With only 18 episodes to JJ's 302, perhaps Will could have used more screen time for fans to warm up to him. Still, even that may not have rid him of his weird vibes.