), Aisha Tyler’s move to a permanent spot on the cast (Yes!
), Adam Rodriguez’s addition to the cast (Jury’s still out!
), the news that Paget Brewster’s return will be permanent (Double hooray!
), and the fact that this will be the first season without Shemar Moore (Boo).
It’s not the depravity of the crimes, despite the hype.
But sometimes they come pretty damned close.
Here are our15 Most Heroic Moments FromCriminal Minds.
He knows Owen is going to force the police to shoot him.
When the BAU shows up, he positions himself between them and Owen, blocking their shot.
Not a single person even tried to help,“Reid tells him.
He makes the connection.
Owen drops his gun, and they take him in alive.
Hotch tells Reid he should fire him, and Reid tells him it won’t happen again.
But you’ve got the option to tell he’s glad it did.
He desperately wants his 15 minutes of fame.
The Tommy Killer works for the phone company and can see right into their windows.
By identifying with the victim, Gideon is able to understand what makes this killer tick.
They pin down the neighborhood of his next target and split up to check out individual houses.
Gideon hits the right one.
He goes in alone, gun drawn.
Franklin Graney, AKA The Tommy Killer, is upstairs, holding a woman at gunpoint.
He is put on trial anyway.
With the reputation of the BAU at stake, Hotch picks up the gauntlet.
Sterling’s BlackBerry buzzes right on cue.
Hotch saves the case and the stellar reputation of the BAU, all without breaking a sweat.
Jacob is unrepentant, while Sarah Jean is calm and gracious, even gentle.
She has been on death row for 15 years for crimes she didn’t commit.
Grateful, she asks if his face can be the last one she sees before she dies.
Then they add that he should stop sending them gifts.
Turns out he hasn’t been sending them anything.
The gifts are cheap carnival toys, and provide the missing clue to help lead them to the killer.
He bought the house they had lived in and kept it in pristine shape.
They ask if they can keep in touch.
Grateful, Rossi agrees.
Billy Flynn has an obsession with the Spicer family that goes back decades.
In the midst of this cruelty and terror, there are multiple acts of heroism to be found.
But the biggest moment comes right before that, when Jennifer “JJ” Jareau (A.J.
Cook) is asked by Hotch to make a personal appeal to Flynn over the radio.
This isn’t familiar territory for JJ.
She’s usually the press representative and team coordinator, not the person who talks down Unsubs.
She’s terrified, clearly wishing Hotch would step in and handle it with his usual expertise.
But it has to be her; he can’t get there in time.
She succeeds and he lets Ellie go.
Or Morgan insisting on staying at her side when she comes home after being shot?
At the office, Agent Fuchs orders Lynch help Battle delete his case files from the FBI’s computers.
But Lynch has seen Battle’s photo and recognizes him instantly.
Seaver’s unique perspective might be just the thing they need.
She’s only a cadet, but she’s as brave as the rest of them.
She visits the husband and daughter of the most recent victim, hoping to offer some comfort.
His intense questions give him away, and she realizes that he’s the killer.
It comes at the very end of the series' first two-parter.
It’s going to be an arduous task, now that the blood has been there for a while.
It’s physical, it’s painstaking, it’s emotional,it’s powerful.
Not a word is spoken.
And it will take him all night.
Not all heroic moments happen in peril.
She picks up Jeremy, who she thinks is a lost teenager.
When the BAU frees the kids a few hours later, they report that their mom left with Jeremy.
Cut to Nancy and Jeremy in the car.
He’s holding a knife, toying with her, and she’s doing her best to pacify him.
Pretty primal stuff, risking your life for your kids, and as heroic as it gets.
