The Evolution of Penelope Garcia: Why She Quit Criminal Minds and Came Back in Evolution

The Departure from BAU

After quitting at the end of the original Criminal Minds show, Penelope Garcia was essentially forced to return to the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) in Criminal Minds: Evolution. The BAU's irreplaceable tech analyst didn't join the team the same way her colleagues did. In fact, she was once a dark web hacker Unsub that was caught by Aaron Hotchner and his profilers. Instead of doing prison time, however, Garcia was offered a great opportunity to use her unique skills for the better. Despite being begrudging at first, she eventually started settling into the job.

Criminal Minds Penelope Garcia

Garcia is arguably the most important character in Criminal Minds. It helped that she was so good at her job as she transitioned from being an Unsub to an FBI profiler. Still, there were days when she struggled to come to terms with the cases, and had to do everything to ensure that she maintained some sense of control over her life amid all the tragic cases. More than anything, however, it was the people that she worked with that made the whole experience of working with the BAU worth it. Given how much the BAU meant to her, there were many questions about why Penelope left at the end of Criminal Minds.

Garcia in Criminal Minds Evolution

Criminal Minds is available to stream on Paramount+ and Hulu.

Thematic Metaphor of Departure

After 15 years of being BAU's tech analyst, Garcia finally decided to leave her post at the FBI in the Criminal Minds series finale in 2020. Interestingly, the CBS show's final year was setting up other characters' departures. Dave Rossi was contemplating retiring following a personally difficult case, while Spencer Reid was slowly transitioning to teaching. Finally, Emily Prentiss was being eyed for a big promotion within the FBI. In the end, however, it was Garcia who departed the organization after she found a more suitable and less stressful job for her.

Garcia and Rossi in Criminal Minds Evolution

There was a deeper meaning to Garcia's departure from the BAU, however. As Kirsten Vansgness told TV Insider, Garcia leaving her post represented the audience parting ways with the rest of the profilers as Criminal Minds ended. Just because the police procedural was ending, it didn't mean that the FBI's BAU was done with its job. The profilers would continue hunting down Unsubs, but the public, through Garcia, just would no longer be a part of it. This was exactly the case when Paramount+ picked up Criminal Minds: Evolution. Prentiss and her team were still hard at work two years after the CBS series wrapped.

Garcia and Rossi in Criminal Minds: Evolution

Return to BAU in Evolution

Garcia was actually Criminal Minds: Evolution's biggest victim. Her return to the BAU wasn't planned, nor was it intentional on her part. She was roped into the investigation when Tyler Green sent her details about Sicarius and his network of serial killers. From there, the rest of the profilers kept on asking for her help. Seeing the hesitant Garcia revisit her job and give up her newfound work/life balance to help the BAU track down Elias Voit was so heartbreaking. What was supposed to be a temporary stint, however, turned into a full-time gig in the Criminal Minds spin-off after she realized how much she missed her former co-workers.

Penelope Garcia Criminal Minds Evolution

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The BAU members: Alvez, JJ, Garcia, Prentiss, and Rossi in the FBI office in Criminal Minds: Evolution