''Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders'' is an American

police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eith ...

television series created by

Erica Messer Erica Messer is an American television writer, producer, and story editor. She has written episodes of television series such as ''Alias'', ''The O.C.'', ''Charmed'', and ''Criminal Minds''. She has also co-produced two television shows: ''Cha ...

that aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

from March 16, 2016, to May 17, 2017. The show is produced by

The Mark Gordon Company The Mark Gordon Company (formerly The Meledandri/Gordon Company) is an American production company owned by Mark Gordon. It is notable for their output, including feature films, like ''Speed'', many of Roland Emmerich's films Gordon produced like ...

in association with

CBS Television Studios CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount Television, as a renaming of the o ...

and

ABC Studios ABC Signature is an American television Filmmaking#Production, production studio that is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a division of Walt Disney Television, which is part of the List of assets owned by The Walt Disney Company#Disne ...

. The production is a spin-off from original series, ''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis (writer), Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was r ...

'', airing on the same network, and is the third series in the ''Criminal Minds'' franchise. ''Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders'' follows an elite team of

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

agents of the fictional International Response Team (IRT) tasked with solving cases that involve American citizens on international soil. CBS aired a

backdoor pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

on an episode of ''Criminal Minds'' on April 8, 2015, introducing the characters with a crossover episode eponymously titled "Beyond Borders". The series was originally intended to premiere on March 2, 2016, but was pushed back by two weeks and instead premiered on March 16, 2016, and filled the Wednesday 10:00pm time slot, airing immediately after the original ''Criminal Minds''. On May 14, 2017, CBS canceled the series after two seasons.

Characters

Main

Jack Garrett Jack Garrett (22 May 1914 – 11 September 1977) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician, who was a member of Seanad Éireann from 1969 to 1981. A public works contractor, he was first elected to the Seanad in 1969 by the Administrative Panel. He w ...

(

Gary Sinise Gary Alan Sinise (; born March 17, 1955) is an American actor, humanitarian, and musician. Among other awards, he has won a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has also received a st ...

), Senior Supervisory Special Agent and International Unit Chief. :Garrett is a 20-year veteran agent with the FBI and is the Unit Chief of the International Response Team (IRT). In his personal life, Garrett is married to Karen (

Sherry Stringfield Sherry Lea Stringfield (born June 24, 1967) is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Dr. Susan Lewis on the NBC medical drama '' ER'', a role for which she received three Emmy Award nominations. Stringfield was a member ...

) and together have six children, including their oldest, a son named Ryan and their middle child, a daughter named Josie. *

Clara Seger This is a list of characters in the television series '' Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders'', an American police procedural drama that premiered March 16, 2016, on CBS in the United States. Main characters Jack Garrett Played by Gary Sinise ...

(

Alana de la Garza Alana de la Garza (born June 18, 1976) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Connie Rubirosa on the NBC television series ''Law & Order'' in its last four seasons through 2010, ''Law & Order: LA'' until the show's conclusion in 2 ...

), Senior Supervisory Special Agent, Linguistics Specialist, and Cultural Anthropologist. : Seger is a smart, well-traveled, and multi-lingual cultural anthropologist and special agent with the IRT. Before rejoining the IRT in October 2015, Seger was married to a man named Brad who was a fellow agent and, like her, knew Jack. In 2013, she took a sabbatical from the FBI after her husband Brad died, during which she visited countries across the globe. *

Matthew Simmons Matthew Roy Simmons (April 7, 1943 – August 8, 2010) was founder and chairman emeritus of Simmons & Company International, and was a prominent figure in the field of peak oil. Simmons was motivated by the 1973 energy crisis to create an invest ...

(

Daniel Henney Daniel Phillip Henney (born November 28, 1979) is an American actor and model. He first came into international prominence with his television debut as Dr. Henry Kim on the Korean drama ''My Lovely Sam Soon'' (2005). He has gone on to star in f ...

), Supervisory Special Agent and Special Operations Agent. : Simmons is a Special Operations agent and special agent with the IRT. Simmons is married to his wife Kristy (Kelly Frye) and has a total of four children, including two boys Jake and David and twin daughters, all of them under the age of three. He was a former member of a Special Ops unit, and his experience with the unit allowed him to hone his profiling skills. *

Russ Montgomery This is a list of characters in the television series '' Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders'', an American police procedural drama that premiered March 16, 2016, on CBS in the United States. Main characters Jack Garrett Played by Gary Sinise, ...

(

Tyler James Williams Tyler James Williams (born October 9, 1992) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor, making several appearances on ''Saturday Night Live'', ''Little Bill'', and ''Sesame Street''. Williams later rose to prominence for playing ...

), Supervisory Special Agent and Technical Analyst. : Montgomery is a technical analyst with the IRT. He upholds a positive attitude, though he shows it in a different way. In addition to his job as a technical analyst, he liaises with the families of victims on the American homeland while the rest of his group is away. *

Mae Jarvis This is a list of characters in the television series '' Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders'', an American police procedural drama that premiered March 16, 2016, on CBS in the United States. Main characters Jack Garrett Played by Gary Sinise, ...

(

Annie Funke Annie Funke (born April 9, 1985) is an American actress. She starred as FBI Supervisory Special Agent and Medical Examiner Mae Jarvis on the CBS crime drama series '' Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders''. Early life Funke was born in Edmond, Oklahom ...

), Supervisory Special Agent and Medical Examiner. : Jarvis is a medical examiner and special agent with the IRT. Young and spunky, Mae has a fun-loving sibling relationship with Simmons and was in the FBI purely as a medical examiner before being brought onto the IRT as a resident medical examiner to bypass the bureaucratic red tape in various countries. By the events of the first season, Mae had become a fully qualified FBI field agent, in addition to being the IRT's resident ME.

Recurring

* Karen Garrett (

), Jack's wife and the mother of their six children. * Josie Garrett ( Brittany Uomoleale), the middle daughter of Jack and Karen Garrett's six children. * Kristy Simmons (

Kelly Frye Kelly Frye is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in '' Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders'', ''Criminal Minds'', ''Rake'' and ''The Flash''. Early life Frye was born in Houston, Texas and attended Clear Lake High School. Frye is ...

), the wife of Matthew Simmons and the mother of their four children, Jake and David Simmons and their two daughters. * Jake Simmons (Ezra Dewey), the son of Matthew and Kristy Simmons and the brother to David Simmons. * David Simmons (Declan Whaley), the son of Matthew and Kristy Simmons and the brother to Jake Simmons. * Ryan Garrett ( Matt Cohen), Jack's and Karen's oldest son who was accepted to and received training at the

FBI Academy The FBI Academy is the Federal Bureau of Investigation's law enforcement training and research center near the town of Quantico in Stafford County, Virginia. Operated by the bureau's Training Division, it was first opened for use on May 7, 197 ...

. He later becomes an undercover agent in Mexico, where he crosses paths with the IRT in the second season.

Episodes

In total 26 episodes of ''Beyond Borders'' have aired, in addition to the pilot episode, "Beyond Borders".

Production

A proposed new series in the ''Criminal Minds'' franchise was announced in January 2015, and was to be named ''Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders''. Former ''

CSI: NY ''CSI: NY'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: New York'', stylized as ''CSI: NY/Crime Scene Investigation'') is an American police procedural television series that ran on CBS from September 22, 2004, to February 22, 2013, for a total of nine seaso ...

'' star

and

Anna Gunn Anna Gunn (born August 11, 1968) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Skyler White on the AMC drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013), for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a D ...

had been cast in the lead roles of Jack Garrett and Lily Lambert, with

and

being cast as Russ "Monty" Montgomery and Matthew "Matt" Simmons, respectively. On May 8, 2015, CBS announced that ''Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders'' had been picked up for the 2015–16 season; however, it was soon announced that Gunn had departed the series, with

and

further being cast as series regulars.

Reception

Critical response

The first season of ''Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders'' received generally unfavorable reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the first season a 20% of approval with an average rating of 3.5/10, based on 15 reviews, with the critical consensus reading, "''Beyond Borders'' relies on the same characters and storylines the franchise has used for years, with an extra undertow of xenophobic paranoia." On Metacritic, the season was given a score of 28 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". The series has received criticism from both viewers and critics for its "inaccurate" depictions of the countries the episodes are set in. In its review of the show, pop culture news website ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' labeled the series as "bland" and "xenophobic". In a more scathing commentary, ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

'' and ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' have opined that the show was "jingoistic", especially due to the then-current context of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

's allegedly xenophobic

2016 presidential campaign This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kir ...

rhetoric. Following the airing of the episode " Cinderella and the Dragon", which was set in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, the network received significant backlash from locals regarding the "misleading" representations of Singapore and Singaporeans, with local Internet celebrity blogger

mrbrown Lee Kin Mun (), better known as mrbrown, is a Singaporean blogger best known for publishing social and political commentary amid Singapore's tight media restrictions. His podcast attracts some 20,000 downloads per day. In 2007, Lee was the o ...

and the

Singapore Tourism Board The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Government of Singapore, tasked to promote the country's tourism industry. History The board was first established on 1 January 1964 and wa ...

posting up their own satirical responses.

Ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of ''Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders''. : ''Note:'' Each US network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May

sweeps Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

International broadcast

The series premiered in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

on the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

in April 2016. In

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, the series airs simultaneously with the U.S. on CTV. The series also airs same day as the U.S. in Asia on

AXN AXN is a pay television channel owned by Sony Pictures Television, which was first launched in September 1997 in Asia. Local versions have since been launched in several parts of the world, including Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Funded th ...

. On April 20, 2016, the series premiered on W in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. On July 11, 2016, the series premiered on TV One in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

References

External links

* * {{Criminal Minds 2010s American crime drama television series 2010s American mystery television series 2010s American police procedural television series 2016 American television series debuts 2017 American television series endings American television spin-offs CBS original programming English-language television shows Television series by ABC Studios Television series by CBS Studios Television series by Entertainment One Television shows set in Africa Television shows set in Asia Television shows set in Europe Television shows set in North America Television shows set in Oceania Television shows set in South America