‘Criminal Minds’ Season 12 Spoilers: Showrunner Explains Spencer Reid’s Story; Previews What’s Next For Him

“Criminal Minds” fans are worried. Dr. Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler), the genial triple Ph.D. holder and member of the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) is imprisoned and charged with murdering a doctor in Mexico. Of course, he is innocent.

Navigating life in jail has been hard for Reid, who is certainly not equipped to fight murderers, rapists and homicidal maniacs in prison. He avoided a brutal prison initiation thanks to his new friend – former FBI Agent Calvin Shaw (Harold Perrineau) – but it won’t be long before the criminals come looking for him again.

“Criminal Minds” showrunner Erica Messer told TVLine that the worst is yet to come for Reid, so fans of Gubler’s character need to hang tight. “There are a lot of internal and external factors that are yet to come in that storyline.”

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The CBS show returns after a two-week hiatus on Wednesday, March 15 with a brand new episode 16. Titled “Assistance is Futile,” the synopsis on TVGuide states that Reid will try to adapt to a new set of rules in prison life while the BAU receives some valuable information about an unsub called the Bone Crusher from Miranda White (Tatum O’Neal), a mother.

Furthermore, the promo of the upcoming episode shows a group of criminals entering Reid’s cell. Before that, Shaw tells him that you’re either predator or prey in jail.

Although “Criminal Minds” is doing a serialized arc for the first time, Messer explained the reason behind choosing to put the BAU’s finest profiler through the grinder. “It’s such a fun thing for us to do on this show, because as you know we’ve never done anything this big of an arc for this long,” she said. “And to take our most vulnerable hero and put him in the last place you’d ever want him to be has I think got people talking, which is great. We want that.”

However, the crime series has declined in ratings in Season 12. Reid’s arc, so far, hasn’t boosted numbers. But the showrunner hopes that this will change soon. “The hope was that people will have to tune in, because it’s something serialized, and it’s with one of the fan favorites,” Messer explained. “So if anything, we’re certainly hoping this sort of puts that [decline] to rest and gets people back watching.”

“Criminal Minds” airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST on CBS.