Criminal Minds #4: We Take Care Of Our Own!

Criminal Minds showrunner and onetime Alias scribe Erica Messer has enlisted no less than “Sark” to play a Season 9 UnSub.

TVLine has learned exclusively that David Anders will guest-star in the coming run’s third episode as Anton Harris, a serial slayer whose M.O. involves the (gulp) lobotomization of his victims.

Anders’ recent (of many) TV credits include Necessary Roughness (where he’s currently recurring), Once Upon a Time (as Dr. Whale/Dr. Frankenstein) and Arrow (as bad guy Cyrus Vanch).

Criminal Minds launches its new season on Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 9/8c.

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NYPD Blue and Caprica star Esai Morales has joined Criminal Minds as the new BAU section chief, TVGuide.com has learned exclusively.

Morales will recur as Matt Cruz, a longtime FBI agent who gets promoted to work with the BAU and has a previous professional relationship with JJ (A.J. Cook) that will be revealed as the season progresses. Might they have worked together during her stint in the Department of Defense?

Morales will make his first appearance in the third episode of Season 9. Showrunner Erica Messer previously told TVGuide.com that Hotch (Thomas Gibson) would be acting section chief for the summer in the wake of the death of their former boss Strauss (Jayne Atkinson) in the Season 8 finale.

Besides NYPD Blue and Caprica, Morales has appeared in Law & Order: SVU and Burn Notice, and co-starred in La Bamba.

Season 9 of Criminal Minds premieres Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 9/8c on CBS.

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SEASON FINALE: The BAU finally came face to face with their stalker, The Replicator, when he took the life of their FBI Section Chief, Director Erin Strauss. Their final showdown with The Replicator left the BAU, especially Rossi, mourning the loss of Strauss, but made the team more united than ever.

NEW SEASON: Series will mark its 200th episode this season. Esai Morales will recur as new Section Chief Matt Cruz, who has a previous working relationship with JJ. Also, Camryn Manheim will guest star as the protective mother of an UnSub in a two episode arc; and Joe Mantegna will direct his first episode of the series.

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A CBS crimesolver will return to the fold this fall when CSI: Miami alum Eva La Rue shows up on Criminal Minds.

The actress formerly known as Natalia Boa Vista will guest-star as Minds‘ Agent Mays, TVLine has confirmed.

LaRue tweeted the news to her followers Wednesday, when she also posted a photo (see right) of her with series stars Shemar Moore and A.J. Cook. to Instagram; she noted she’d had a “great day” on set.

La Rue portrayed CSI: Miami‘s lovely lab rat-turned-investigator for seven seasons, though daytime fans will recognize her as All My Children‘s Maria Santos, as well. Her other TV credits include Soul Food and Third Watch.

Criminal Minds‘ ninth season bows Sept. 25 at 9/8c.

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Onetime NCIS agent Sarah Jane Morris will find herself looking down the wrong end of a gun barrel (or a harpoon spear, or a human marionette pulley, or whatever twisted modus homicidii is at play) when she guest-stars on CBS’ Criminal Minds this fall.

Morris will appear in the sixth episode of Season 9 as a target of the killer du jour, TVLine has learned.

In addition to her arc as NCIS’ E.J. Barrett, the actress’ TV credits include Brothers & Sisters, guest-starring turns on Castle and Body of Proof and the upcoming A&E drama pilot Occult.

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PREVIOUSLY ON... | The Replicator who taunted Hotch's team throughout Season 8 -- an FBI wonk who had turned to the Dark Side -- was hunted down and killed via his own homemade booby trap -- but not before he snuffed unit chief Strauss.

COMING UP NEXT | Picking up months later, "Hotch has been very busy" filling Strauss' shoes, show boss Erica Messer notes. But that changes in Episode 3 when Esai Morales (Caprica) debuts as Matt Cruz, a new unit chief who arrives possessing a mysterious "caring" relationship with JJ. "People will wonder, 'Did they have an affair? What's going on?'" Messer says. "And all of that will pay off in our 200th episode, when we deal with the time JJ was away [during Season 6]." Guest stars on tap for Season 9 include Camryn Manheim (The Practice), David Anders (Alias), Eva La Rue (CSI: Miami) and Sarah Jane Morris (NCIS).

TVLINE BONUS SPOILER | "A present day case where she's up against her old hacker world" will tee up an origin story for Garcia, taking us back to 2004, when she first met Hotch. During that tale, Messer shares, "We'll finally meet the guy who owned her heart long before we met her."

RETURN DATE | Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 9/8c (CBS)

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Criminal Minds will get a blast from its recent-ish past when fan fave Paget Brewster returns for the CBS crime drama’s 200th episode.

Rumblings about Brewster’s possible comeback started earlier this month when the actress tweeted a picture of her Criminal Minds makeup kit, seemingly from the set.

Plus, cast member A.J. Cook teased to TVLine just last week that in Season 9, “We’re going to see a lot of familiar faces,” adding a playful gasp

Airing later this season and shedding light onto what happened to JJ during her year away from the BAU (aka Season 6), “Our 200th episode is going to be a special show,” showrunner Erica Messer said in a statement. “We can’t imagine telling this story without Paget being present.”

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