Jennifer Love Hewitt's departure from "Criminal Minds" and A.J. Cook's absence from the first few episodes of the show's 11th season, both due to their pregnancies, signal the entrance of the BAU's newest member, to be played by "Ghost Whisperer" alum Aisha Tyler.
Tyler takes on the role of Dr. Tara Lewis, a psychologist whose know-how in the field of forensic psychology and experience in the FBI become key instruments in solving the new burst of criminalities the team will face in the upcoming season.
Due to her field of work, Lewis knows multiple forms and faces of monstrosity and has learned how to crack each of them. She has become majorly adept in "find[ing] the humanity inside broken men" and "learn[ing] if there was a conscience behind their brutal crimes."
In "Criminal Minds" season 11, she will be directly replacing Kate Callahan (Hewitt) after an interview with Aaron Hotchner (Thomas Gibson), who will be left awe-struck by the psychologist. Tyler's character will be a recurring one. There's no word how frequently fans will see her in the new season.
Meanwhile, in the wake of Hewitt's departure, series showrunner Erica Messer made it clear that the new season will be an effort to show the ever-changing world of law enforcement and how people in it tend to come and go in the long run.
"It's way more realistic for, after 10 years, [for] people to have moved on, or moved into a different division, or something like that. It's such a rare thing to be in the same FBI unit for all those years," Messer told Entertainment Weekly back in May.
"Often, people go to different cities. But also off-screen, it's so rare for all of us. We're going into season 11, which is remarkable. We're all looking at each other like, 'Oh my gosh, have you ever been on anything this long?'" she went on to say.
"Criminal Minds" season 11 will get 22 episodes and will premiere this fall.
