After undercover agent Kate Callahan (Jennifer Love Hewitt) decided to leave her post in the FBI to raise her soon-to-be born baby and adopted niece, the Behavioral Analysis Unit finds itself in need of someone to fill in the vacant spot. The team will find a suitable replacement when "Criminal Minds" returns for season 11 this fall.
Entertainment Weekly exclusively reported that BAU finds a new team member in Dr. Tara Lewis, portrayed by "The Talk" co-host Aisha Tyler. The character will help the team solve cases using her skill and knowledge.
According to the article, Aaron Hotchner (Thomas Gibson) meets Lewis when the BAU chief decides to hold interviews for a potential replacement for Callahan. Among all the applicants, Lewis proves that she is the most qualified for the position.
EW shared the official character background of the new addition to the BAU family, which reads:
Her dream was to study psychopaths up close and personal – and her psychology background, combined with her experience in the FBI, brought her face-to-face with monsters. Her job was to stare them down and interview them, in order to determine if they were fit to stand trial. In the process, she made herself find the humanity inside these broken men (and, sometimes, women) in order to learn if there was a conscience behind their brutal crimes."
Tyler worked with Hewitt in the first season of the now defunct "The Ghost Whisperer" where she appeared as Andrea, best friend to Hewitt's character Melinda.
This is not the first time that Tyler will work on a police procedural drama on TV. She appeared in guest roles in various TV shows under the said genre like "CSI," "CSI: Miami," and "Hawaii-Five-0." But her stint in "Criminal Minds" season 11 will be for a recurring role.
The long-running action-crime drama will also miss A.J. Cook's character JJ in at least five episodes of the upcoming season as the actress, like Hewitt, is also pregnant.
With Lewis' help, the team will not have a hard time chasing after the criminals when the show resumes next season.
"Criminal Minds" season 11 is scheduled to premiere on Sept. 30.
