2025 marks the 20th anniversary of Criminal Minds, which has been rebranded as Criminal Minds: Evolution. As part of that 20th anniversary celebration, Season 18 of the show, which will be airing in May 2025 on Paramount+, is set to deliver some massive moments that pay homage to the rich history of the show. Naturally, it’s time to reflect upon how far this series has come, from a small-scale procedural experiment to the juggernaut it is now known to be today. It’s had its ups and downs, including a cancelation by CBS, but somehow the show has survived, gaining new fans every year. Arguably, the series in its current form has been turning out some of its best episodes to date.
However, with reflection comes a new sense of appreciation too, at what could have been. Plenty of secrets concerning the behind-the-scenes details of the show have been revealed over the years, many of which have made fans think about the many different directions Criminal Minds could have gone in. The show could have had very different casting choices, killed off characters still prominent in the series today, or even been called something completely different. But this strange detail creates a point of connection with another underrated show, which ultimately went on to steal the name from its well-respected predecessor.
Criminal Minds First Operated Under the Name Quantico
The Name Was Changed Just Before Airing
Criminal Minds is a powerful name within the crime and procedural genre. It has come to be the measuring stick for all of its contemporaries, and has indicated that even a show that has a firm structure can still evolve to match modern audiences’ tastes. When Criminal Minds first went into production, it’s doubtful that the creators had no idea of what it would soon become. Developed by Jeff Davis for CBS, no one could have predicted that the series would go on to lend its name to numerous spinoffs. A name is a powerful thing, and Criminal Minds: Evolution, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders and The Real Criminal Minds were heightened by their link to the original.
However, much earlier into production, before the first season of Criminal Minds even made it to TV, the creators of the show suspected that a different name would be far more effective. All throughout the filming of Season 1, and even throughout some of the marketing, Criminal Minds was known as Quantico. It’s a massive move to change a name that had been so firmly established for an upcoming series, and then to change it at the last minute. But that’s exactly what happened. Criminal Minds was known as Quantico less than 2 months until CBS officially announced its line-up for the 2005 to 2006 schedule. Until then, any reports about the series had been using the former name.
While there are naturally risks attached to such an idea, it wasn’t nearly as dangerous a move as it would be in the modern era. Without the internet being such a prominent source of information for audiences, it wouldn’t have necessarily registered that a show that had been in development had actually changed its name. And the decision that was made was probably for the best. After all, Criminal Minds rolls off the tongue far better and is much easier to remember. It’s easy to imagine the sometimes disturbing premise of Criminal Minds, and much harder to guess what Quantico might be about upon first hearing the title.
However, there was a good reason that the show was going to be called Quantico to begin with. The creators felt that the title should reflect the very location where all the action takes place. While the majority of Criminal Minds’ filming has been associated with Vancouver, with some shoots taking place across California, many of these backdrops were doubling for Quantico, Virginia. That’s because Quantico is the home of the very FBI training academy from which Criminal Minds initially takes much of its conflict, with the heroes of this program ultimately going on to become the prime protagonists of the show. There’s a logic to thus calling the series Quantico, even if viewers weren’t aware of the FBI connection.
2015 Saw Another Series Named Quantico Premiere
The 3-Season Show Is Still Underrated
By complete coincidence, in 2015, around a decade on from the introduction of Criminal Minds, a new series would air. It would be called Quantico, and was created by Joshua Safran, who also acted as the showrunner. The crime series is largely forgotten today, despite running for 3 seasons on ABC. But it has a strange connection to Criminal Minds in that both shows opted to use the same name for a time, before Quantico itself finally settled on the location as the most appropriate title. In the grand scheme of things, Criminal Minds is a much more memorable name than Quantico, but the same logic was in effect.
Quantico was also inspired by the FBI and partially set within the titular town, where the training academy stood. The show goes in quite a different direction from Criminal Minds though, with a more focused narrative and less of a procedural, conflict of the week kind of structure. The premise of the show saw a recent graduate of the FBI Academy suddenly becoming the prime suspect in a terrorist attack, and the consequential fallout from this accusation. Just like Criminal Minds, it’s dripping in tension and grounded, gritty moments, but the show was elevated by its superb cast.
Quantico starred the phenomenal Priyanka Chopra of Citadel as the lead, Alex Parrish, an agent who suddenly faces criminal accusations of a treasonous level. She is joined by standouts like Josh Hopkins, Jake McLaughlin, the much-loved Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, and Graham Rogers, all of whom brought real depth to the material. The series also took on Michael Seitzman as a showrunner, who defined his filmography with projects like Code Black and Intelligence, and was produced by Cherien Dabis of Only Murders in the Building and Fallout fame. There were clearly talented people both in front of and behind the camera, and yet Quantico didn’t quite stick around in the viewer’s mind.
It’s perhaps ironic that Quantico didn’t film in Quantico itself, and was instead shot across both New York and Quebec. Perhaps if the series was able to create more of a firm identity with the location in which it was set, audiences would have been able to bring together the title and the premise. However, irrespective of its 70% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the twists and turns of the show weren’t enough to grip audiences, and it came to an end after a much shorter run than Criminal Minds ever experienced. Those who enjoy this genre and want to see a niche and high-intensity show should probably check out Quantico. Because it definitely didn’t deserve the decline in ratings.
There Are Surprising Similarities Between the Shows
Quantico Ultimately Proved That It Wasn't a Standout Name
The connection between the two shows definitely speaks to a wider trend within the industry and the way in which two similar series can be taken in such different directions. Because it’s not just the quality of the writing, cast and the platform that a series is aired on that can have an impact on ratings. It’s also the strength of a brand, especially in an era of streaming, where there are countless shows that all look and sound alike. Criminal Minds has become a proven commodity and a franchise that can stamp its name on anything. Indeed, the wide array of spinoffs obviously proves that.
If the creators had instead decided to move ahead with the Quantico name, sure, it would have fit the show, as it does with the 2015 iteration. But it also clearly wouldn’t have stood out enough. It simply wasn’t memorable and didn’t have the impact needed. In fact, the similarities between the twisting Criminal Minds and Quantico, and the fact that Criminal Minds could have been called Quantico without changing the narrative at all, shows how generic the Quantico name actually is. It’s very rare that a series really thrives when it’s just named after a random place. Although there are always exceptions to the rule, like Atlanta, when specifically looking at this genre, a more definable name is needed.
When looking at shows like Criminal Minds and Quantico, there are a lot of series that add colons like LA, or New York, after the main titles. Locations in this genre are often an afterthought; a way to showcase that the premise will remain the same, but there will be new characters and conflicts in a different setting. In some ways, Quantico sounds as if it could be a spinoff of a franchise, whereas Criminal Minds very much sounds like the main IP itself. History would have been quite different if the often real Criminal Minds had been titled Quantico, and the link between the two shows is fun to look at today. But the parallels between the shows and their very different fates indicate how influential a name can be.
