Contain yourselves, baby girls, because Derek Morgan is on his way back to the Behavioral Analysis Unit. Entertainment Weekly confirmed that Shemar Moore will be appearing in the upcoming season 12 finale of Criminal Minds, which is scheduled to air on May 10 at 9 p.m.
CBS also confirmed the news on the Criminal Minds Twitter page shortly after Moore tweeted the news from his personal Twitter account.
This will be Moore’s first appearance on the show since he departed from the cast nearly a year ago, surprising fans when his character was written out of the show to spend time with his newborn son, Hank, and new wife, Savannah, after being abducted and tortured and after Savannah was nearly killed.
Moore (and Morgan’s) return will coincide with the capture of Mr. Scratch, one of the unknown subjects who was originally captured in the middle of the show’s 11th season. However, in the season finale of the 11th season, he escaped from prison and has continued to elude the team members of the BAU and has forced Hotch and his son into witness protection, which is how Thomas Gibson was written out of the show.
Moore has kept busy since leaving Criminal Minds last year. He’s continued working on his clothing line, Baby Girl, which was inspired by his nickname for Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness) on the show.
He’s also been cast in the CBS pilot for S.W.A.T., which is based off the 2003 film of the same name (and the 1975 TV show done by Aaron Spelling), according to The Hollywood Reporter. Moore will portray Daniel ‘Hondo’ Harrelson, the character that Samuel L. Jackson portrayed in the film, who’s a lieutenant within the Los Angeles Police Department in the SWAT Department, who are the last people to be called in for a crisis situation. Moore will also be credited as a producer in the drama should it be picked up to series.
Criminal Minds airs Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. The show has yet to be picked up for a 13th season, however, it’s usually picked up for new seasons in late April or early May because it’s co-owned by CBS and ABC, which makes it harder to work out new deals.