The Short-Lived Criminal Minds Character Fans Agree Had The Best Scenes With Reid

While the primary focus of "Criminal Minds" is undoubtedly the BAU team's cat-and-mouse pursuit of dangerous unsubs, it's the show's characters that kept viewers tuning in throughout its 15-year run. Fans grew attached to regular team members including Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster), Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore), Aaron Hotchner (Thomas Gibson), Jennifer "JJ" Jareau (A. J. Cook), and Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness). But it's Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler) who consistently seems to be fans' favorite character.

Reid is the only character to appear in all 323 episodes of "Criminal Minds" (via IMDb). The socially awkward special agent with three PhDs is charming, sympathetic, eccentric, and an ingenious analyst. Because of the richness of "Criminal Minds" character interrelations, fans never tire of debating the best Reid relationships, whether they be with professional partners, romantic interests, surrogate parents, or unsubs. Of the numerous short-term characters who come and go over the course of the show's run, there's one who fans agree shares the best scenes with Reid.

According to a voter poll on Reddit, fans least enjoyed the chemistry shared between Reid and Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) Kate Callahan (Jennifer Love Hewitt), who placed fourth in the poll. Kate joins the BAU team in Season 10 and confides in Reid about the deaths of her sister and brother-in-law in the 9/11 Pentagon attack in the episode "A Thousand Suns." Narrowly beating Kate in third place was Dr. Tara Lewis (Aisha Tyler), who appears in the show from Seasons 11 through 15, while Supervisory Special Agent Elle Greenaway (Lola Glaudini), who specializes in sexual offense crimes in the show's first two seasons, took second place in the poll. 

The runaway winner among fans, earning more than twice the votes of the other three candidates combined, was SSA Alex Blake (Jeanne Tripplehorn) who appears in Seasons 8 and 9 of "Criminal Minds." Having graduated from Berkeley with a double major and specializing in linguistics, perhaps it's not a surprise that Blake hits it off so well with Reid, a word-lover and avid reader whose many college degrees include Sociology, Psychology, and Philosophy. 

Reddit user IisforIda was unequivocal in their decision, declaring, "Blake, no contest." User wthcharlie was also team Blake: "Blake has been a great friend, colleague, and mother figure to Reid. Especially when we learned that he reminded her of her son." The support for Blake and Reid's relationship went on and on throughout the thread, with another user, EmpressJess, stating, "I feel like Blake really got Reid and vice versa. I loved their friendship." "Criminal Minds" fans clearly love Reid and his meaningful and supportive relationships with his BAU colleagues, with Blake and Reid's friendship a standout.