Why The Relationships On Criminal Minds Had Fans Scratching Their Heads

There have been 15 seasons of the hit show "Criminal Minds," and it's accumulated a sort of cult-like following over the years, proving to be a binge-worthy show for many viewers. Each season is worth watching more than once, and people have no issue doing so, thus getting to know the characters more and more with every rewatch and feeling close to them as if they were true friends.

As with any show good enough to accumulate that many seasons and gain the title of "comfort show" from a few Redditors, such as u/Jayyyrabbit, more and more of the smaller details have been spotted over time. Things missed in an episode on the first run-through might come to light when given another watch. Some of these easy-to-miss tidbits come not in the form of filming or acting but as parts of the storyline that have some viewers a little confused.

"Criminal Minds" has a team of agents in the Behavioral Analysis Unit famous for their close-knit relationships and trust among one another. Often, the group refers to each other as family, given they spend more time with one another than they do with their real families. However, there's something unusual about their claims to be a family, as several Reddit users have pointed out. One user, u/fernandabrigoni, said "If there's one thing I can't really understand is that the team always say they're a family, but when it comes to personal lives, they hide everything!"  

It isn't out of the ordinary for colleagues to keep details about their personal lives private, but the members of the BAU claim to be a family, so keeping so much from one another seems abnormal. Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner (Thomas Gibson) keeps his separation from his wife, Haley (Meredith Monroe), a secret from the team after she leaves him and takes their son at the end of the Season 3, Episode 2, titled "In Name and Blood." Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler) hides his relationship with his girlfriend, Maeve (Beth Riesgraf) for months. The secrecy within the so-called family dynamic has left a lot of fans confused, and for good reason.

At first, a family keeping details about their personal lives from one another seems a little odd. Still, many fans have guessed at why exactly there are so many secrets. Redditor u/mccabebabe speculates that "Reid: is just a relatively private person to begin with," which does explain why he may be apprehensive to share some of the more personal details about his life.

While u/Ok-Painting4471 said "Of course they were family and I imagine that they did trust each other a lot, but I think there's just some things that people don't tell each other," before going on to point out that "Hotch was the leader at that time and probably viewed his ongoing divorce as something that wasn't exactly appropriate to talk to about his subordinates." The same fan also highlights how "JJ did take a while to admit [her relationship], but her team knew about it anyways. As for Maeve, Blake knew about her but I'm guessing Reid didn't really feel the need to tell everyone else," again pointing out that privacy may just be a personality trait for some.

The team could be keeping certain aspects of their lives private from one another in an attempt to maintain some sort of work-life balance that seems near impossible for a criminal profiler. Or they could be maintaining a low profile for the safety of their loved ones.