The Most Illegal Thing Morgan Ever Did On Criminal Minds

CBS has been the leader in police procedurals in the past few decades with a lineup that includes "NCIS," "FBI," "Blue Bloods," and "CSI." In 2005, another show in that genre, "Criminal Minds," made its debut, centering around the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit over a span of 15 seasons. The BAU assisted law enforcement agencies around the country in the search for the worst that humanity has to offer.

Paramount to the series were the members of the team. While there was a veritable revolving door of members that initially included Jason Gideon (Mandy Patinkin) and Lola Glaudini (Elle Greenway), the series replaced both early on. They had later additions with Aisha Tyler and Jennifer Love Hewitt. However, a few mainstays remained on the team for the majority of the series. Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore) was one of the team members who endeared himself to audiences and became a fan favorite, sometimes leading when team leader Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner (Thomas Gibson) needed him to, and mentoring the brilliant Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler) on wooing women.

Derek Morgan grew up in Chicago and witnessed the death of his father, a police officer who was shot and killed in the line of duty. He specializes in explosives, fixations, and obsessive behaviors. He is a straight-laced and honorable agent, focused on keeping people safe, especially those he cares for. However, even though he is an officer of the law and bound by duty and honor, he isn't above breaking the law.

Derek Morgan puts a lot of faith in catching and prosecuting the right criminal as someone who upholds the system. He and the rest of the BAU use their deep scientific knowledge to track and apprehend some of the worst criminals in the country. However, in Season 2, Episode 12, "Profiler, Profiled," the Supervisory Special Agent found himself on the other side of the system.

When Morgan returns home to Chicago to visit his family for his mother's birthday, the police arrest him. He is accused of killing three young boys. The BAU team, of course, comes to his defense and launches an investigation to find the real killer. During the investigation, Hotch believes Morgan is hiding information. They uncover a sealed juvenile record, and he admits that he was abused as a young man by Carl Buford. Before the team can exonerate him, Morgan escapes the police and evades them. He discovers Buford is still abusing young men and confronts them.

While the juvenile record shows that he isn't squeaky clean, Morgan shows over and over that he holds the law in high esteem. He has dedicated his life to ensuring the system works. That makes his highly illegal and dangerous evasion of custody not only out of character but serious enough to have caused some serious blowback from his superiors. Still, this episode caused many fans to consider Morgan the best on the series and the character with the best backstory.