The Best Time Kirsten Vangsness Broke Character In Criminal Minds

Since its debut in 2005, the CBS crime drama "Criminal Minds" has maintained a reputation for telling some truly terrifying stories. However, for as scary as the serial killers who tend to be at the heart of each episode are, the skilled profilers of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit are (almost) always able to save the day. And they could never do it without their tech expert Penelope Garcia, played by Kirsten Vangsness.

Clad in vibrant clothes and armed with a cheery attitude, Garcia stands out as the odd duck in the midst of the rest of the profilers, who are usually seen wearing neutral shades. But her inappropriate jokes and shiny stationery are only a distraction from the genius that lay beneath. Her hacking skills are, quite literally, off the charts, and if there is any information hiding in some corner of the internet that needs to be uncovered, she always knows how to find it. While there is much to be said about how unbelievable Garcia's computer system and skills are, one has to admit, Vangsness makes it all seem real.

So, it doesn't come as a surprise that Vangsness herself had one or two deliberate goof-ups while filming "Criminal Minds," especially while delivering a tense scene. 

In Season 2, Episode 10 of "Criminal Minds," Jason Gideon (Mandy Patinkin), Dr. Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler), and Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster) head to Guantanamo Bay to interrogate a terrorist to try and stop an attack in the U.S. With stakes so high and several lives dependent on the BAU's success, the case is undeniably tense. This, of course, makes a character-breaking moment from the episode all the more enjoyable. 

During the episode, JJ (A.J. Cook) is seen with Garcia in her tech cave assisting the team. In an attempt to find the details about a large-scale attack using anthrax, the duo collaborates with the CIA. It is then that they come across a report detailing 20 grams of missing anthrax from a facility and realize the monstrous scale of the attack. "It could potentially kill half a billion people," Garcia says softly. This is followed by a dramatic exchange of shocked and scared looks between the two before the episode moves on to another scene.

In the gag reel version, however, this tension is childishly poked fun at when, after looking intensely at each other, Kirsten Vangsness and A.J. Cook lean toward each other and stop just shy of a kiss. They then burst into laughter, completely changing the energy in the room. Though, with Garcia's reputation of making inappropriate jokes work, this did not seem completely out of character.