Former 'Criminal Minds' actor Thomas Gibson seen as Hotch in finale despite being fired and fans rejoice
In what was one of the most satisfying, gratifying and nostalgic season finale on television, 'Criminal Minds' brought back a lot of its original cast and characters to bid the final goodbye. The most shocking among them was 'Hotch'.
Thomas Gibson, who played Supervisory Special Agent Aaron 'Hotch' Hotchner made an appearance in Spencer Reid's memories after he goes unconscious, thanks to cranial hemorrhaging. The show doesn't actually bring him back, but it did give fans a very memorable goodbye. He's a part of Reid's hallucination and the show used old footage of him for the finale.
"All these Hotch flashbacks but I want the real thing," one tweeted, while another talked about getting the characters brought back in flashbacks for the finale, "The little flashbacks of the original team, and other moments with hotch, morgan and everyone else had me sobbing. I wish they were able to be brought back. At least their memories were there. I liked that little touch. They’ll always be a part of the series too."
A third one said, "They should've never got rid of Hotch, this show could've did 20yrs easily" Another chimed in, "HOTCH is here... If only Gideon was still alive" Another tweeted, "Also, I fricking love @ImThomasGibson and Hotch with my heart and soul. He made me LOVE this show. Thanks for being part of it. You’ll always have a place in my heart. #CriminalMinds."
Gibson was one of the original cast members of the show and a fan favorite. Hotch was a character on the show from 2005 to 2016, right from the start, but had to make an unprecedented exit. In 2016, Thomas Gibson (who played Hotch) got into an altercation with a writer/producer and while he apologized for the behavior, he was fired from the show. His exit hit the fandom hard. It is quite understandable why the cameo wasn't possible and recycled footage had to be used, however, fans believe it would have hit differently if Hotch was around to kiss goodbye.