'Criminal Minds' Season 12: Change In Series Schedule, A Move To Recover From Thomas Gibson's Departure

 "Criminal Minds" Season 12 faced various cancellation rumors after fans of actor Thomas Gibson threatened to boycott the show if his character Aaron Hotchner will not be returned. But it appears that CBS merely ignored it and will still continue airing "Criminal Minds" Season 12 Episode 5 on a different schedule.

New reports reveal that "Criminal Minds" Season 12 Episode 5 was moved to a new schedule. Instead of airing it on Nov. 2, it will be aired on Nov. 5. It will feature the storyline of two high school students who are survived attacks. Inquisitr pointed out that the reason of said attacks could be bullying.

"Criminal Minds" Season 12 Episode 5 is titled “The Anti-Terrorism Squad" will be the first episode without Gibson, TV Line reported. To recall, the actor was fired from the show after an altercation with the show's writer. As previously reported, fans are asking the show to bring back Gibson who had been part of it for more than a decade already. But turns out, their decision was already final. Will there be an increase or decrease of viewers now that Gibson is totally out of the series?

Others speculate that the new schedule of "Criminal Minds" is one way to save the failing ratings of the series after Gibson's departure. It could indeed be an experiment if the ratings will go up. Others think that the drama of Gibson's exit could be one reason why the episode will be aired a week later. But the real reason behind the change schedule is due to the Game 7 of the World Series which will air in its timeslot.

Gibson is not the only cast who was terminated from the show. Shemar Moore, who plays Derek Morgan, also left the series last year but it was Gibons' departure that created too much buzz. The hashtags #NoHotchNoWatch, #StillMissingHotch, and others were trending on Twitter as fans tried to change the minds of "Criminal Minds" creators.

Now that Gibson is officially out of the show, how will the showrunners of "Criminal Minds" Season 2 recover? Will they be able to improve their recently plummeting rating?