‘Criminal Minds’ Season 12 Cancellation News: Thomas Gibson Returns To CBS Drama As Ratings Continue To Drop?

"Criminal Minds" Season 12 has seen one of the biggest changes, as Hotch left the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU). CBS decided to fire actor Thomas Gibson due to an issue behind-the-scenes, but it looks like fans are not so happy with the network's decision. Will the show be canceled or will the network bring Gibson back to the series?

This article contains spoilers. Read on if you want to learn more about the details of this story.

"Criminal Minds" Season 12 cancellation news reveals that the show continues to experience an extreme drop in ratings following the departure of Thomas Gibson as Hotch. According to TV Series Finale, the latest episode of the show received a 1.30 rating in the 18-49 demographics, which is 16.67 percent lower than the previous episode.

On average, the "Criminal Minds" Season 12 rating is 1.57, which is 12.18 percent lower than last season's average. The viewership also dropped to 7.995 million.

As most fans know, a show's ratings greatly determine whether a series would get renewed or canceled for another season. In the case of "Criminal Minds" Season 12, fans stopped watching after CBS fired Gibson.

Pop Crush reports that fans have started a protest in response to Gibson's firing from "Criminal Minds" Season 12 as Hotch. According to the publication, fans started trending the hashtag, "#NoHotchNoWatch."

It can be recalled that CBS announced Gibson's departure from "Criminal Minds" Season 12 because of a verbal and physical dispute with a writer. Many fans were against the network's decision to fire him over this incident.

Fans believed that Hotch was the main character of "Criminal Minds" Season 12. Therefore, if his character goes, then so should the series.

This leaves the network with two choices over the fate of "Criminal Minds" Season 12: renew or cancel the show or bring Thomas Gibson back. The show still has 8 episodes left before it concludes its season run.

Should CBS cancel "Criminal Minds" Season 12 or should they bring Thomas Gibson back? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!