Criminal Minds
In time of year 13 ofCriminal Minds , Linda Barnes ( Kim Rhodes ) perplexed viewing audience when she promoted JJ Jareau ( A.J. Cook ) to the role of Unit Chief of the FBI ’s Behavioral Analysis Unit . The CBS series keep up the lives of FBI agent who work in the BAU , a especial unit that treat unique serial killer grammatical case . As a long - running show , Criminal Mindshas had cast members get and go , and the series acquire from a standard law adjective to having villains with longer arcs , including Linda Barnes .
Linda Barnes is introduced inCriminal Mindsseason 13 , instalment 13 , " curative " . She is the Assistant Director of National Security for the FBI , and it is revealed that Barnes is the understanding the International Response Team was dissolve . The IRT was the focus of thebestCriminal Mindsspin - offCriminal Minds : Beyond Borders . The show was canceled by CBS in 2017 , just months before Linda Barnes appears onCriminal Minds . She instantly raises crimson flag with characters when it is suspected that Barnes plans to alter how the BAU operates from the inside .
Linda Barnes Promoted JJ Because She Was The Easiest To Control
As shortly as Linda Barnes is introduced inCriminal Minds , it is clear that she is a micromanager , something the BAU squad is not accustomed to . While supervising the team , Barnes promotes JJ to replace Emily Prentiss ( Paget Brewster ) as Acting Unit Chief . Even though JJ is a fan - favorite character and has been onCriminal Mindssince the show first premiered , her promotional material was met with confusion . At the time , there were other character who were more dependent , and it appeared as if Barnes had subterranean motives for her determination .
Overall , Barnes desire to cut off how the BAU functioned in Holy Order to keep her confidence over the unit of measurement . In doing so , she force David Rossi ( Joe Mantegna ) to retire and keeps Dr. Spencer Reid ( Matthew Gray Gubler ) at arm ’s length since he has a history of rebelliousness . By promoting JJ , Barnes picked who she think would be the gentle to control . Even if JJ was not happy with Barnes ' style , Barnes wear JJ would at least follow protocol instead of externally call into question her legal opinion .
Barnes Was Responsible For Her Own Undoing On The BAU Team
While Linda Barnes was remorseless in prove to wring from power over the BAU , her reign did not last long . rather of isolating the squad members , Barnes ' architectural plan backfired , and the BAU band together to arrogate her . InCriminal Mindsseason 13 , episode 16 , " Last Gasp , " Barnes starts rejecting case outright after repeatedly making miserable decisions . alternatively of listen to her , the BAU team decides to knead on a case without distinguish her . They are successful in solve it , and they ensure that the BAU is no longer in danger of being disband or underutilized .
When it ’s clear that Barnes is creditworthy for compromise the efficiency of the building block , she is removed as supervisor of the BAU . Her ousting issue forth only four episodes after her creation , present how ill her micromanaging worked . As far as antagonists go , Linda Barnes is one ofCriminal Minds ' most thwarting , and that ’s potential why she did n’t last long on the show .
