Popular procedural drama Criminal Minds premiered in 2005 and ended in 2020 after 15 action-packed seasons. The major reason for the show's success was the chemistry between its cast members, and there were a few who didn't last within the ensemble for various reasons. One of them was Jeanne Tripplehorn, who played Alex Blake starting with Season 8.
Season 8 saw Blake added to the cast in the wake of Emily Prentiss' departure. The character was also another strong female agent, and she formed a bond with Dr. Spencer Reid (played by fan-favorite Matthew Gray Gubler). However, the Season 9 finale was also the end of Blake's tenure with the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) and Tripplehorn's run on Criminal Minds. But why did Blake leave Criminal Minds on short notice? All signs point to a mutual decision that ending her tenure after two seasons was the right call.
Who Was Alex Blake on Criminal Minds?
Dr. Alex Blake was a forensic linguistics professor at Georgetown and a veteran FBI linguist when she joined the BAU in season 8. Working for the FBI since she was just 24, Blake knew longtime Criminal Minds characters David Rossi and Aaron Hotchner, and had a friendship with Reid because he had guest lectured to her class at Georgetown.
Blake was largely well-received by Criminal Minds viewers. She had a wit that rivaled Reid's and fans enjoyed seeing Reid have an almost equal in intelligence on the team. Due to her experience in the FBI and her previously been acquainted with some of the unit, she fit in with the other characters naturally. The only exception was Erin Strauss -- because Strauss was the reason that Blake had originally left the FBI years earlier.
Blake's character arc heavily involved restoring her reputation with the FBI. In a previous case, Strauss let Blake take the fall over a linguistics mistake that led to the arrest of the wrong suspect. This led to some serious tension between the two when Blake returned and joined the BAU, but that didn't have anything to do with why Blake's time on the show was relatively short-lived.
Why Did Jeanne Tripplehorn Leave Criminal Minds?
Tripplehorn left Criminal Minds in a non-dramatic way, which was befitting for her always even-keeled character. Her contract with the show was up and after two seasons, she was ready to leave Alex Blake behind. Executive producer Erica Messer told TV Guide that she and the actress got together to decide what they wanted to do with Blake and decided that a "big, flashy, exit episode" just wasn't in the cards for a character who "came in nicely and she left nicely."
Blake's exit was subtle but heartbreaking. Fans finally learned why she was so private about her personal life in the two-part Season 9 finale, entitled "Angels" and "Demons." Reid was shot and as Blake moved to help him, she called him Ethan. After the case ended, Blake told Rossi about Ethan -- her nine-year-old son who had died of an unknown neurological disease. The trauma from reliving her son's death and almost losing Reid proved to be too much for Blake, who quietly left her badge with Reid. Criminal Minds' Season 10 premiere, which is largely considered to be one of the weakest in the series, revealed that she had returned to teaching in Boston (hinting at a possible reunion with her husband James, who had previously taken a position at Harvard University).
As for Tripplehorn, she starred as Sylvia Chamberlain in HBO's period drama The Gilded Age and will also be seen as a series regular in the upcoming Prime Video series The Terminal List. But her character on Criminal Minds remains fondly remembered, so maybe she'll make a guest appearance in Season 2 of the spinoff Criminal Minds: Evolution, which has already brought back several original cast members.