His return had been teased months earlier without giving away the tragic context, and according to A.J. Cook, she was the one who reached out to her former co-star to see if he could come back after conversations with showrunner Erica Messer. On the subject of what it was like to be back on set with Gubler, Cook told EW:

Gubler returned to his role as Dr. Spencer Reid for the “Time to Say Goodbye” episode of the long-running drama

Fans of the show, which is a spinoff and continuation of the original "Criminal Minds" series, had some strong reactions to the plot move and worried about how it will affect Will's wife JJ Jareau (A.J. Cook). "Criminal Minds I will not forgive you for doing this to JJ," one wrote on X.