Paget Brewster has agreed to return to Criminal Minds for the long-running crime show’s 200th episode.
Brewster played Emily Prentiss on the series, but left after the show’s seventh season last year. She had decided to return to sitcoms, starring in an ABC pilot called Spy, which the network decided not to move forward with.
That was actually her second attempt to leave the show for a comedy pilot. After the fifth season, she was supposed to have a reduced role in Criminal Minds, but that pilot was not picked up either and she returned to the show full-time.
“Our 200th episode is going to be a special show,” executive producer and showrunner Erica Messer said in a statement released by CBS. “We can’t imagine telling this story without Paget being present.”
The 200th episode will feature a look at JJ Jareau (A.J. Cook) and her year away from the team, which will help them solve a current crime. The show also stars Joe Mantegna, Thomas Gibson, Shemar Moore, Matthew Gray Gubler, Kirsten Vangsness and Jeanne Tripplehorn.
“[Episode] 200 is flashback-heavy, but with things fans who've watched all 199 will be happy with,” Messer told TV Guide.com recently. "Our goal is to reward everyone who's been with us for 200 episodes."
Criminal Minds airs on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. and the 200th episode is slated for February.