Prentiss's Departure (Spoiler)

If you've not seen this week's episode of Criminal Minds where Paget Brewster's character Emily Prentiss got written out of the show for this season, go watch it someplace and then come back. Really.

.
.
.
.

Ready? Okay. 

So they're finally wrapping up Prentiss's former undercover life coming back to haunt her after a few episodes of her living in fear of some crazy Irishman who, as it turns out, was avenging his son's death, who's revealed in the episode that he wasn't (dead, that is). DUH.

While watching I wasn't happy that she "died" on the operating table but I thought the send-off was pretty good; so much so I nearly shed a tear. But I didn't, because I know she wasn't getting killed off because of that behind the door scene between JJ and Hotch where you don't hear what's being said but you know something is up. I was relieved when we all find out that she wasn't actually dead dead when she (you don't see the face, but you see her nails) and JJ meet in Paris and got 3 passports, bank accounts, etc to be comfortable in Europe. Whether she'll be back once the Ian Doyle character is dead or locked up for good, I doubt it. But I think Ian Doyle might come back at some point since he evaded capture.

Nice touches were that the episode was directed by co-star Matthew Gray Gubler and the brief return of JJ (AJ Cook).

Now I really want to see the opening montage of next week's episode - to see whether they photoshopped Paget Brewster out of the final cast lineup at the end like they did everyone else that's left.

Am I the only one that has no idea why Rachel Nichols' character Seaver is doing on the show? Never mind that her character's father was a serial killer, but she's still pretty much a probie, isn't she? 

I have no idea what the bigwigs were thinking, replacing departed cast members with people with pretty similar facial features - it's like all that recasting on Bewitched, which no one was fooled by.