Shemar Moore Won't Be Returning for the 'Criminal Minds' Finale

The series finale of the very much loved series, "Criminal Minds" airs on February 19, and sadly, Shemar Moore will not be making an appearance.

It's been a long ride for the cast and fans of "Criminal Minds" After fifteen seasons, the show is finally coming to an end.

Many fans expected a surprise return by one of the show's favorites, Shemar Moore as Derek Morgan, unfortunately, that will not be happening.

The Showrunner of the much-coveted series, Erica Messer told TVline sometime in January that Moore won't be making a final appearance, due to his busy schedule on the set of another show, "S.W.A.T." She said:

"I've been asked if Shemar is coming back, and it's no, He's very busy shooting S.W.A.T."

Even though Derek won't be on the show for one last time, a lot of other favorites will be returning for the finale. George Foyet (C. Thomas Howell), Maeve Donovan (Beth Riesgraf), and Erin Strauss (Jaune Atkinson) will all be making an appearance in the finale.

Shemar decided to leave for reasons best understood by him.

Shemar Moore's appearance would have been a good one to help Messer's aim of recognizing the importance of the history of the series, but she was able to achieve that with other cast members. In her words:

"Again, I wanted to be able to acknowledge the history of the series, certainly in that finale, and was able to do it in a different way."

It would have been possible for Shemar Moore to return for the series finale, considering the fact that he wasn't killed off, nor was he fired from the show.

Shemar decided to leave for reasons best understood by him. When queried about his exit from the show, he explained that he decided to leave to try other things and find out what else he's capable of.

Moore has been occupied with his C.B.S series, "S.W.A.T," and he's doing very well. Even though it would have been really nice for fans to get to see him one more time to get closure, everyone can take comfort in the fact that Derek lives on, and Shemar is doing fine.