Emily Prentiss

Emily Elizabeth Prentiss is a longtime member of the BAU who first joined the team two episodes after Elle Greenaway resigned from the FBI for good. At the end of Season Seven, she resigned from the BAU and accepted a position with Interpol in London. She was replaced by Alex Blake, who held the position until her own departure at the end of Season Nine. The position was then taken over by Kate Callahan for the duration of Season Ten before her own departure. She rejoined the team in Season Twelve and was then promoted to Unit Chief following the resignation of Aaron Hotchner. For a time, she was placed on administrative leave and suspension, pending an investigation by Assistant Director Linda Barnes; her position taken over by Jennifer Jareau temporarily. In February 2020, Prentiss was promoted to Section Chief, a position previously held by the late Erin Strauss and later Mateo Cruz, with David Rossi assuming the position of Unit Chief in her place.

Emily Prentiss was born on October 12, 1970, at 7:12 a.m. Due to her mother's diplomatic background, Prentiss traveled a lot when she was a child, living in several Middle Eastern countries and at one point in Rome. In "Demonology", Prentiss reveals that she became pregnant as a teenager in Rome from wanting to fit in. When she went to talk to her priest, he said that if she got an abortion, she would not be welcome in the church. Her friend Matthew Benton encouraged her to go to an abortion clinic, and after the abortion, he helped her find the courage to come back to church. In "Tabula Rasa", Garcia reveals that Prentiss graduated from Garfield High School in 1989 and that she was a goth at the time. In her first appearance, she recognizes Hotch from one of his first commands: security clearances for her mother, Elizabeth Prentiss, a U.S. diplomat. Her arrival surprises both Hotch and Gideon, as neither of them had signed off on the transfer. Prentiss insists her parents have not pulled strings for her. Ultimately, she joins the team at the end of "The Last Word" on a probationary basis as a replacement for Agent Elle Greenaway. She is a graduate of Chesapeake Bay University, where she earned her B.A. in Criminal Justice ("Annihilator") and the University of Yale and has been working for the FBI for a little under ten years, primarily in the Midwest. Due to spending her early life with her parents on diplomatic missions to the Middle East, she speaks fluent Arabic and is familiar with that area's local culture. She also speaks fluent Spanish, French, Italian, and some Russian. She appears to be skilled at chess, and it is possible that she is better at the game than Reid.

. JJ once asked Prentiss how she could handle the stress from being with the BAU, especially since her last position was a desk job. Hotch concurred that she had "never blinked," and Prentiss could only reason that she "compartmentalizes better than most" ("Revelations"). After a bad date in the following episode, she admits to Morgan that she is a "nerd," despite how much she tries to hide it. For this reason, she hasn't had much success romantically. She discovers that she and Morgan share similar tastes in books when they begin discussing Kurt Vonnegut, particularly Slaughterhouse 5.

Prentiss is very level-headed and calm, sometimes it could be said that she seems to be dealing with the cases in an even more professional manner than some other members of the BAU. However, like Elle before her, Prentiss lets her own emotions get the better of her on a few occasions. She has been shown to react emotionally at the crime scenes and feels a strong surge of empathy for the victims. She also appears highly intelligent and driven. Prentiss is willing to put herself at risk to protect others and has a very sarcastic sense of humor. On the Job in Season Two In "Lessons Learned", in her first case with the team, she, Gideon, and Reid travels to Gitmo to question and help interrogate suspected terrorist Jamal Abaza behind the scenes. In, "Sex, Birth, Death", Prentiss is accused by Hotch of leaking information about a case to a congresswoman. Firmly denying this accusation, Prentiss tells Hotch that she thinks politics "makes people distrustful, hate themselves, tear families apart and damage people," implying that her home life as a child was not pleasant, due to her mother's job. In "Honor Among Thieves", Prentiss' mother comes to the team for help on a case. By the episode's end, Prentiss invites her mother to dinner, hoping to repair their strained relationship. At the end of "No Way Out II: The Evilution of Frank", BAU Section Chief Erin Strauss reveals to Prentiss that she arranged for her to join the BAU, contrary to Prentiss's belief that she was accepted on her own merit. Strauss asks Prentiss to sabotage Hotch's career by spying on him and relaying confidences back to Strauss, especially concerning Elle Greenaway's shooting of a suspect and Reid's struggle with Dilaudid. She seems to consider this offer, and the season ends with a cliffhanger.

In the episode "Minimal Loss", she and Reid are held hostage by a religious cult. When the cult leader finds out that one of them is an FBI agent, Prentiss admits her identity, partially to protect Reid, and ends up getting beaten by the leader. Prentiss antagonizes the leader by twice repeating "I can take it" to keep the rest of the team from coming in, knowing that they are listening via bugs and that it would put everyone inside of the building in danger. Later, Prentiss reassures Reid that it was not his fault and asks him not to feel guilty. In "Demonology", more of Prentiss' childhood is revealed after hearing and learning from an old friend that their childhood friend died, prompting her and the rest of the team to investigate a series of deaths involving exorcisms. In "A Shade of Gray", during a case involving the murder of a young boy, Prentiss figures out that it was the boy's older brother who had killed him instead of a different suspect.

In "Nameless, Faceless," Prentiss is the first to discover that Hotch is missing. She first tells Garcia and then Reid first but not before promising them not to tell the others working on their current case, not wanting them to be distracted. She stays with him the entire time he's at the hospital after Foyet stabs him nine times, even when the rest of the team go to retrieve his ex-wife and son, Haley and Jack. In "Outfoxed", Prentiss and Hotch visit Karl Arnold in prison to ask for his input on a current case; Prentiss even flirts to Karl to get more out of him. After the interrogation, Karl reveals that he has received communications from Foyet and that he is planning to return to make a final stand against Hotch. Karl reveals several notes featuring Foyet's signature symbol, The Eye of Providence. In "100," Prentiss began tearing up as she heard Haley being shot three times by Foyet. She's shocked to see Hotch has beaten Foyet to death. In "The Slave of Duty," Prentiss worried about Hotch before being called in. She became repeatedly disturbed by how the victims were forced to live their final moments in fear and insecurity by the unsub. She personally kicked him to the ground and as she puts her gun to his head, she tells him that when an inmate tries to have his way with him, just play along, as he forced his victims to do. In "Retaliation", Prentiss is in a car accident while transporting a prisoner to the local police station. Despite sustaining severe injuries, Prentiss manages to escape the police cruiser via the windshield and fire on the fleeing suspects as they escape. Morgan finds Prentiss on the roadside and she is taken to the hospital where she is treated for a concussion and several cuts and contusions. She insists on quickly returning to the job and plays an instrumental role in solving the case. In "The Fight", Prentiss is partnered with Mick Rawson, a member of the BAU's Red Cell team while on a case; during which they playfully flirt with each other. She is almost killed by the unsub but Rawson, who was using a sniper rifle from another rooftop, manages to shot the unsub twice and kills him. In "Exit Wounds", Prentiss is debating on whether she should call Rawson or get a cat. She eventually gets a black cat named Sergio.

As of "Just Getting Started", Prentiss has been promoted to Section Chief, where she wrangles with the ambitious Deputy Director of the FBI for funding and resources while helping her team (now lead by Rossi) investigate a network of serial killers that they believe was formed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Notes • Prentiss was named after a great friend and fellow coworker of Criminal Minds' advisor, Jim Clemente, who wrote her first episode working full-time with the BAU, "Lessons Learned." • Prentiss' namesake later made a cameo appearance in two episodes as a victim of Floyd Feylinn Ferell. • Her original sidearm was a Glock 19. In Season Thirteen, she began using a Heckler & Koch P2000SK, beginning in the episode "Neon Terror". • She speaks Spanish ("Catching Out," "A Rite of Passage," "A Thin Line"), Arabic ("Lessons Learned"), French (Lauren), and Italian ("Demonology") fluently; she is presumed to understand Russian well enough to watch the original 1972 film Solaris with Reid ("Sense Memory"), although her Russian, to her admittance, is "not very good" ("Honor Among Thieves"). • She also has at least some basic knowledge of more Eastern European languages, like Romanian ("Bloodline"). • Her transfer to the BAU was not known to Hotch, and he was caught off guard when she reported for duty. • Her first case was in the episode "Lessons Learned", where she helped to interrogate Jamal Abaza behind the scenes.

• According to Reid, she was born on October 12 at 7:12 a.m. ("Cold Comfort"). He is, however, cut off by Prentiss before he can say the year. "[N]ineteen-se-" can only be heard by viewers. • Garcia says that Prentiss graduated from Garfield High School in 1989 ("Tabula Rasa"). This places her birth year anywhere from 1970 to 1972. Due to her birthday being October, she was likely born in 1972. • During her funeral, her tombstone can be seen. The date of birth listed on the tombstone is October 12, 1970. ("Lauren") • At the age of fifteen, she was impregnated (the father being implied as childhood friend John Cooley) and had an abortion in Italy ("Demonology"). • Her mother is an ambassador and she spent her childhood traveling all over the world. • She lived in an expensive Georgetown apartment while in college and "was determined to make it", so she worked as a waitress on the weekends, but she sucked at her job and accepted her mother's money to pay for it; both pretended that it wasn't even happening. ("The Performer"). • Has a black cat named Sergio that appeared in "Sense Memory". After her "death", Garcia took care of him until Prentiss returned in "It Takes a Village." Prentiss would later use Sergio as an excuse to her psychiatrist that she is recovering, stating that she dates him. When she leaves to London Garcia keeps him. • Incidentally, Hotch suggests "Sergio" as a name for his and Haley's then-unborn child in the pilot episode "Extreme Aggressor." • Prentiss has two tattoos which Ian Doyle asks her about before he brands her with a clover. ("Lauren") • JJ, Reid, and Garcia are the few to call Prentiss by her first name, Emily. The others just call her Prentiss, though Morgan called her Emily a few times. • She mentioned she quit caffeine to help her relax more. ("Dorado Falls") • After Morgan had mentioned Prentiss had to live in Reston, Virginia for a while, Garcia confirmed that she had rented a big house in a cul-de-sac there before they met her to be closer to Declan. Later Ian Doyle also confirmed that she likes cul-de-sacs. She once dated a golfer who owned a total of twelve putters. ("From Childhood's Hour") • Her grandfather retired to the French Alps mountains and lived there until he died. There was a 10-year stretch where he didn't come down off the mountain. He had no electricity, no running water, and his food supplies came from the land. Emily spent time with him whenever she and her mother were in France, which was often. ("Open Season")

• When feeling disillusioned and/or frustrated about a case, she likes to go to the shooting range ("Tribute," "Profiling 202"). • She once lost a bet against Morgan around Halloween for which she gave him a bottle of tequila that Morgan kept in his office. Garcia commented that the loss was "not a good look" when the two women share a drink toasting Morgan following his departure from the BAU ("Tribute"). • Prentiss is revealed to be a terrible cook on occasion. ("Flesh and Blood") • Prentiss has left and rejoined the BAU twice, a record for a main character in this show. • For the first time, she temporarily had to go into hiding from Ian Doyle in Season Six, but rejoined the team in Season Seven after Doyle's death. • For the second time, she accepted a position in Interpol at the end of Season Seven because she was unable to work with the BAU anymore (due to the complicated events with Doyle). She unofficially rejoined in Season Twelve to assist the manhunts of several escaped serial killers, then officially took up the Unit Chief position after Hotch resigned due to his son being stalked by one of the BAU's targets. • Additionally, she and the BAU twice joined forces on a case during her time at Interpol. The first was when JJ and Section Chief Mateo Cruz were abducted in Season Nine, and the second was when an international serial killer she was tracking became active in the United States in Season Eleven. • She has implied she's a survivor of sexual assault. ("Save the Children")