It would appear that this time it's for real. Paget Brewster, who played Special Agent Emily Prentiss on six seasons of the show (she joined in Season 2), announced in February that she was leaving to pursue "other opportunities."

That explanation, given to entertainment-news website Deadline.com, may sound cold, but it appears the departure was on fairly good terms.

"After six wonderful years playing Emily Prentiss, I have decided it's time for me to move on," she said.

"Criminal Minds" executive producer Erica Messer responded with her own statement. "We were all sad to hear the news, but we respect and support any decision Emily wants to make. Personally, I'm a huge fan and will continue to be one wherever she goes."

Prentiss was written off at the end of last season, telling the team she was taking a job at Interpol in London.

As you point out, though, this is the second time the character is leaving. Prentiss was supposedly killed at the end of Season 6, though it turned out to be staged. She returned the next fall, though she said in the finale that she'd been thinking of quitting the team for real ever since.

Episodes of the show usually begin and end with a pensive voiceover by one of the characters, and in Brewster's final episode, her character gets the honor. In a fitting signoff, she says: "I've always heard every ending is also a new beginning and we just don't know it at the time. I'd like to believe that's true."

Executive producer Messer hopes this isn't really the end, though. She told TVGuide.com that she'd like to bring Brewster back for a guest spot, though it likely won't happen for a while.

In the meantime, the character will remain alive in the show through dialogue at least. "We'll mention her as often as possible. She's gonna be loved." This practice began in the very first episode of the new season, when Garcia says Prentiss will be sending them a "tea of the month" from England.

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