Pictured: Paget Brewster, who ended her run on CRIMINAL MINDS Wednesday night. Photo: Adam Larkey/CBS ©2011 ABC Studios. All Right Reserved.

Oh brother! If you were watching Criminal Minds Wednesday night, you saw the character of Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster) get the heave-ho in an utterly ridiculous way.

This was supposed to be Brewster’s final episode, but the writers left the door wide open for her return…and the return of A.J. Cook, who played Special Agent Jennifer JJ Jareau on the series.

The episode centered around Prentiss and her near decade-old undercover relationship with a brutal IRA member. He was jailed, escaped and was tracking Prentiss with revenge in mind for her part in sending him to prison.

Flashbacks were tossed in to clarify the events that led them all to this point. And, in the end, she’s killed…but not really. In fact, she walks off with the entire team believing she’s dead…except for JJ (who won’t be interacting with her former team in the near future either because she too was axed from the show).

Perhaps the producers played it cagy because they finally heard the screams of outrage from fans. The audience is bent that the two regulars were given the boot and the young, blonde Ashley Sever (Rachel Nichols) was added to the team as a replacement. Actually Nichols is a sort of A.J. Cook-light, which has been especially galling to the fans.

Whatever the motive for the radical changes in the cast, it’s clear that the core demographic watching the drama isn’t going to get over their anger anytime soon.

Are you unhappy Brewster got the boot? How about Cook? Tell us what you think.

Posted by Mari Cartel