dropped its Spencer Reid drug addiction arc, and many viewers wondered why. An original member of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) in the show, the character (played by Matthew Gray-Gubler) was known for his smarts. But, Reid's life wasn't a walk in the park; while all characters on went through a lot, he's arguably had the most traumatizing experiences among them.
Throughout his 15-season arc on , Reid was in several near-death experiences. One of the most memorable instances happened fairly early in season 2, episode 15, titled "Revelations." In it, psychotic serial killer kidnapped Reid and proceeded to torture and drug him for two days straight until the BAU rescued him. While Reid survived, he developed an addiction to Dilaudid — a narcotic pain killer.
Despite showing Reid overcoming his substance abuse, the whole narrative wasn't properly tackled. In fact, there were merely a handful of episodes that mentioned his personal struggle, and even they only vaguely referred to it. There's no clear reason why didn't follow through with the set-up regarding its Spencer Reid drug addiction, other than claims that Gubler personally requested for the plot line to be dropped.
Gubler has stated in interviews that Reid has "
" and therefore if the show needed an excuse to stop him from helping the BAU, they could've easily had the character take a hiatus for his mental health. Instead, incorporating a Spencer Reid drug addiction plotline posed a couple of storytelling issues on . Aside from distracting Reid from actively doing his job, there would also be complications regarding keeping his job, as his addiction could have also seen him suspended if not outright fired. As previously mentioned, was important to the BAU; a lot of the team's cases were solved thanks to his intellect, and it would be a massive loss if he had been suspended or dismissed from the FBI.
