With Mandy Patinkin electing to depart “Legal Minds” full-time after Season 2, and publicly expressing his lack of want to return to the franchise, it is no shock that Jason Gideon’s loss of life was dealt with the best way it was. On the very least, the minds behind “Nelson’s Sparrow” discovered a solution to give audiences extra time with the character and ship him off correctly with out Patinkin. The choice was finally made to return to the late ’70s in Gideon’s early days within the BAU. For these scenes, Ben Savage takes on the function of younger Gideon.
Not solely do these flashbacks serve to flesh out Gideon’s connection to Donnie Mallick — the topic of one in all his and David Rossi’s (Robert Dunne) first investigations — and provides the BAU staple an honest farewell, however they strengthen his connection to lots of his BAU colleagues. In an effort to seize Mallick, Rossi (Joe Mantegna) is even prepared to place his life on the road and confront him, almost being shot by his longtime buddy’s killer. Mallick and Rossi’s last showdown is a full-circle second as properly, with Rossi bringing the legal who pulled him and Gideon collectively many years in the past to justice, thus avenging his fallen buddy.
Though Jason Gideon would not spend a lot time on the forefront of “Legal Minds,” it is honest to say each Mandy Patinkin and Ben Savage’s takes on the character profit the sequence narratively and emotionally.