Mega Buzz: Get the Details on the Criminal Minds Spin-Off!

What brings Gary Sinise to the BAU?

Criminal Minds will air the backdoor pilot for its spin-off on April 8, starring the former CSI: NY star as Jack Garrett, the head of an international BAU unit. After a family of four is abducted on a shuttle on the Caribbean island, his squad, which includes Breaking Bad's Anna Gunn, teams up with Hotch & Co.

"We find out that this unsub eluded Jack's team two years ago. He killed a family in Aruba and it [haunts] Jack that they weren't able to catch him," executive producer Erica Messer tells TVGuide.com. "Last year, he got away from the BAU when he killed a family in Florida and now this year, he's striking in Barbados, and we're gonna get these two teams together to finally catch this guy."

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While Jack's crew will be new to viewers, they definitely won't be to the domestic BAU -- nor will there be any sort of rivalry either. "They all are very aware of one another. There's no, 'Who's that?' 'Can we really work together?' or 'Why are we doing this with you?'" Messer says. "They're all the best at their jobs. We go all over the country. These guys go all over the world. There's a familiarity between all of them, but they never get a chance to work together until now."

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