Exclusive Criminal Minds Sneak Peek: Rossi Gets Some Terrible News

Joyce Eng
Joe Mantegna | Photo Credits: Cliff Lipson/CBS

Rossi is saying goodbye to one of his own on Criminal Minds.

On Wednesday's episode, just as Rossi (Joe Mantegna) is about to unplug for a vacation with his daughter Joy (Amber Stevens), Garcia (Kirsten Vangness) comes barging in with an emergency call: His former Marine sergeant Harrison Scott (Meshach Taylor) has died. "Bone cancer," Rossi says in the exclusive sneak peek above. "He never said a word."

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The episode, which was directed by Mantegna, will pay tribute to Taylor -- a long-time friend of the actor's -- and had been in the works since Taylor died in June of colorectal cancer. "Joe really wanted to honor Meshach and I think we found a really great way to do that and conclude Harrison Scott's story," executive producer Erica Messer tells TVGuide.com. "It's a very moving episode."

Criminal Minds airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on CBS.

(Full disclosure: TVGuide.com is owned by CBS.)