On August 21, it was revealed that season 10 of Criminal Minds will feature an episode paying tribute to actor Meshach Taylor, who was Joe Mantegna's close friend.

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In season 8, Taylor, played the part of Harrison Scott, a former Marine saregeant who has had to live off the street after serving in Vietnam, where he was joined by David Rossi (Mantegna).

Taylor made another appearance in season 9 in which he meets Rossi again. The actor succumbed to cancer and died in June.

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Mantegna, who has known Taylor for 40 years now, will be directing the tribute episode which will conclude Scott's story on the show.

Erica Messer, the executive producer of the show, spoke about the special episode to Entertainment Weekly.

"Joe felt he would really like to finish that story that we started," she said. "It's a huge deal for Joe because he and Meshach were friends for over 40 years, but also for Meshach's career because the last acting thing he did was work with one of his best friends. Joe really wanted to honor the friendship and Meshach's professional life and bring closure to the story. We're going to do that almost midway through the season. It'll be really touching."

The second and final part of the season 9 finale, Demons, aired on Wednesday, May 14 on CBS at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Season 10 will premiere on CBS on October 1.

Watch the preview for Demons here:

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Criminal Minds, CBS, Television