Gubler returned to his role as Dr. Spencer Reid for the “Time to Say Goodbye” episode of the long-running drama

The star also chats about being slapped by the late Linda Lavin ("what an honor") and acting opposite her sons, who play her TV sons Henry and Michael.

“It’s a joy to get to tell stories with people you love so I will always cherish any moment, big or small, that I get to hug my Criminal Minds family or slip back into my dear friend Spencer’s oversized wingtips,” Matthew Gray Gubler said in a statement obtained by TV Insider.