The summer hiatus is in full swing with the biggest shows on network television on break until their fall returns, but FBI: Most Wanted delivered some big changes that may remain on fans’ minds for quite some time. After the death of Agent Jess LaCroix, the first FBI spinoff recruited Law & Order: Organized Crime actor Dylan McDermott, who went from playing the big bad of OC to the lead agent of the task force on Most Wanted. Richard Wheatley and Agent Remy Scott couldn’t be much more different, but the actor shared one way that playing Wheatley on OC inspired him as Remy.
Dylan McDermott spoke with CinemaBlend for the highly dangerous Season 3 finale, which aired before the news that the fugitive task force was losing another agent. Ahead of hiatus, I noted that something particularly notable about Remy is that he brings a new kind of humor to a show that gets pretty dark, with my personal favorite being the straight-faced reveal that he loves Kevin James movies. After confirming that he loves playing the humor, McDermott explained his motivation and the Organized Crime inspiration:
I studied this show before I joined it, and like you – there's not a lot of humor. I was like, 'You know, this show really needs some fun times. Nobody's having any fun.' So I was like, 'I'm gonna bring my jokes, because I was having fun on Organized Crime doing that.' I was like, 'You know what? I'm just gonna bring my humor to this show,' because I really enjoy having fun and cracking jokes and coming up with stuff and writing. I like to improv and write stuff before I do a scene and kind of add little jokes here and there. I just think it's so important for people to laugh because the subject matter is so dire and so dark. In life with real cops, they're always joking, because of that, because of the circumstances they're in. I just think it's really important to have both, you know. That you can have these really horrific cases, but at the same time, you can still have a laugh.
The cases of FBI: Most Wanted don’t exactly leave a lot of room for pranks or slapstick shenanigans, which is also true for Law & Order: Organized Crime. Over on NBC’s OC, Wheatley was cracking jokes as a villain, whereas Most Wanted features Remy bringing some humor to lighten up some very grim circumstances. The character even came to Most Wanted with a tragic backstory and complicated situation with his mom and sister, but he loves those Kevin James movies!
The show really did need a little bit of extra lightness by the time that McDermott debuted in Season 3, which was in the aftermath of Jess’ heartbreaking death and Barnes’ decision to step away to take advantage of her maternity leave and mourn her dear friend. The actor has weighed in on what he imagines for Remy’s dynamic with Barnes when Season 4 picks up and she is presumably back, after actress Roxy Sternberg took her real-life maternity leave.
Whether or not Dylan McDermott will get to continue bringing some lightness to the dark cases as Remy remains to be seen, but he certainly settled into his role at FBI: Most Wanted in what could have been a jarring transition from playing a villain on one Dick Wolf show to playing a hero on a different Dick Wolf show. He did have the benefit of filming Remy’s introduction to the rest of the team as his very first scene on Most Wanted, adding a sense of truth to the development.
The very good news for fans who are already ready for the show to return is that more than just one more season is guaranteed. Along with FBI and FBI: International, FBI: Most Wanted received a renewal for two more seasons, bringing it up to at least five seasons on CBS. The CBS fall schedule reveals that the FBIs will return to dominate Tuesday nights, and fans can always revisit the first three Most Wanted seasons streaming with a Paramount+ subscription over the next few months.
