Spoilers ahead for Episode 8 of FBI Season 5 on November 22, called “Into the Fire.”
Agent Maggie Bell officially returned to the job on FBI Season 5 last week, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing in her first episode due to OA having some doubts about whether she was fully ready to jump back into action. While that tension carried over in “Into the Fire,” they made a breakthrough by the end of the episode that may mean the duo will be back to their dynamic norm again.
Storylines don’t always carry over from episode to episode in procedural series like FBI, but “Into the Fire” made it clear that OA was still dealing with issues about Maggie going back into the field. Nobody else seemed to be nervous about it, and (as addressed by actress Missy Peregrym ahead of the episode) Maggie was downright frustrated with his reactions after it seemed like she'd already proved that she’s 100% ready in the previous episode.
Then came the reveal: he was overreacting because he felt guilty and blamed himself for Maggie’s sarin gas exposure, and that has apparently been eating at him ever since April. She clearly had no idea before his confession, and immediately told him that it wasn’t his fault, he didn’t do anything wrong, and it was nobody’s fault at the end of the day. She pointed out that they make a really great team and asked if they could get back to that, and he agreed that he’d like that. Back on good terms, they headed out to get a drink.
So, was their chat (combined with Maggie showing off in two episodes now that she’s fully ready for the risks of the job) enough for FBI to go back to normal with their partnership? The show does sometimes mix up the partnerships, but the usual pairings before the sarin gas incident were OA/Maggie and Scola/Tiff. Now that Nina is gone from the team, the foursome may be able to settle back into the roles and dynamics that have worked so well for them. Zeeko Zaki even previously opened up about how OA might have handled trauma differently if Maggie had been around.
That’s not to say that they won’t switch partners or work more as a group than two pairs at times, but FBI taking this time over two episodes to focus on OA and Maggie’s relationship and then resolve their tension suggests that they’ll be sticking together as the season continues. The only bad news for fans may be that FBI is nearly out of episodes for 2022.
The next episode will also be the last of the year. Called “Fortunate Son” and airing on CBS on December 13 at 8 p.m. ET, it will see the return of Nina for the first time since she learned she was pregnant and moved to the white-collar division of the FBI, which likely means a big episode for Scola.
Whether FBI will leave fans wanting more ASAP with a cliffhanger at the end of the midseason finale remains to be seen, but CBS has already revealed that viewers won’t have to wait too long into the new year for the show’s return in the 2023 TV premiere schedule. FBI will be back on Tuesday, January 3 in its normal 8 p.m. ET time slot on CBS. If you won’t want to go weeks without any FBI action, you can revisit past episodes streaming with a Paramount+ subscription.
