FBI: International is going strong in Season 2, although there has been one especially noticeable difference from the first season: Scott Forrester just hasn’t been as hands-on while investigating cases across Europe with the rest of the Fly Team. According to showrunner Derek Haas, there’s a good reason for why Forrester hasn’t been traveling the world with Kellet and Co. as much this season, and it’s not that actor Luke Kleintank is leaving the show. It’s for a happy reason!
While the fall finale takes the action to Milan and sends Vo undercover, Forrester won’t be as involved in the case as he would have been at this time last year. Speaking with Give Me My Remote, showrunner Derek Haas explained the character’s increased separation from the rest of the team in Season 2:
Luke had a baby—he’s an awesome guy and an awesome dad. And we planned this arc around the fact that [with] a newborn, he would want some time to be a dad. And, of course, as a father myself, and as anyone who works at this company will attest, we’re a big family; we’re a family-friendly organization.
Luke Kleintank is a new father, and FBI: International found a way to keep Forrester out of the cases across Europe so that the actor could spend some time with his baby. The actor (who would have quit acting if not for Law & Order: SVU) also got to work with his real-life wife on screen in Season 1, when Christina Vignaud joined her husband in a gala scene. So, for any fans who have been missing Forrester in the mix, there’s a good reason for how his story has been going!
Forrester not being as hands-on this season also isn’t just going to be ignored as Season 2 of FBI: International continues. With the FBI spinoff already returning fairly early in the 2023 TV premiere schedule, the second half of Season 2 will deliver some repercussions for the agent. Derek Haas elaborated on how the show decided to handle having less of Kleintank early on in the second season, saying:
We figured out, okay, for the episodes he’s gonna be off, let’s do two things: One we can enhance all the other characters and let them have some episodes where they can shine on their own. And two, put Forrester’s career in jeopardy. He’s being bounced around and not working with the Fly Team and he’s going to want to know why. This is going to lead to a major second half character arc.
While the other characters receiving a little bit more spotlight has been a good thing, Forrester’s decisions putting his career in jeopardy undoubtedly isn’t great news for the character once International returns in the new year. Considering that Haas described the situation as a “major second half character arc,” it’s also something that fans shouldn’t expect to just blow over by the end of the winter premiere! It should be interesting to see how open he is with the rest of the team, and how much they have his back if he lets them in.
Kellett and Forrester are usually ride-or-die for each other, even when their personal relationship has faced threats and after their romantic breakup in Season 1. A lot may depend on how much she and the others are aware of what’s going on with him. The show has also gone through some notable changes since returning in the fall, with former Europol liaison Katrin Jaeger being replaced on the Fly Team by Megan “Smitty” Garretson.
See what’s next for Forrester when FBI: International returns to CBS on Tuesday, January 3 in its usual 9 p.m. ET time slot, between the returns of FBI (following a fall finale with Nina returning for the first time since Maggie came back) at 8 p.m. and FBI: Most Wanted (which raised the stakes for one character in particular) at 10 p.m. You can also spend the weeks of winter hiatus revisiting earlier days of the FBIs, all available streaming with a Paramount+ subscription.
