The sixth season of FBI is winding down on CBS after delivering plenty of action for the agents at 26 Fed, but Maggie was missing for the most recent OA-centric episode and won’t appear in the new episode on May 14 either. This tracks in light of her trying to make sense of being a parent to Ella, but may be troubling to fans who don’t want to even think about losing Missy Peregrym from the show. While I’m not concerned about that after what Peregrym told us, Zeeko Zaki’s comments about OA’s decision to go over Maggie’s had have me intrigued ahead of the finale.
Missy Peregrym’s last appearance on FBI was in the episode that aired on April 23, which you can revisit streaming via Paramount+ subscription. In that case, Maggie had a very close brush with death, after she took a bullet that very nearly hit her instead of being stopped by her vest. Knowing that her death would have made Ella an orphan again shook Maggie up, and OA definitely noticed. He later told Isobel that Maggie should be benched for a bit to be with Ella, since Maggie would never make that move for herself.
OA clearly didn’t feel great about going over Maggie’s head, and the latest update about her was that she and Ella were in Akron to visit the young girl’s grandparents. It appears that the first we’ll get to see the partners together on screen again will be the finale, so will OA face any fallout for his decision? I asked the actor that very question, and he shared:
There isn’t fallout per se because I think our characters are so connected that for him to make a decision like that, he knows it’s for the best for her. And I think she understands that and welcomes the break of course, and I think it just shows how in it together we all are and how just like personally you need to watch out for yourself and make sure that you’re okay in life. It’s nice to see that these characters are looking after each other in the same way.
While Maggie and OA do have their conflicts from time to time, the two are one of my favorite TV partnerships for a reason. Even though she wouldn’t have made the choice for herself to step back from 26 Fed for a time, her connection with her partner is such that she would welcome the break and not hold it against him.
After Zeeko Zaki shared his thoughts on why there won’t be fallout after OA’s decision, I mentioned that Missy Peregrym had spoken about the importance of the Maggie/OA partnership for her as an actor. Zaki gave his take, saying:
The partnership has been one of the most incredible things that I’ve ever really been a part of, because each of us on our own is a strong character but when we come together, our chemistry kind of creates this third entity and this third character and and getting to see that come to life and that grow and that space between us becoming so tangible and so real, has been just such a fun thing to get to be a part of.
FBI very much is a show that usually sticks with what Zaki referred to as a “case of the week loop,” moving from one case to the next on a weekly basis. The relationships are consistent between episodes, however, particularly with how strong the bond has been between Maggie and OA over the six seasons so far. The OA actor went on:
We’re representing real people and getting to show that you can have people in your life that have your back like that and you can have people in your life that you can be vulnerable with and that you can support and just showing that there are strong relationships in this [FBI] world and getting to represent those has been such a pleasure.
FBI‘s characters may not be based on specific real people, but the show does showcase the dangerous lives that agents live and the bonds they form because of that. The Maggie/OA partnership is a particularly strong example across all three FBI shows, so it’s a relief to hear from Zeeko Zaki that OA’s decision isn’t going to lead to tension with Maggie.
