Stuart Scola (John Boyd) has been looking for a permanent partner since Tiffany Wallace (Katherine Renee Kane) departed the series in the FBI season 7 premiere. Since then, it has been a revolving door of new partners, and as much fun as that has been, there is one person who would work perfectly with him. He already has a partner that he should have permanently in the FBI franchise, Nina Chase (Shantel VanSanten).
Nina originally came into the series when Maggie (Missy Peregrym) had suffered a near-death experience and needed to recover, as a way to write Peregrym’s character out temporarily to accommodate the actress’ maternity leave. Nina and Scola started a relationship, which led to Nina getting pregnant and having their son. The two now live together and still work for the FBI, with Nina currently working with the Fugitive Task Force. But with FBI: Most Wanted canceled, it would make perfect sense to bring her back over to the flagship FBI series.
Scola Has Been Looking For A Partner In FBI Since Tiffany Left
A Revolving Door Of Partners Has Been Interesting But Not Sustainable
Since Tiffany left, Scola has been on the hunt for a permanent partner. At first, we thought he found her when Syd Ortiz (Lisette Olivera) joined the team, but after a few episodes, FBI’s Syd Ortiz left for the Washington DC office. Deadline explained that Olivera played too young of a character to make Ortiz believable, and so she was from the team and the writers went back to the drawing board to find another partner in FBI season 7.
That seems to have happened in FBI season 7, episode 16, with the introduction of Dani Rhodes (Emily Alabi). Dani came into the story because her undercover identity had been blown, and she was one of many. It turned out that there had to be a leak, which the New York Field Office investigated with the help of Dani. She and Scola quickly worked well together, and Isobel offered her the chance to stay with the team after that.
While Dani works well with the team for now, only time will tell if she actually sticks around. Having a revolving door of partners has worked well to change things up within the team, as storylines can get stale when the same people keep working together, because they know each other’s moves and personalities. When a new person comes into FBI season 7, the dynamic has changed, making the episodes a little harder to predict.
Nina Could Work As Scola’s New Partner In FBI, Especially After Most Wanted’s End
The Couple Already Have An Excellent Working Relationship
If Dani doesn’t work out as Scola’s permanent partner in FBI season 8, there is another option. He already has an excellent working relationship with Agent Nina Chase, and she already knows the rest of the field office. With FBI: Most Wanted season 6 confirmed as the last, it makes sense to find VanSanten a new FBI series to move into.
There would be no questions about whether VanSanten’s character is suitable for the role, as we’ve seen that she already is.
We would love to see Nina remain on our screens, and offering Scola someone he already has a trusted relationship with is important. There would be no questions about whether VanSanten’s character is suitable for the role, as we’ve seen that she already is, and she works with everyone on the team to avoid any potential friction or issue in the middle of the field.
On top of that, it keeps Nina in New York with her family. Right now, she consistently travels with the Fugitive Task Force, and she misses out on a lot with a young child. Seeing her in New York and being a working mom is a powerful message to many young women watching the series, as it is possible to have it all.
Nina & Scola’s Biggest Relationship Rule Is The Reason Why They Can’t Work Together
There’s An Unwritten Rule Between The Two To Make Their Relationship Work
However, there is something stopping this partnership from working, and that’s the rule that Nina and Scola seem to have. VanSanten talked to TheWrap about the rule that she and Boyd discussed going into the series. One of them always has to return home, since they have a child there, and the only way that they can do that is if only one of them works a dangerous case at a time. Of course, it’s impossible to say if a seemingly less dangerous case will turn into something more, but perception is important.
“[John and I] came to this understanding and agreement that they have a rule in their household that one of them always comes home. Meaning, if one is doing a really dangerous case for a few days or they’re gone, the other person will be on the lesser case.”
With Nina working with the Fugitive Task Force at the moment, she is more likely to be on the more dangerous case. She and her team are tracking down people on the FBI’s Most Wanted list, and this means there is a higher risk of casualties. That hasn’t stopped Scola from working out in the field, but his cases don’t consistently put his life on the line.
Their relationship did go through a stress test when they went undercover as a married couple, with the constant fear that Dougie would grow up without either parent.
If the two work together, they can’t follow through with their rule. They will both end up going into the same dangerous situation at the same time, which means that both of them may not return home. Their relationship did go through a stress test when they went undercover as a married couple, with the constant fear that Dougie would grow up without either parent. While the two made it out alive, it’s clear that working together now that they have a child together may not be the best idea.
How Nina Can Still Be An Active Character In The Franchise After FBI: Most Wanted
There Is Another Way to Keep Nina In The FBI Franchise
Of course, we want to see Nina remain in the FBI franchise despite FBI: Most Wanted season 7 not happening, and a great way to do that is to move her back into the flagship series. There is another option, though, and that’s to move her into the new proposed spinoff series, FBI: CIA. After all, she is one of the characters we would love to see from Most Wanted or International move over.
VanSanten shared in the same TheWrap interview that she had called a real FBI husband and wife duo to find out if the wife ever considered giving up the dangerous job after having a child, and the answer was no because she owed it to her child to make the world safer. Putting Nina into the CIA spinoff makes her an active character within the franchise, and she can remain doing a job that she loves, creating a safer world for her son to live in.
“I asked the wife, ‘Did you ever feel you had to to leave the FBI once you had a child because it was risky?’ And she said, ‘No, I actually felt I had more of an obligation to the job than ever, because I have the responsibility of creating a world for my son that is safer than ever before.”
One of the biggest questions would be why Nina would choose to leave the United States for work when she has a child at home, as the CIA can’t operate on U.S. soil. However, she could be part of the team that manages to operate on U.S. soil to assist the CIA, or she could leave for short periods of time in the way that she does in FBI: Most Wanted when she needs to travel to other parts of the country.
If that doesn’t work, then at least Nina can still appear in FBI season 8. While she may not work as Scola’s professional partner, she is still there as his romantic partner, and she can show up to support him with personal storylines.
