The FBI’s Fugitive Task Force solved a truly tragic case in FBI: Most Wanted season 6, episode 11. The case of the week involved the grisly murder of foster parents Ned and Joyce Bedford who, as it turns out, had been abusing the children the government had placed under their care. The killer was Jake, a former foster child who decided to go to the ultimate lengths to save his foster sister, Brianna.
The story was brought from script to screen under the eye of director Milena Govich, an actor-turned-director who has worked on some of the best FBI shows and continues to thrive within the Dick Wolf universe. As an actor, Govich is known for work in projects including Rescue Me and Finding Carter, and has also directed episodes of Law & Order and Chicago Med. In the most recent episode of FBI: Most Wanted, Govich worked to tell the story of a homicide with a layer of understanding for the motive that, while not excusing Jake’s actions, at least allows for complicated feelings about the show’s events.
Stuart with his arm around Nina in FBI Season 6, Episode 9.
Related
FBI Season 7 Images Reveal Most Wanted’s Return With Emotional Nina & Scola Moments
FBI season 7 episode “Descent” first look images unveil emotional scenes between Chase and Scola, teasing a difficult case in the winter premiere.
1
ScreenRant interviews Milena Govich about her work directing FBI: Most Wanted season 6, episode 11. Govich broke down the biggest moments of the episode and shared behind-the-scenes secrets about how its most ambitious sequences were filmed. Plus, Govich spoke to her own directing process and love of procedural television.
Milena Govich Talks Working With Actors To Tell Full Stories On FBI: Most Wanted
“In These Procedurals, You Really Get To Explore These Characters”
FBI Most Wanted season 6 episode 11 still
ScreenRant: You’ve worked within the Dick Wolf universe many times. What is it about his stories that really inspire you to be a part of them?
Milena Govich: There’s something so satisfying about getting to tell a full story from beginning, middle to end in a procedural episode. There are other shows that have ongoing stories, and, as a director, you just come in, do a couple of little pieces of the story, and then somebody else gets to finish it off. In these procedurals, you really get to explore these characters and take it through all the way to the end. I really love that.
I’m curious how being a seasoned actor helps you behind the scenes as a director.
Milena Govich: One of the great skills that you develop as an actor is listening–and really concentrating, [and] focusing on what you’re getting from whoever it is you’re talking to. I use those skills every single day on set, [and] even in the prep process before I’m even ever on set. It’s a great tool to have as a collaborator.
I really try to absorb everything that’s happening around me–everything that I’m getting from the script, my collaborators, my director of photography, and my production designer–and try to understand the story the writers have created and how to make the most of it. And then, obviously, [it helps with] working with the actors. I have a shorthand with them and a level of trust with them since I’ve done their job before.
Govich Details A Secret Prop Swap That Made The Season 6 Episode 11 Opening
“That Kind Of Movie Magic Stuff Is Really Fun”
fbi most wanted season 6 episode 11 still 3
Most Wanted has the most daunting cases out of all the FBIs, in my opinion, and the opening scene in this episode was no exception. What is it like to direct such an intense sequence?
Milena Govich: I love those kinds of scenes because you can really highlight and amp up the intensity with different camera moves and shots, and [determining], “What do you see of the people, or the bad guy?”, and “What do you not see in the opening?” In the first little scene, you only see this much of the guy’s face. We don’t even see his full face until later, so those are interesting visual choices that we get to make.
Also, when you’re doing any stunts or special effects, there’s a lot of planning that goes into that. For instance, we have this meat tenderizer that he pulls up out of the flame, and it’s a real flame with a real meat tenderizer that comes up off the flame, and he starts walking it towards the guy in a chair.
If you notice, it drops out of frame for just a beat and comes back into frame. When it drops out, we did a switch. There was a prop guy on the floor that handed off an identical, but cold, meat tenderizer. So, when it comes back up and he goes to brand the guy, it’s all one shot, but we trick you by not actually burning our other actor there–we’re using this cold tenderizer instead. That kind of movie magic stuff is really fun.
Govich Reflects On The Psychology & Relationships Of The Episode’s Perpetrator
The Storyline Was Inspired By An HBO Documentary One Of The Writers Worked On
fbi most wanted season 6 episode 11 still
2
Jake’s actions are inexcusable, but they come from a place of trauma and a need to protect his sister. What did you want to convey about both him and the relationship there?
Milena Govich: That’s a great question. Bryce Cracknell and Wendy West are the writers of the episode, and it was very much inspired by a documentary that Bryce actually was involved with called Foster that aired on HBO. It’s an incredibly moving story about the kids in the foster system, what they go through, the traumas that they endure, and how their lives are so different than a child who is brought up within their own family.
There was a lot of inspiration from that documentary, and what I really wanted the audience to see was how much these kids love each other. Whether you want to call it a trauma bond [or not], they really did grow up as siblings and view themselves as siblings. That’s how they identify. Because they are in such a constricted and somewhat oppressive system that they have no agency about, they can’t choose to be in foster care or not.
It’s really out of their control. This kid thinks that a double homicide and a kidnapping is his best option to save his sister, and I really want the audience to understand, from his perspective, that this was the best idea he could come up with. Even though he knows that what he’s doing is not right, he felt he had no other choice in order to save her from the abuse she was enduring with her foster. So it’s moving and it’s tragic, just like the best FBI: Most Wanted episodes are.
It’s clear how much he loves her, even from the ice skating scene. What can you share about filming that? Did you have stunt doubles?
Milena Govich: I had to learn a lot about shooting an ice skating sequence myself. I’d never gotten to do that before, so yes, my learning curve was high on that. It was such a joy to shoot it. We did have a skating double for the actress. Her name’s Hope Alexander, and she had just come off the tour of Disney on Ice playing Princess Tiana, and she was also a competitive ice skater growing up. She was incredible, and just gorgeous to watch.
And I learned, about the actual, technical shooting, that there’s something called an ice dolly, which I’d never heard of, but basically it’s a camera dolly on skis. You push it out and you can move the camera around on the ice on these skis, so the whole camera team’s out there. My 1st AD was actually a very experienced ice skater, so he was on skates on the ice, running the set. I did not go on the ice because I am not a skater, and the last thing I needed was to wipe out in the middle of my shooting day.
But also, we were very fortunate in that our A camera focus puller was a competitive hockey player growing up, so he was an excellent ice skater. He put together a small camera rig that he held onto–he had a backpack with the batteries and receivers and everything–so he went out on the ice with Hope, they rehearsed together, and then, basically, he danced with her. It was as beautiful to watch him out there doing it with her as the footage that we were getting. It was really, really special. Shout out to John Fitzpatrick, our A camera focus puller, who stepped up and shot all that wonderful stuff for us.
✕
Remove Ads
The scene at the end between Hana and Jake was a really heartbreaking moment. What were you asking for from the actors?
Milena Govich: Those scenes are always so difficult for the actors. You’ve got to launch into this big emotional moment, revealing backstory while the stakes are very high and the scene is relatively long, so there’s a lot of dialogue, and so you have to sustain your emotion over a longer scene over multiple takes. I am so grateful to our actors Keisha Castle-Hughes and Keyon Bowman, our guest actor that played Jake.
They really found not only the vulnerability, but the shape of the scene and the reveals that happen in that moment why he’s doing what he’s doing and what he wanted out of his actions. Then [we were] seeing in his performance his discovery that it’s never going to turn out the way he hoped. Finding that arc was really, really important, and they both were just powerhouses.
Ray’s Family Storyline Was The Perfect Pairing For The Main Plot
“You Kind Of See Two Sides Of The Coin”
