Heading into the FBI Season 5 fall finale, there’s quite a bit up in the air regarding Nina (Shantel VanSanten), Scola (John Boyd), and their baby. And they’re still working things out by the end of “Fortunate Son,” though a couple of things have been decided.
Early on in the episode, Scola runs into Nina, and she tells him she wants to talk to him about stuff later. “Can I get a hint?” he asks. “No, but it’s good stuff,” she assures him. “I’ll chase you down later.”
That “later” ends up coming in the middle of the team’s case — after a man, Vince (Will Sasso), is shot, his son Trevor (Bobby Hogan) brings the FBI the bag of fentanyl he found in their car, and with his help, the agents are looking to take down the supplier. Nina has decided to have the baby and feels good about it. Scola’s happy…. until she reveals, “The thing is, I want to do it by myself. I just think it’s best I raise the baby on my own.” But “you can be involved, of course, if that’s what you want,” she adds.
Bennett Raglin/CBS
“Of course I want to be involved, but why?” Scola wants to know. “I need to be able to have control of my life and the baby’s,” she offers as an explanation. Furthermore, Nina’s thinking of taking an open position in the intelligence unit in Los Angeles. “I spoke to a lawyer, and he said he can draw up some paperwork for us that maybe could make it official,” she says, insisting Scola wouldn’t be signing away his parental rights. “This would just be like a contract that lays out our understanding. This is really hard, OK, and from the beginning, you said whatever I want and whatever’s best for the baby.” She just wants him to at least read the paperwork when she sends it over.
Scola does read the parenting agreement from Nina, dated for March 15. It has Nina retaining sole custody, being free to make all decisions in all matters, and having primary custody. When his partner Tiff (Katherine Renee Turner) asks if everything’s OK, he tells her that Nina’s having the baby but “it’s complicated.”
When Scola bumps into Nina, he lies and tells her he hasn’t had a chance to read the document. “This isn’t about you and me,” she says. “I’m just trying to do what’s best for me and the baby and not have to worry about logistics.” He tells her he needs more time.
The two don’t talk again until after the case ends tragically, with Scola holding Trevor back as Vince dies via suicide by cop and Trevor regretting he hadn’t told his father he loved him. “I can’t sign that, Nina. I’m sorry. But I’m this baby’s father. That little boy or little girl is going to need me, going to need to know their father loved them,” Scola says. “I get what you’re asking, I can’t do it. I cannot waive my right.”
But he will work with her, he continues. “I’ll give you the flexibility that you need. But I need to be there. It’s not negotiable for me.” She agrees, then reveals they’re having a boy and invites him to dinner to talk baby names.
It’s a step in the right direction when it comes to what Scola wants, but the two still have a lot they’ll need to discuss, and something tells us this won’t be the last time they disagree about the baby’s — and their — future.
