FBI‘s John Boyd Breaks Down That Emotional Scola/Nina Moment — Plus, Grade the 3-Way Crossover
The following contains spoilers from the April 4 FBI crossover event.
As CBS’ 3-way FBI crossover event drew to a close, not only did Special Agent Stuart Scola help save thousands of New Yorkers’ lives (though not with any bomb-defusing skills!), he may have gotten a life partner out of the deal.
In the crossover’s opening hour (the FBI: International episode), Nina Chase (played by FBI‘s Shantel Van Santen) got shot while helping the Fly Team storm a house in Italy where some terrorists were holding up. Jubal (Jeremy Sisto) had to race back to New York to continue investigating the looming threat, so he asked Forrester (Luke Kleintank) to stay with hospitalized, pregnant Nina, whose condition was extremely touch-and-go.
In the second hour (the FBI episode), Jubal and Isobel (Alana De La Garza) made the difficult but prudent decision to not tell Scola about Nina being shot, seeing as he was busy navigating an already precarious undercover assignment. Alas, in the course of said UC work, Scola got wind of an FBI agent being gunned down in Italy. Forrester, unaware that Jubal was keeping his team in the dark, confirmed Scola’s worst fears in a phone call.
“When Scola learns that Nina was shot. the first thing that goes through his mind is the way that he finds it out is such a betrayal,” FBI‘s John Boyd tells TVLine. “It’s absolutely not OK.”
Yet, Jubal and Isobel did have a point. “What do Scola’s higher-ups have to do, what decision to they have to make, in order to save thousands of lives?” recounts Boyd. “And that’s a tough thing to hear, that it’s not about you.”
Still, that made Scola’s bosses no less a target for his seething anger. “He can’t be there [for Nina in Italy], there’s nothing he can do, so the only thing he can respond to is the people that kept it from him,” says Boyd. “That really sets him off.”
At the end of the third hour (the FBI: Most Wanted episode) — after the planned bombing of the John F. Kennedy International Airport was averted — Scola made tracks for Rome and reunited with Nina at her hospital bedside.
“How do you feel?” he asked the stabilized patient.
“I’ve been better.”
“What about the baby? Is he OK?”
“I think so,” Nina said, placing Scola’s palm on her bump. “Felt him kicking….”
Scola then looked intently at Nina, and with three not-so-little words encapsulated all that he had been feeling, so far away and helpless.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Nina replied back, through tears. “A lot.”
Reflecting on the couple’s first ILYs, Boyd affirms that Nina’s brush with death “put them in a situation that is catastrophic, and people grow closer from that.”
Moving forward, “It deepens their relationship a great deal,” he adds, “and hopefully they make a decision to be together and to love one another.”
What did you think of the Nina scare, and the crossover as a whole?
Jubal should have been benched after he made two stupid mistakes one overseas and one back at home. Jubal gets away with a lot that I don’t think would normally fly for someone in his position. Everyone was mad at Scola but if Jubal didn’t make the first mistake overseas they may have never been in that position.
Oh yes – AND the interrogation f-up!!
Yup , Jubal should have been benched… and the comment Europol Agent Megan ‘Smitty’ Garretson made about America was spot on.
I agree. I was upset at his actions. He should have been reprimanded or benched. He was acting irrationally.
I only watch the regular FBI show, so I was completely lost when I first started watching on my DVR.. I’m still only going to watch the regular FBI show, so the crossovers don’t really work for me. Only reason I watched Part 3 of this was for the Nina/Scola stuff
But hey, if everyone else enjoyed it, that’s great.
You should really watch International. I think it is the best of all three.
I do as well think the FBI international has better storylines, and it’s the newest one.. that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the other two, but international is definitely my favorite!!
They do have good story lines but I just can’t get behind the cast. I think it’s because they are too professional. No quirky computer guy
Ok. Can we discuss: does Jubal get in ANY trouble for the barging in on the family in Part 1 AND for pissing off the Italians enough that no backup gets Nina shot? I don’t remember – did he tell Isobel he’d been drinking after Maggie gave him the ultimatum? I’d like to see some consequences for him.
Also, while I agree that Remy had no choice – could he have aimed for the foot? And does he face any fallout? (I know that it will be deemed a good shoot Blah blah – lives were in danger – but I would hope it would at least merit a trip to the psych.)
I thought Isobel was great. She made the hard decisions and owned them.
The opening – with the wedding drone strike – was a gut punch and very well done.
I like the actor who plays Jubal. He was great in Suburgatory, but man, that character sucks.
Agree on both!
Jubal did tell Isobel that he had a problem and needed to go to rehab. And then the next week was his return from rehab apparently.
My thoughts exactly. He really couldn’t shoot the guard in the leg, or foot. it would definitely be poor writing if this was all forgotten about by the next episode. Remy should be shown dealing with it a bit.
That was my thought – Remy should have only disabled the thug, not killed him.
From the way the guard falls, he was shot in the leg, I think. But even a minor gunshot wound can lead to complications.
I liked Jubal in the first season, but he has gone rapidly downhill since then. He does not belong in the field at all and at this point really needs to be relieved of duty for a while. I’d like to see more of the other people in the JOC.
I’m so sorry I did not enjoy the format for FBI . If the show continues that way I will no longer watch.. go back to the old individual 3 shows
Crossover events are rare for shows, it won’t be a regular thing
plus… cross overs don’t work when a show is then syndicated like FBI is on ION.. Even the old Magnum had some cross over episodes that either started on the other show or is completed… One reasons episodic series do better in reruns..
A good part of the money made by these shows comes from international syndication. Outside of the US/Canadian market these shows will probably not show in sequence – may even be on different channels. Crossovers like this simply become confusing – so they need to be kept to an absolute minimum.
A lot of times crossovers are bundled into syndication packages
I found it too long and boring. I only cared about Nina and Scola
the plot was all over the place
This, completely. Jubal was a horse’s ass. Stuart Scola is my favorite character on all three shows.
Watching the raid in the first episode I had to wonder, when did the FBI become SEAL Team 6?
Loved this crossover event. The three shows melded together from moment 1 and just flowed through the three hours. I wouldn’t want it this way all the time, but a yearly event would be fun. John Boyd is my favorite so it was nice seeing him in all three episodes.
Loved the show. Very intense and exciting
I usually don’t like crossovers, and these 3 FBI crossover shows was terrible. Making Jubal a buffoon was out of characteristic of the original FBI. Then you barely had Maggie, and OA in any of the shows, and when they were in it, it was minimal. I typically don’t watch the FBI international. I have tried multiple times in the past, and I end up, disliking it even more because the acting is terrible, and the actors don’t flow together as well as the other two FBI shows. Bottom line was that I thought this FBI crossover was subpar in storyline and characters. The whole Nina storyline was unnecessary. It didn’t add anything to the crossover and it was more of a disruption.
I thought Nina had transferred to the LA office, after she had told Scola she was pregnant?
I don’t remember – but maybe she came back and went to work in White Collar or something? But you’re right – why was she with the JOC team.
If I remember correctly, Nina ended up taking a position in the “White Collar Crime” division in NY after Scola (rightly) had an issue with her up and moving with the baby to LA. I haven’t watched the original FBI in a couple of months, so except for having her get shot to create drama, it’s unclear to me why she would have been sent to Italy with Jubal
It was just ok for me. Most of these chase scenes get on my nerves. When they see a suspect who is at least 50ft away they call out their name or yell police and the suspect runs off and often gets away. It looks ridiculous and it happens on every cop show, lol.
So true! Every time I watch the FBIs, I think “Oh, here’s the requisite foot chase.” “Here’s the requisite car chase”–just like in the ’80s when I watched Hardcastle & McCormick, “here’s the requisite car chase with a car flipping over” and “here’s the requisite car chase with a hubcap flying off.”
https://tvline.com/2022/11/07/ncis-los-angeles-burning-question-suspects-run-daniela-ruah-reaction/
I always wonder why FBI vehicles are not fitted with sirens. If they are going to get in car chases it surely increases safety to warn other traffic.
I always shake my head when that happens – yelling at them from too far away to get them. Dumb plotting.
I loved the crossover format. It melded perfectly like a 3 hour movie with intermissions, everything flowed. I wanted the Fly Team to be more involved in the 3rd segment instead of just Forester hold vigil (which was nice but I though Voe would stay too since she n Nina bonded). Also when they mentioned London, I thought the Fly team would have gone there or something.
I can see this being a seasonal thing. Loved it! No poll so I will give an A
The entire crossover event was exciting and filled with action. But the one negative I felt was the overkill of the Scola/Nina relationship. I love them as a couple and the dynamic they have together, but felt it was the one dynamic that hurt the crossover. The lack of screen time for the FBI characters in the second part of the event, surprised me, as well. I understand the lack of screen time for the FBI International cast in the 2nd and 3rd hours, because of their location overseas. Overall it was an enjoyable 3 hours of TV.
– After the opening sequence, I figured out the plot immediately (a rip on “London Has Fallen”), which was disappointing. I thought Nina was working white collar, which made me wonder why she would be working on a case with Jubal, who doesn’t actually work on cases, he just screams, “yeah, yeah, yeah” all the time.
– I thought Scola’s undercover work was iffy at best, but the best scenes were with Scola and Isobel.
-I was impressed with Forrester’s restraint, as he usually is the one going off the reservation, but he understood the dynamics of the situation in Rome. I’m also glad he stood up for Smitty, who basically told Jubal to have several seats with his attitude.
– Did anyone else find it ironic that Jubal was ready to do whatever it takes in Rome, but freaked out when the “state department” guy tortured the Russian suspect?
– Remy is a very interesting character. He can be so dark at times, but humor pops up at the oddest times. His interactions with Scola were really good. Remy knew how upset Scola was, but never allowed him to cross the line.
– It wasn’t the best crossover in the Wolf-verse (One Chicago does it so much better), but it was a nice way to spend Tuesday night while waiting on election returns.
-Nina involvement was questionable. It’s like they just wanted to add her character anyway.
– jubal was so annoying like in Rome he was so worried didn’t care about rules but back in NY we don’t cross the line. Wasn’t he the one wanted to get Vargas killed in prison?
-Remy was the best in part2, 3.
–
I am truly tired of Jubal he angered me and honestly he is using horrible judgment and leadership. I usually do not like Remi but during this crossover his arrogant personality benefited the conclusion!!! His Whatever at the end save the day!!! I wonder how the team recovers from the mistakes and the damage they created…we shall see. This plat is getting used up I think but they added the personal side with Nina which was heart wrenching and my question is why did they even include her period?
Forrester should have put Jubal on the first plane back to the US.
YES!
I really do not like Jubal anymore. He is a liability, short-sighted, and very high strung. He is lucky the whole team didn’t die from his actions.
Remember… he plays crazy well like on 6 Feet Under..
I don’t like how Fbi International was sidelined in part 2 and 3. It was lame having Scott babysit Nina just to keep him for the other parts. They could have Scola uc operation and Rome case run in parallel not separate the episodes.
This plot would have made sense if Tiff was shot. Why push Nina character so hard in a crowd crossover with no reason or explanation? Is any of Fbi actors leaving after this season and they planningto up her as a regular?
Pregnant Nina is a much bigger issue than an unpregnant Tiff. They have dealt with agents in trouble before, but Scola bring out-of-his-mind scared for Nina and their baby is a step up.
love the show and it was tense for me .
I really love the crossover event! It was very fascinating and doesn’t disappoint with the action. The guard who got shot by Remy in the finale would’ve lived had he listened and backed off. it was his own fault that he was fatally shot. Would I see Imminent Threat again? absolutely! Looking forward to future crossover events!
I respectfully disagree here – he had been told that the terrorists were pretending to be security. He thought he was doing his job. Maybe Remy could have shot his hand or foot to take him off guard – I was actually surprised he died – avian, I’m hoping that means some follow up for Remy on this in the coming months. Do I think any of it was an easy decision? No. But I don’t think the guard was at fault at all. YMMV.
[I have no idea what I typed that resulted in ‘avian’ – pls disregard! Lol]
I have to respectfully disagree. It really was his fault. He was being very unreasonable and was pretty much in the way of 2 FBI agent trying to stop a bomb which would’ve blown him and a lot of people up. As I said, he should’ve listened. The 2 agents didn’t have time to entertain the guard while the bomb was ticking away and would’ve gone off. No, it wasn’t an easy decision.
Jubel and Isobel were assholes
Did not watch because it is crossover. Will not watching anything with DM in it. What a horrible replacement.
Here goes. I did like the crossover event. However, Jubal needs to go. He continuously screwed up. What happened to him going to rehab? FBI Most Wanted is like a whole different show from the original, so many cast changes. It’s my second favorite. Love International, all the characters are great, they are in sync and they don’t yell FBI from a block away like the original FBI show does. And where is the dog? Also, wondering why Nina got such a big part in the crossover when she really isn’t on any of the shows now. And would Forester really be the one to stay with her? Why not one of the ladies? That was a little strange. Over, good evening of TV. (except for Jubal)
One of the worst crossovers ever. The characters were so out of character with their behavior and acting. Was this planned or do did the actors just not work well together?
Great cross over. Highly planned. CBS IS THE BEST.
Had me in the feels…Fair Winds and Following Seas…
International and FBI were great but Most wanted has become a chore to watch. The Remmy character is obnoxious and arrogant.