FBI Season 8 was a heavy season for the CBS series and many of its characters. All of the main characters had moments in the spotlight, but some of the storylines were rougher than others.
Whether due to a case affecting them personally or the loss of a loved one, season 8 had some storylines that will follow them into FBI season 9 and beyond. Here are just some of the characters who struggled the most in season 8.
3. Jubal Valentine
Jubal went through a personal tragedy when his son, Tyler, was a victim of a bombing that left him seriously injured. The event tested Jubal as an FBI agent, forcing him to fight the urge to get revenge while also making sure he was there for his family.
He came close to making a choice that could have affected his career, but with Maggie and OA’s help, he didn’t further injure the suspect who was part of the group that injured his son. Just before this event happened, Jubal also thought there was a possibility he could be promoted when Special Agent in Charge Isobel Castille was offered the job as ADIC.
But when the current assistant director balked at the idea and told her that Jubal was where he was meant to be, Isobel decided to stay in her job because she didn’t want to become someone who could talk about her colleague the way he did.
Jubal has been working hard to grow and make good choices with his career, and seeing how he dealt with his son’s injury gave us a look into how he dealt with a personal tragedy becoming enmeshed with his work life.
2. Maggie Bell
Maggie went through the tragic loss of her sister when she was killed at the hands of someone she had once investigated. Ray Distefano was a serial killer whom the team had investigated and dealt with multiple times. He had a history with Maggie, as she was the person who originally arrested him.
Distefano came into the picture when Erin Bell went missing, and it was discovered that she was supposed to meet someone she met on a dating app. However, it was Distefano who had catfished her to abduct her and get revenge on Maggie after she had led him on about his own father’s death to get information for a case.
Even though Maggie stopped Distefano, Erin’s body was found, and she was devastated. Her relationship with Erin had always been fraught, and she dealt with guilt, especially after seeing her parents' devastation at the funeral.
Losing Erin was a huge blow for Maggie, and it will follow her for years in her career. She grieved through the whole season, and she tried to use her grief to try to relate to a suspect at one point. Even though it didn’t work, it showed where Maggie was in her own grief and how she was doing as a whole.
Season 9 will likely continue to show Maggie’s grief cycle, but she will also be in the midst of working with a new partner since OA Zidan was “fired” for going against the new ADIC. However, even after going through this kind of tragedy, we hope Maggie will be able to become an even stronger agent through the course of the new season.
1. OA Zidan
OA had a rough season, and we’re hopeful that season 9 will get him back where he needs to be with his team in the wake of his supposed firing in the season 8 finale. At the beginning of the season, OA was on a case involving an assassination attempt on a sitting senator. He became sick after he touched a cane that was covered in a toxic substance. Luckily, he pulled through, but the bad luck didn’t stop there. His longtime girlfriend, Gemma, broke up with him after falling for someone else.
This was devastating for OA, who had already been struggling with how to open up to her about his work life. He kept the breakup to himself for a while before eventually opening up to his partner, Maggie Bell. He later had a connection with an FBI agent named Zara Usruff (Pardis Saremi) after they worked together on a case. Even though things didn’t seem to work out, they met up again when OA was reassigned during a case.
The season finale found the team working on a case that led them to Anna Vorpe, an old foe who used dirty tactics in her work. In the case, OA felt that she was getting away with her crimes, and went up against the new ADIC, Lawrence Green. It appeared that due to OA’s subordination, he was fired. But in reality, he was going undercover after appearing to accept a job offer from Anna.
So when season 9 comes around, OA will be undercover and separated from his team, most of whom believe he really was fired. So OA will likely still be going through it for a while, but it’s clear season 8 had a huge impact on his storyline and where it will go moving forward.
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