Note: This article contains spoilers from “FBI” Season 7, Episode 9.
In this week’s episode of “FBI,” the team scrambles to prevent another tragedy like 9/11 when a terrorist organization gains access to an entire airline’s fleet. The incident hits especially close to home for Stuart Scola (John Boyd), who lost his brother in the 2001 attacks in New York City.
“We do not have to spoon feed the story to the audience, because it is such a part of America’s story and Scola’s story,” the actor told TheWrap.
Ahead of the episode, titled “Descent,” Boyd talked about how Scola tries to find common ground with one of the terrorists, who is out for vengeance after the death of her father. He also broke down the emotional scene where Scola, along with girlfriend Nina (Shantel VanSanten), opens a letter from the city’s medical examiner informing him that his late brother’s remains have finally been positively identified in the rubble of the World Trade Center.
TheWrap: What does this letter mean for Scola?
John Boyd: His brother’s memory is in a different place. It means he can move forward. It is the next step in the journey of mourning, and that is something that we have wanted for Scola for a really long time. We have seen him carry this, and we have all felt it. We all remember. So it is a big one, it is heavy.
Do you think he would have ever opened the letter if Nina was not there with him?
No, that is a really beautiful touch to the scene, that he is vulnerable enough to ask his partner for help. The old Scola only relied on himself. He was alone and closed off. So to see him ask for help is, to me, a really important part of that scene.
I didn’t know that these investigations are still going on 24 years later.
I did not know that until [showrunner] Mike Weiss told me. And having talked to families of victims from 9/11 and trying to understand what it would mean to have a piece of someone that you loved, that had been there the whole time in that rubble, that is what we tried to capture in that moment. It was tough to take on, for sure, but it is something that has always been a part of this character and who he is. It has been such an honor to try to tell that story in this episode, try to reveal what Scola has held onto for so long.
There is that moment where the terrorist says that she is doing this because her father was killed and Scola mentions he also lost his brother. It is interesting, the contrast where Scola is helping people and this woman is out for more blood. Do you think it ever crossed Scola’s mind that he wanted revenge or to do something extreme?
That is the turning point for him for his own story. He connects to her because of her grief and loss, he sees himself in her and what that does to someone. But that moment of connection is what shows him that he is ready, that he does not want to stay in the place that he has been emotionally.
Even before we get this reveal with a letter, Scola is really taking charge in this episode, maybe more than we have seen in the past.
You have got to take the bull by the horns. I do not think he is waiting and running things by people. It is interesting to see Scola full throttle, not asking permission is a good place to see him.
Is Scola’s new partner off the show? Is he getting another new partner any time soon?
Scola is doing some more solo time where he is a bachelor agent again, which is good for him. And it is fun to get to partner up with Missy or Zeeko on a case here and there or do it by myself. But of course, eventually Scola is going to need a partner, someone to call him out on his BS.
It is interesting that in his personal life now he is not alone, but in his professional life, he is on his own at the moment.
I thought of the same thing. I was like, “This is really interesting where he has someone to come home to, but work is a little lonely.”
What else is going on with Scola this season?
Nina’s coming over to FBI in the episode we are doing now. Also, we go into Scola’s backstory. We find out that when he was a rowdy teenager, his parents sent him to a military school upstate as punishment. The case leads back to something that happened there, and it is really, really dark. And he runs into some personal stuff and friends from his past. It is a really dark episode, some really chilling stuff. And it is an OA/Scola partnership in that one, which is really fun..
There is also a hostage episode and one where Scola and Maggie team up. There is going to be some good old fashioned nail-biters. The show is really at a place of maturity and rediscovering itself and trying new things. And I am enjoying every minute of it.
“FBI” airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS and streams on Paramount+.
The post ‘FBI’ Star John Boyd Breaks Down Scola’s Emotional Episode 9 Discovery: ‘It Means He Can Move Forward’ appeared first on TheWrap.
