How OA & Maggie's Relationship Changes After His FBI Season 9 Return Teased By Jeremy Sisto

Published Oct 19, 2026, 9:00 PM EDT

As a graduate of Columbia University in New York City, Tatiana studied theater and comparative literature. She has been passionate about all manner of storytelling from Jane Austen adaptations to anime. Aside from writing for Screen Rant, she co-hosts podcasts: The Flash Podcast and Ladies With Gumption.

Sign in to your ScreenRant account

For several seasons now, FBI fans have been clamoring for romance to blossom between partners OA (Zeeko Zaki) and Maggie (Missy Peregrym), but star Jeremy Sisto teases a more complicated change taking place after OA is reinstated in season 9, episode 3.

Sisto plays Jubal Valentine, an Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office. As such, it is part of his job (along with his superior, Isobel Castille, played by Alana De La Garza) to oversee the team and notice any glaring issues that may crop up. FBI season 9 thus starts with him being extremely suspicious that his colleagues are keeping a secret from him. Episode 3, "White Rock," sees him quickly looped into the OA situation as the team races against the clock to put Anna Vorpe away.

By the end of the episode, OA is back in the fold, allowing audiences the chance to see him and Maggie as partners once again. But while OA has his own FBI romance brewing, Jubal may be noticing a very different dynamic shift between the newly-instated agent and his longtime partner. In a recent interview with ScreenRant, Sisto broke down how the team is affected in the wake of the undercover operation, as well as how Jubal personally feels about Isobel having kept him out of the loop. Finally, the actor also hints at some new domestic details for his character in an upcoming episode of CIA.

How Will OA's Time Away Affect The Team Dynamics In FBI Season?

ScreenRant: Now that OA is back after this episode, where does the team go from here, especially when it comes to his relationship with Maggie? Does Jubal have thoughts about that, or do you get scenes with OA in the coming episodes?

Jeremy Sisto: Yeah, it affects the team a lot, but not Jubal [specifically]. A lot of that stuff is through Isobel. She's the one that has to make calls about the relationships or partnerships.

But I think we are coming into a really challenging period with OA and his relationship with Maggie, and it's been really interesting to see Mike and the writers' team, and the actors as well, working their way through it. We're finding a different version of this internal trial that he's been going through, and the cost of it within our world.

I can't think of a moment in any of the episodes we've done where Jubal has seen a break in the relationship, to the point that it would affect the cases negatively. Obviously, that's what he's going to be most cognizant. But it's clear some stuff's going down [when it comes to OA and Maggie], and how they're going to work it out is something that's going to be a conversation between Isobel and Jubal when the time comes - in terms of how to go forward.

Jeremy Sisto Breaks Down Jubal & Isobel's Dynamic In Season 9

ScreenRant: Jubal’s suspicions were building in the first two episodes, and he was feeling left out when it came to Isobel's plans. What was the straw that broke the camel’s back, in terms of deciding to follow her?

Jeremy Sisto: I think after that conversation, seeing Ian and realizing, "There's definitely something occurring here, and she is really just not bringing me out on it."

Jubal usually respects her choices. They're not easy choices to make, and he knows that maybe she's doing it for his own good, or for some other good reason. But I think the thing that starts to get to him is the idea that she's in real trouble, and she's not bringing Jubal in because she's trying to protect him. And if that is the case, he needs to take action to let her know he doesn't need that protection. So, he makes a choice to do that, and it's not exactly what he thought.

Maybe she was trying to protect him a little bit, in the sense that the less people know, the less they might get in trouble. I don't think she was worried about him leaking it, but he's a little hurt that she didn't feel he was necessary, despite the added complication. But it doesn't change how he feels about her. It doesn't change his respect for her.

He also feels bad [about his choice]. He's not somebody who follows his boss, or who doesn't respect his boss' choice not to bring him in on something. But he's also somebody who has a really active brain, and I think his brain got away from him. The possibility of not doing something, and then that turning into a really bad situation for the people that he loves, haunts him. Then he would blame himself even more, so he goes against his normal set of values.

ScreenRant: A promotion continues to elude Jubal, with season 8 establishing that the higher-ups don't really want him moving up the ladder. What can you say about Jubal's long-term future in the agency, and what does he actually feel about being passed over?

Jeremy Sisto: He got excited because he was being considered for a promotion, and so he maybe lost sight of what that meant, which happens in any job. The only time you really think about yourself is when there's a promotion on the table.

But he knows he doesn't even want it. He likes being in the jock; that's what his skill set is, and he's really good at it. He doesn't really want to have to be in the situation where he has to make these really big calls, or deal with office politics.

In a similar way, being out on the street makes him concerned that he might fall off the wagon. He's concerned that the pressures of the job would not be good for his psychology. He likes the safety of his position, where he can contribute to the overall goal of the agency in a really meaningful way, and it works really well for him. So, I don't see him begrudging it.

I mean, he could do it. He could do Isobel's job, but I just feel like he'd make it more complicated than it has to be. Whereas Isobel really makes decisions quickly, and then she sticks to them. She's strong-willed, while I think Jubal's a little bit more wavery.

ScreenRant: What was it like for him to jump immediately into the mission in episode 3 after being kept out of the loop? You and Isobel have a very interesting moment where she suggests she didn't tell you before because she didn't want you to talk her out of it.

Jeremy Sisto: Fortunately, he didn't have to ride the line. When he gets in, it's too late to go back. I think he understands the situation, and Anna Vorpe is somebody that he had a nice rapport with. Often, it has to happen where you are looking at massaging the lines of what is above board. It's constantly a consideration of how far do you go? "We can't do that, even though it's going to get the result that I think is right."

So, to come up against somebody within a similar organization that has no allegiance to any values? It's like a cancer. You have to remove it in a really decisive and complete way, so he gets the job, and he gets why they're doing it. I don't think he minds being out of the scope of legitimacy to some degree. As long as he doesn't have to make that decision, he's much more comfortable following somebody else than figuring it out himself.

I think [that moment in episode 3] is not as much about Jubal as it is about Isobel. Sometimes, when you make a decision, it sounds wrong if you say it out loud. But something inside your gut tells you it's the decision you have to make. It's more about not having room to say, "I need to take action," and having somebody else who is also a leader within the organization question it. That's a tough thing to have to happen, because you don't want to be talked out of it. It's not because they're going to talk you out of it, but because if you keep saying it, you might talk yourself out of it.

It doesn't make sense with your values to some degree, but it's something you have to do, you know. I think Jubal understands that too. He doesn't take it too personally, even though he wishes that she might have come to him.

ScreenRant: At the end of season 8, Mike Weiss said they hoped to play into Jubal’s domestic life more as his relationship with Samantha gets back on track. How is that going for him right now in season 9? Is he satisfied with his situation as a father and partner, and is he working towards that happiness?

Jeremy Sisto: Yeah, no news is good news on this show, because if it becomes part of the story or part of the episode, things are not going well. Either it's a momentary debacle, or an overarching dilemma, such as his son's sickness. But I imagine things are par for the course.

Getting back into a full-blown marriage, a big part of it is being married to somebody with this job. They're not alone in the marriage. It's not just the two of you when this job is involved. When the CI went to Jubal's house, and he promised Sam it would never happen again? From what I can tell, some stuff occurs shortly. I haven't read exactly what's going on, but that challenge is going to come into play again, and that's a hard one for him to deal with when he already bears a lot of guilt for what he's put the family through. But up to this point, I think we can confidently say things are going well. No one's in real trouble; they've gotten through all the normal teenage points of contention.

There is an episode of CIA that I just read where Jubal goes over and helps Nikki out on a case, and it's a really cool episode. The relationship between Nikki and Jubal is really fun, which makes sense for a show that seems to be filled with banter and teasing, but also the freedom to be in a bad mood and snap at each other. It's a different tone from FBI, so it's super fun to go over and play in those waters and further explore this character. Jubal's someone who has multiple opposing feelings about any given thing, and that is fun to play when there's banter involved.

But there is some conversation on the phone with his wife in that episode that speaks to a little bit of what the marriage is like. What we know is that they have a therapist, so I don't know if that's a good thing, but it's probably not a bad thing. Maybe it's worse than needing a therapist, though!

New episodes of FBI season 9 air Mondays at 8pm ET/PT on CBS.