‘FBI’ Star Breaks Down Anna Vorpe's Capture and What’s Ahead in Season 9 for the CBS Series

Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for FBI Season 9, Episode 3.

Summary

• In Episode 3 of Season 9 of the CBS series 'FBI,' Anna Vorpe's protection finally ends and OA returns to the FBI but must reckon with his undercover choices.
• Jubal Valentine admits guilt for forcing Isobel Castille to tell him about OA's secret mission and empathizes with her secretive, uneasy decision.
• Season 9 leans topical, with bigger, realistic threats that force the team into messy, morally gray areas.

In the third episode of Season 9 of the CBS series FBI, entitled “White Rock,” everything came crashing down for Anna Vorpe (Claire Coffee) and her strike team. While undercover, Special Agent Omar Adom “OA” Zidan (Zeeko Zaki) finally helped unveil who has been protecting the morally ambiguous operator who has repeatedly put her own priorities over the bureau and put a stop to her actions once and for all. Even though this now means that OA can return to the FBI and rejoin his partner, he will also have to come to terms with everything he did to complete his mission.

After screening the latest episode, Collider got the opportunity to chat with Jeremy Sisto, who plays Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jubal Valentine, about how Anna Vorpe’s story wrapped up and how he feels about the way it all played out. During the interview, he discussed what it’s like to be a part of a TV series that’s currently in its ninth season, how Jubal felt about OA’s mission being kept a secret, why he apologized for following Special Agent in Charge Isobel Castille (Alana De La Garza) to learn what was really going on, what his character thinks of a rule-breaker like Anna Vorpe, what comes next for this team, and the extent of the threats that are still out there.

COLLIDER: You’ve spent a good amount of time on other shows, like Six Feet Under, Law & Order, and Suburgatory, but you’ve spent the most time on this show playing this character. What does that mean to you? How does it feel to be on the show for nine seasons and to play this character for as long as you have?

JEREMY SISTO: It’s great. Acting is such a strange gig, and you never know when your last job will be. To have a character that feels complex, has a pretty eclectic history and backstory, and has some deep flaws but also a high sense of personal values is great. It is great that we have fans and people that support it and enjoy it. I’m definitely very thankful for the experience. In the ‘90s and 2000s, whenever you would screen test for a show, you’d have to sign [a contract for] five to seven years and I was always like, “Oh, my God, I can’t commit to that.” But now, I’m like, “Let’s keep it going.” I enjoy acting very much. I did a film with Paul Rudd, called Rain Reign, that I’m going to go see at the Woodstock Film Festival. It was fun working in a different genre, but I was excited to get back to FBI. I know everyone. It’s family. We’re constantly trying to explore different elements, which is like life. We’re playing the same characters our whole lives and looking for different ways in, and that’s what the show is.

Jubal Understands Isobel’s Decision To Keep OA’s Mission a Secret in ‘FBI’ Season 9

"He doesn't know if he would have wanted to be where she was."

Image via CBS

I can’t imagine how frustrating it was for Jubal to realize some of his own team was keeping things from him. That would frustrate anybody who’s been working with the same people for that long. But then, he learned it was this unsanctioned mission with OA. What do you think he was feeling before he decided to just follow Isobel and figure out what was going on?

SISTO: He usually really respects Isobel’s calls. She chose not to tell him, and something is obviously going on, but his mind and his brain got away from him. He started wondering, “Maybe she’s not telling me because she’s trying to protect me, or maybe she’s in real trouble. If I don’t install myself into this situation, I might really regret it later.” And then, when he finds out what it is, he gets it. He doesn’t know if he would have wanted to be where she was, making this decision. He gets it, but it’s also really close to crossing a line to stop somebody else from crossing the line. It’s a sketchy thing, and for someone like Jubal, it’s a mind bender.

I think he feels bad that he ended up following her, but also, he was right. She does need his help. She needs the team. He also understands that the reason she wasn’t telling him wasn’t because she didn’t trust him. It’s because she knew if she had to say it a bunch, she might talk herself out of. It was a very uncertain choice, and her gut was certain that she had to go about it in this way. When you’re making a choice that goes against certain values that you have, there’s not a lot of room to be able to bring people in for discussion.

I was actually really glad that somebody on the team ended up deciding to follow her to investigate on their own and figure out what was happening. For people that investigate for a living, it would have been weird if none of them decided to follow the breadcrumbs.

SISTO: It turned into the right choice. To do so helped her, but he did feel bad about it. He made a decision. He went over her head in a way, and that’s not something he likes to do.

That’s why I appreciated that he apologized for it.

SISTO: I think the writer’s first instinct was that Jubal was going to be really hurt, and that was a part of it. But I’m always looking for ways to play more than one thing because that’s how I operate in the world, myself. It’s very seldom that things are simple in my own life. When there is a situation where you’re hurt, but you’re also feeling guilty, and you also understand, and you’re also all the different emotions, it’s something that feels like it’s connected to my own experience. I’m glad that you like that sense of him apologizing but showing the opposite side, because I did too.

'FBI’s Jubal Valentine Is a Rule Follower Who Sees Anyone Without a Moral Compass as an Existential Threat

"He will happily jump out of the boundaries, but he doesn’t like to make that choice."

Image via CBS

How does Jubal people feel about someone like Anna Vorpe and what she’s been getting away with for so long?

SISTO: I think the reason Jubal is happy in his job is that he doesn’t have to make these decisions very often where you might need to blur the lines a little bit. He’s a rule follower and a boss follower. He will happily jump out of the boundaries, but he doesn’t like to make that choice. Those choices are made quite often, and sometimes for the better, but they only work if there’s a really strong moral code beneath it. And so, to see someone operating without any kind of moral compass in a similar world is really an existential threat to their organization. It’s like a cancer. You have to really get that out fully without having any remnants of this moraless entity that just is not showing any respect to the challenge of the gray areas of this job.

I really appreciated that she did some of the dirty work herself and was a full-on villain instead of just giving orders.

SISTO: Yeah, for sure. She is a curious character, to exist with so little conscience. To some degree, all politicians and people in this business have to have a very unique chemical makeup. Some might say it’s a bit of sociopathy. You have to be able to sleep at night, and I think Jubal can’t sleep at night when he makes these big choices. All these agents, to some degree, have to go through what they go through, and then wake up the next day and go through it again. It takes a unique type of person. It’s also somebody that Jubal liked. Anna Vorpe and Jubal had a good rapport. He was kind of into her. People are mysteries and they’re dangerous.

Jeremy Sisto Says That Jubal Valentine Feels Some Satisfaction in Finally Stopping Anna Vorpe in ‘FBI’ Season 9

"It was something that he misread."

Image via CBS

What did you like most about how that whole storyline played out? I loved that Jubal had that moment of being the one to tell her to get out of the car, but also it was very satisfying to see him hand over the handcuffs to OA to let him be the one to actually arrest her.

SISTO: Yeah, it felt interesting to do. When I asked her to step out of the car, there was a sense of, “This is somebody that I really got along with. And yet, also, there’s something missing at her core.” Maybe there was some satisfaction because it was somebody that he misread. There’s also the knowledge that OA has been through a lot. We’re going to see the other side of that in the next few episodes. Giving him that final moment was important.

How did you also feel about the moment when Jubal got to be there with OA when he was sworn back in, handing him his badge again? When I talked to Zeeko Zaki about for the start of this season, he told me that he didn’t really feel like he was back on the show until Episode 4. Did it feel that way for the rest of you guys?

SISTO: Yeah, he was doing a different thing. It was very strange. Roland [Buck III], who plays Maggie’s partner, Isaiah Green, is an old friend of mine. I did a war miniseries, called The Long Road Home, with Roland, so it was really fun to watch him explore that uncertain dynamic with his new partner. It was strange when Zeeko was around because it was like, “Wow, you’re doing something completely different than we are in this moment.” It’s fun. Nine years in, there’s still a world of stories to be told.

The ‘FBI’ Cases Are Getting More Topical in Season 9

"Without having any political stance on it, we're just taking what is in the world right now and the threats that exist."

With this case resolved, is there going to be a new big threat? Is there going to be some other big danger you’ll be dealing with this season? What would you say to tease what’s next?

SISTO: Yeah, this episode that we just finished was very intense. There was a lot of whiplash from the size of the threat. In a way, we’re getting a little bit more topical than usual, utilizing some of the things that are occurring in our world right now. Without having any political stance on it, we're just taking what is in the world right now and the threats that exist. (Showrunner) Mike [Weiss] and his team do a really good job at balancing that. We’re not trying to keep people up after they watch an episode. We’re trying to have a good time with a lot of stuff, but you also want to be in the same world. So, we have some pretty substantial threats that are always around and they bubble to the surface pretty provocatively in upcoming episodes. I don’t know if I should say what they are, though.

FBI airs on CBS and is available to stream on Paramount+.