After bringing cops, lawyers, firefighters and doctors to NBC, Dick Wolf’s TV empire now includes special agents with the launch of CBS’ FBI. Does the prolific producer have another hit on his hands? Tuesday’s series premiere begins with a giant apartment building explosion in the Bronx, which kills several tenants, including a small boy. After talking to the child’s distraught mother, Special Agent Maggie Bell (Rookie Blue‘s Missy Peregrym) can’t get the kid out of her head. Her partner, Special Agent Omar Adom “OA” Zidan (24: Legacy‘s Zeeko Zaki), offers an ear if she’d like to talk, but Maggie remains focused on the job and finding whoever’s responsible for the bombing. Even after her husband died, she was back at work just a few days later. OA, meanwhile, is a risk-taker type used to living by his own rules as a former undercover agent. He simmers with anger as the duo question a white nationalist leader they suspect partnered with a gang to organize what has now become multiple bombings. Why would such a man team up with people he views as less-than? He receives an influx of money for his cash-strapped organization and gets to start a race war between two gangs. His final bomb, which sits at a summit full of minority leaders, is thwarted by the FBI just as Maggie and OA arrest him following a live TV appearance. The premiere then closes with OA giving Maggie a ride to the young boy’s funeral. Popular on TVLine The show’s cast also includes Jeremy Sisto (Law & Order) as Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jubal Valentine, Ebonée Noel (Still Star-Crossed) as analyst Kristen Chazal and Sela Ward (CSI: NY) — who does not appear in the pilot — as Special Agent in Charge Dana Mosier. What did you think of the new procedural drama? Sound off via the polls below.<doc-sep>Tonight on CBS FBI premieres with an all-new Tuesday, September 25, 2018, season 1 episode 1 series premiere called, “pilot,” and we have your FBI recap below. On tonight’s FBI episode as per the CBS synopsis, “In the premiere, a bomb explosion devastates a residential apartment building, and special agents Maggie Bell and Omar Adom “OA” Zidan of the New York office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigate a possible war between rival gangs—that is, until their prime suspects are discovered brutally murdered.” Make sure to bookmark this spot and come back from 8 PM – 9 PM ET for our FBI recap. While you wait for our recap check out all our NCIS New Orleans news, spoilers, recaps & more, right here! Tonight’s FBI recap begins now – Refresh Page often to get the most current updates! A teen boy is watching his little brother when he sees a female classmate on the street outside his home. His little brother heads in while they talk. The building explodes. The FBI shows up. Agent Maggie Bell demands the fire department get everyone out. A mother looking for her sons comes running up hysterical. They try to comfort her and stop her from coming in when another explosion blows them back. The building crumbles from the top down. Bell and OA update their boss. They speak with the residents and neighbors. They catch a lead on a drug dealer that lived in the building. Bell and OA climb through the rumble. A worker has found a body and a cell phone melted into the vic’s leg. Back at headquarters, they have their eye on a Blood gang member by the name of Felton. Bell and OA bring the cell phone in. Bell excuses herself to go clean up. She pauses to look at a picture of a man in her desk. They get data back on the phone. They start to build their case. Wayne Clinton is a new suspect. He might have bombed Felton’s building to try and rise up the ranks of the gang. Bell and OA get word on Wayne’s whereabouts. They stake out the entrance of a club. Wayne comes out of the club and goes to get in his car. Bell and OA head his way. His car blows up. Back at the office, Bell updates the team. This might be a war between two gangs. They head to a local recreational center where explosives have been discovered. They look to be something MS-13 would use. They pick up on a repairman named Wilmur that works there that is from El Salvador. They bring him in. While he waits in the interrogation room they receive footage of the repairman taking a duffle bag from someone suspicious. Bell threatens him and his family. He gives up a name. The SWAT team rushes a building for a man named Bernardo. He isn’t there. They head to the local prison to meet an MS-13 member. When they arrive he is already dead. His heart was taken out of his body and he was left for dead. Back at the office, the whole team watches the video footage and starts over. They cannot find Bernardo. Their next move is to tell the public so they can find this guy. Tips pour in. They hope he doesn’t do anything crazy. Bell and OA go on the stakeout. Bell can’t stop thinking about the young boy who died. They see a kid on the street that is dressed like Wilmur. The kid makes a run for it. Bell and OA break into a nearby building. Bernardo is in there. They take him in after seeing him and his bomb lab. He is working with someone. He won’t give the person up. After examining the bombs they catch a lead and head to meet a white nationalist politician named Lawrence. He is linked to several past bombings. They go to meet him but he manages to weasel his way around their questions. Back at the office, Bell and OA start to think about Lawrence, check his bank statements and start to piece together that he is paying MS-13 and other gangs to carry out a war. They catch another lead, circling back to the director the recreational center. He used to be in the military and he is connected to Lawrence. He also has the skills to build bombs. They bring him in and he asks for immunity if he tells them everything. They get interrupted. Their boss has something solid on Lawrence and they need to move on it now. Bell tells OA her husband was killed by a man who mowed down people on the sidewalk on Halloween. He offers her any help she might need. They head out to a local diner owned by the recreational center’s mother. They have a search warrant. They find an empty grenade box in the cellar. Lawrence has one more bomb. They find out that the next bomb is scheduled to go off soon after interrogating the Rec. center director. Bell thinks he is going to hit a local summit taking place. They evacuate the building. There is panic and chaos. One of the agents finds a bag of bombs while Lawrence speaks to OA and Bell. He asks for his lawyer. They let him make a call. Their agent picks up. He is disappointed. He was making the call to have the bombs set off. They take him in. OA gives Bell a ride to the funeral of the young boy who died. THE END!<doc-sep>From the mind of Dick Wolf, the executive producer who’s brought us the long-running Law & Order series and its numerous spinoffs, comes FBI, a close-up look at the United States’ frontline against terrorism and other threats. Starring Canadian actor Missy Peregrym as agent Maggie Bell and Zeeko Zaki as agent Omar Adom Zidan (“OA” for short), FBI follows the pair as they work the mean streets of New York City and beyond. Right from the beginning, the show starts off with a bang, and it certainly does not let up from there. READ MORE: First photo of Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker released Global News sat down with Zaki to discuss his first leading role, working with Peregrym and the pressure of delivering on a Dick Wolf show. Story continues below advertisement Global News: This first episode is very intense. Is this what we can expect from this show going forward? Zeeko Zaki: Yes. Even just reading the script, I was like, “What are they doing to us?” There is no delay. You’re thrust right into the action. I think that’s great. You’re hooked right after that. [Dick] Wolf has his equation, he knows what he’s doing. View image in full screen Corus Entertainment/Global The chemistry between you and Missy is apparent, right from the beginning. Offscreen, Missy and I became great friends, and it was so nice to have 18 days to bring it to screen. After I watched [the pilot], even I wanted to know more about these characters! [Laughs] I couldn’t wish for a better partner. Story continues below advertisement This is my first lead, and of course she’s come from a long line of shows and leading roles, so it was nice to check myself off of where she’s at. If I got in my head about something, she would know exactly what to say to bring me back down to earth. I’m grateful to you, Missy, if you’re reading this! READ MORE: In light of the Ticketmaster investigation, are there other ways to get tickets? How does it feel being in your first lead role? This is a Dick Wolf show, so is it nerve-wracking at all? There’s definitely pressure to honour my agency and Dick Wolf… by the time you get to set, there are so many people who’ve signed off on you that it’s not really your fault anymore if anything goes wrong. [Laughs] Dick Wolf changed the role from a Latino to an Arab for me, which is an absolute honour. It’s the dream. It’s almost the biggest dream possible. I never dared to dream this big. I’m trying to stay grounded and focused. Tell me more about this role change. It was originally a Latino character, so when I got the audition I wasn’t even being looked at. They called me in, and the room was filled with Latino actors. They asked me some questions about Egypt (I was born there), stuff like that, but I went to the real-life FBI… [the agents are] all ambiguous-looking, from all different races. I was like, “Wow. This works.” Story continues below advertisement Obviously FBI deals with serious topics, but in the down moments of emotional personal stories, there’s a softness. Does the series continue in this vein? For sure. I came into this role very stern and serious, but that’ll kill you, walking around with that weight. When I met the FBI agents, I realized that is their job. They have to separate from it, or it’ll get dangerous. When I met them, they were bubbly, outgoing, laughing, smiling. It’s the job, so you have to put boundaries on yourself and leave things at work. When nothing crazy is happening in the world, it’s a 9-to-5. They go home on the weekends. When something is going on, they’re there until it’s over. WATCH BELOW: Missy Peregrym, Zeeko Daki on their ‘FBI’ ‘relationship’ How deeply do we delve into Omar’s character? I’m not totally sure yet, but in Dick Wolf’s world, you get tidbits and treats. It’s a little spoon, not a ladle of character development. It keeps it exciting, and makes each bit that much more valuable. It also lends itself to the longevity of his shows. There has to be — has to be — the potential for romance between yours and Missy’s character. [Laughs] We’re definitely moving into a friendship… sort-of team situation. [Laughs] I don’t know. In my life, Missy has become a big sister to me, so I’m like “No, please, anything but that!” Romance is gonna happen, hopefully with other people for now. [Laughs] Story continues below advertisement How does FBI differ from all the other cop shows out there? The reason this show is different from any other procedural cop show — Law & Order, the Chicago shows — is that the FBI does different cases. There is a hard line between what the FBI does and what the cops do. There’s this cliché scene that happens in nearly every police-oriented show, where an FBI agent shows up at the scene of a crime and says, “It’s ours now. We’ll take it from here.” [Laughs] That never happens on our show. It’s going to be stuff you see in movies: Mafia stuff, terrorists, kidnappings. We’re not going to do anything you see on cop shows. It’s interesting that prime time TV hasn’t really tackled this upper level of crimefighting before. It’s crazy because we’re at a time where everybody knows everything, and everybody has access to everything. Knowledge is power now. There’s a reputation being created about the FBI — it’s not fair, it’s not right, what these people do to sacrifice our safety… it’s definitely time to get a good dog in this fight for them. — [This interview has been edited and condensed.] Story continues below advertisement ‘FBI’ premieres on Tues., September 25 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Global.<doc-sep>
Dick Wolf is known as the mastermind behind one of the longest running shows on television, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. So when FBI was announced, the assumption was that it would have the same impact that the Mariska Hargitay-led drama would have. However, FBI fell completely flat in its series premiere. It left viewers with more questions about the main character’s background and motive than who committed the crime in question. Missy Peregrym leads the drama and has a vast history playing law enforcement officers. For six seasons she led the ABC crime drama Rookie Blue as Officer Andy McNally so, in turn, big things were expected as she stepped into the role of FBI agent Maggie Bell. There was little learned about Peregrym’s character except for the fact that she lost her husband, but we don’t know why. When that fact was revealed we also learned she went back to work immediately with no time to cope with his loss. Obviously, there is a layer of loss that I would assume the writers will dig into as the season progresses. As for Peregrym’s partner on the show, Special Agent Omar Adom ‘OA’ Zidan is played by Zeeko Zaki. Again, we know little about his character aside from the fact he was recently undercover working to expose terrorists. There is barely any chemistry between Peregrym and Zaki’s characters… unless that’s the point. It was assumed they recently became partners but it’s something that was never discussed or even really touched upon. They seemed uncomfortable with each other but that could easily be due to the fact they are new partners and getting to know someone takes time. Still, it’s hard to wrap your head around because often pilots bank on the fact that the characters will have some kind of chemistry between them. For a show created by Dick Wolf, I assumed there would be more of a bang from the start. Instead, it felt like a basic episode of SVU just with a different law enforcement agency. There didn’t seem to be anything that made it stand out among the other shows about the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was hinted in the premiere that there are layers to each character, but it seems we’ll have to rip them back one by one throughout the first season to get to know them better. That might take a bit of time.