The entire FBI franchise has been on a hiatus since back in May 2023, and the prolonged break has undoubtedly been extra painful for fans of FBI: International following the Season 2 finale that was quite literally explosive. In the final moments of the final episode of 2023, a bomb exploded beneath the Fly Team's HQ, with everybody other than Raines and Tank inside. Some first-look photos shed light on the Season 3 return in the 2024 TV schedule, and star Luke Kleintank spoke with CinemaBlend about what the cast initially knew about the twist, as well as the brand new character on the way.
As fans may remember, the Fly Team was targeted once they had custody of a woman whose testimony was a major threat to some very dangerous people. Lucky timing placed Raines (Carter Redwood) and Tank outdoors, but Forrester (Luke Kleintank), Jamie (Heida Reed), Vo (Vinessa Vidotto), Smitty (Eva-Jane Willis), and Powell (Greg Hovanessian) were definitely in the blast zone. When I spoke to Kleintank ahead of the Season 3 premiere, I asked if he knew when the cliffhanger was filmed how the aftermath would play out, and he shared:
No, no, none of us knew. It was kind of a cliffhanger for us as well, so we were kind of anxiously waiting to see what the writers were going to come up with. We knew that the majority of people were going to potentially survive or maybe not. We didn't know. We had no idea.
Unfortunately for the stars of FBI: International, they knew about as much as fans did about the aftermath of the explosion... a.k.a., not much! First-look photos at the Season 3 premiere confirmed characters who survived at least the initial blast, and anybody could speculate based on who was in HQ in the finale, but that certainly doesn't mean everybody is safe or tell the whole story. Apparently, the WGA writers strike may have been as hard on the actors waiting for answers as the fans!
Of course, one source of speculation about the aftermath of the explosion is the news that a longtime cast member is leaving International in Season 3: Heida Reed will depart the hit CBS show. While that news broke months before International's return on February 13, did the cast have some inside info earlier? Luke Kleintank said:
No, we didn't know anything about it in advance. I think that's for the fans. When they come to watch the show, they'll see what happens. You know, I'll leave it up to them.
The actor avoided dropping any spoilers about Heida Reed or Jamie Kellett, which really should give some extra motivation for fans to tune in to CBS on premiere night (or watch via Paramount+ subscription ASAP)! Whatever happens in the opening moments of FBI: International's third season, the premiere will introduce a new character to the Fly Team, and Kleintank dropped some details about her role:
The actress' name is Christina Wolfe. She's coming in. She's joining us. Her character is Amanda Tate. She's an analyst that is working... here in Budapest. And she comes to join our team and she essentially become an integral part in the new office that we have in Budapest. And so she's essentially somewhat of a pseudo-Jubal character in our office, the one that's kind of keeping things down at the home base while we're off investigating, and doing stuff as the Fly Team outside of the office.
Christina Wolfe comes to FBI: International with TV experience including The Ark and Batwoman. According to Luke Kleintank, her character will fill a role similar to that of Jubal Valentine, played by Jeremy Sisto on FBI. It should be interesting to see how Amanda Tate fits in with the rest of the Fly Team, especially after Jubal himself joined forces with the overseas agents as part of the three-show crossover.
They didn't get off to the strongest start after Jubal had some expectations due to all his time in New York, but those complications might not be a factor since Tate has been in Budapest. Fortunately, the wait to find out is nearly over. The Season 3 premiere of FBI: International with the aftermath of the explosion and introduction of Amanda Tate will air on Tuesday, February 13 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS, between Season 6 of FBI (with a terrorist threat for the agents in NYC) at 8 p.m. and FBI: Most Wanted Season 5 at 10 p.m.
