It may be hard to believe after a season of FBI starting fresh with a new agent and CIA becoming enough of a hit for a quick Season 2 renewal, but the 2026 TV schedule recently hit the one-year anniversary of CBS’ shocking cancellations of FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International. I spoke with Most Wanted alum Shantel VanSanten about her return to FBI for the Scolina wedding bells to ring, and she also weighed in on how the cancelled spinoff ended for her character without much closure.
The silver lining of FBI: Most Wanted’s cancellation last year was that it happened in time for showrunner David Hudgins to craft a finale that he described as a “proper goodbye.” For Remy, that meant retirement. For Ray, that meant impending parenthood. For Barnes, that meant promotion. For Nina… well, the finale didn’t really have any big updates for what would be next for her.
At the time, that did make a certain degree of sense, since Nina was by far the most likely character to appear again in the franchise due to her relationship with FBI’s Scola. Speaking with CinemaBlend, Shantel VanSanten shared her thoughts on picking up her character’s story from the end of Most Wanted and expanding on it in FBI:
Article continues below[The finale] felt like closure, I think, for everybody but me. I don't know if I really ever spoke to that, because I was like, 'But what happens now? What happens to them? Like, they're just happy and there's nothing next?'
While the finale certainly felt like an ending with closure compared to how FBI: International concluded on a cliffhanger, Shantel VanSanten makes a good point. There was a lot more happiness than usual for an episode of FBI: Most Wanted, and while I’m still a fan of the ending, Nina’s story did feel like there really would be something next. (You can find the finale streaming with a Peacock subscription now.)
Fortunately, one of the things that the actress knew she would miss was also something she could revisit as an FBI guest star. She went on
For me, I think I was always going to miss just one more time of Scola and Nina together. That's where it all kind of began, and there's such a deep-rooted foundation of who Nina is that we've seen because of the way that they communicate and express and what they've been through.
Shantel VanSanten becoming a series regular on FBI: Most Wanted while Nina was in a relationship (and having a baby) with Scola meant a handful of guest appearances on the spinoff by John Boyd. Now, fans will have to hope for guest appearances from VanSanten on FBI to see more of Scolina. Luckily, the duo tying the knot means that the relationship isn’t ending any time soon, even if it mostly continues off-screen. The For All Mankind alum went on:
I was overjoyed to be able to go back to where we were very first introduced to Nina and get engaged in the office. [laughs] We did so many different kinds of scenes, and I'm glad it wasn't the elevator. We did maybe too many intense scenes in an elevator, but I'm really happy that we got to see the extension of this part of their story, and to also see her be a badass undercover and still doing what she loves, because she's not just a partner and a mom. She still obviously cares and loves her job.
While the courthouse wedding between Scola and Nina was the kind of happy ending that doesn’t happen every week in the FBI world, Nina did have to go through the wringer before saying “I do.” She and Maggie went undercover on an op that just kept going wrong, which resulted in Shantel VanSanten and Missy Peregrym having to learn fight sequences while wearing high heels and long gowns. (That episode of FBI is streaming via a Paramount+ subscription now.)
At the time of writing, Shantel VanSanten is the only FBI: Most Wanted alum to appear on FBI in the year since the spinoff was cancelled. I’d still love to see Roxy Sternberg back as Barnes in particular, which could even make sense after the character’s promotion in the Most Wanted finale, but it’s a relief to get more of Nina after she got the least closure last spring.
It remains to be seen if/when Nina will be back on FBI, but the show is already guaranteed to return for Season 9 in the fall, so she could be back in the fall even if another guest appearance isn’t in the cards before the Season 8 finale. For now, you can keep checking out the FBI half of Scolina with new episodes on Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.
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