Spoilers ahead for the Season 5 premiere of FBI: Most Wanted, called "Above & Beyond."
While Season 4 of FBI: Most Wanted ended on about as high a note as could be hoped for the darkest show in the FBI franchise, the Task Force had some extra problems to deal with on top of the hunt for their fugitive of the week in the Season 5 premiere. Remy getting justice for his brother didn't automatically translate to contentment in Season 5, and there were plenty of complications to come along with Shantel VanSanten's debut as a series regular. Roxy Sternberg, who plays Barnes, opened up about what she dubbed a "really sad" moment for Remy as well as Nina as replacement for Kristin Gaines.
Remy's Sad Moment In The Premiere
FBI: Most Wanted relied on a session between Remy and his therapist to catch viewers up on what happened over the time jump to the 2024 TV schedule, including the release of the documentary about the man convicted of killing his brother, the departure of Kristin Gaines, two replacements who hadn't worked out, growing distance with his nephew, and FBI's Nina joining the Task Force. He wasn't feeling his best, and even told his therapist that he wasn't sure if anybody at work even liked him. I asked Roxy Sternberg how Barnes would respond to that, and the actress said:
Oh, my God, I forgot about that! That's really sad. That's so sad. Of course she likes Remy! There was a little bit of friction that we played at the beginning of Season 4. Her adjustment to losing Jess, and this new guy stepping in and he stepped into the role with kind of like no tiptoeing. Like bam, he had arrived. And we played that. He made some decisions, which I didn't necessarily agree with as a character. My character didn't agree with them.
Remy and Barnes didn't get off the to the strongest start, with him coming in as the replacement for Jess and her stepping away before Dylan McDermott joined the show due to Sternberg's real-life maternity leave. It wasn't until Season 4 that fans really saw them together, and it was quickly clear that their dynamic wouldn't be a carbon copy of what she had with Jess. But the actress was quick to say that Barnes definitely likes her boss now! Sternberg continued, naming a specific Season 4 moment that wasn't great between the characters:
Him going ahead and not inviting me on the chopper! There was one space on the chopper, and he brought the new guy. He didn't bring me and I've been there since Day 1! You brought this new guy. We had this kind of Mexican standoff, and I think it was really needed right at the beginning, but still it hadn't quite ironed itself out. At the end, I think it had. It was really lovely being able to play how realistic it is with a new person stepping in. How does that play out? How can you readjust, and how can you move forward? And it was just really lovely playing that out.
Considering that Barnes went from Jess' right-hand agent to working under a new boss she didn't know at all, it made sense at the time that they needed some time to iron out all the wrinkles in the working relationship. Sternberg went on to clarify how the fiction emulated real life with Dylan McDermott's arrival, saying:
It's kind of like art imitating life as well, because it was also me working with him for the first time. And I think the first scene we had together was this friction. Not to say that there was friction in real life, but there was a lot of apprehension and fear of how will this go going forward, and it was a really amazing start to working with Dylan. And then having the relationship on and off camera grow throughout the season was amazing. It really is like art imitates life in a weird way.
Barnes may have needed some time to get used to Remy as the new leader of the Task Force, but Remy apparently doesn't need to worry about her liking him now that Season 5 has kicked off. If anything, he may need to worry more about Nina after she told him to his face that she'd heard a rumor that he and Gaines had started something outside of the office before she left the job. And that brings us to...
Barnes' New Dynamic With Nina
While the majority of the friction within the team was between Remy and Nina in the Season 5 premiere, Nina and Barnes spent some time bonding. Roxy Sternberg previously opened up about Shantel VanSanten having a "smoother transition" into Most Wanted compared to previous cast changes, due to Nina starting out as an FBI character.
There are still questions about what went down (or what didn't) between Remy and Gaines that Most Wanted lost another series regular, but Barnes and Nina seem like a dynamic duo. I noted to Sternberg that I loved the moment between the characters after the car chase when Barnes told Nina not to apologize, and the actress opened up about the characters' dynamic moving forward:
It's interesting because they're the only two parents on the show as well. They're the only two mothers on the show and the only two parents. Ray doesn't have any kids yet. Remy doesn't have any kids, he's got obviously a nephew. So I wonder if – and this is not a spoiler, this is just a wonder because actually I only get the scripts episode by episode – I wonder if as two mothers, if they're going to be connecting on a deeper level on what's going on at home
The two agents spoke a bit about parenthood in the Season 5 premiere, with Barnes establishing that Nina came back from maternity leave a month early and Nina sharing that Scola (FBI's John Boyd) is a great dad for when she doesn't make it home before the baby is asleep. While it remains to be seen if they connect any further, Sternberg continued:
Me telling her not to apologize is quite an intimate thing to say to someone. 'Don't apologize,' I think, and I wonder how intimate their relationship is gonna grow. I wonder if there's going to be meetings behind the scenes and me sharing some stories with her about being a mother, her sharing some stories with me about being a mother. I don't know, I see it as quite an intimate thing... But yeah, 'Don't apologize.' I feel like that's a lot deeper than that scene itself.
See what's next for Remy, Barnes, Nina, and the rest with new episodes of FBI: Most Wanted on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS, following FBI: International – which just said a goodbye to a series regular – at 9 p.m. and FBI at 8 p.m. You can also revisit earlier episodes of all three hit shows streaming with a Paramount+ subscription now.
