FBI and CIA are back on the 2026 TV schedule, and that means more action, more drama, and more... crossovers. While the shows just premiered their respective seasons, both episodes included a mini-crossover with one another. More in this vein is coming down the pipeline, and the showrunner explained to me what's going on with the two shows, and how they work out the crossovers.
CIA only premiered last year, and even though it seemed at first like it would be totally separate from its predecessor, the series hasn’t wasted any time bringing in some agents from 26 Fed. On the other hand, FBI has also included some characters from CIA, and that’s continuing this season.
For example, Necar Zadegan guest starred on FBI, while John Boyd was on CIA for this fall's season premieres, once again connecting these two worlds. Mike Weiss, who helms both series, shared with CinemaBlend why he loves doing the crossovers:
I love all the people involved. I mean, honestly, just like being able to call up the actors and ask them, ‘Hey, can I borrow your talents and use you across the street?’ They're always game, and they're so great with each other, and getting to see the FBI version of a character or the CIA version of a character is fun. The shows are shot really differently, they feel really different, they're edited differently. And so getting to see John Boyd in our CIA style, boxing with his buddy Bill Goodman, I hope the audience just enjoys that.
FBI as a franchise, has long found these crossovers to be a spectacular way to bring the shows together. We'd seen the franchise do several between FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International before CBS cancelled those shows, and it's continuing with the new iterations.
I actually worried we might be out on crossovers after those dramas ended. We knew CIA was going to be a different bent as a whole. However, I've long been a crossover fan, and I’m pretty happy those have continued with the new lineup. Though Mike Weiss did tell me there is one caveat to how these are going to work in the new world order.
Then, I think on a, like, on a more philosophical level, what I love is the fact that the way that we think about it is that there's like a magical door that you have to go through to enter the world of CIA. And only CIA employees are allowed to go through that door and wind up in New York Station. So we're never going to see an FBI character in the bullpen of New York Station.
Interesting. I love that there are rules for how CIA and FBI will be able to interact, and I'm interested to see how it plays out in future episodes. A hint?
This magic door that the CIA agents walk through into the FBI world, they can go more places. So we can see Nikki, we can see Bill or Gina at 26 Fed, even though they'll never know where New York Station is or who works there or how many people there are. They can wonder, but it's kind of hidden from them. And I think being able to play with some of these dynamics, even if the audience isn't fully aware of all of these dynamics, I think it's tingling somewhere in there.
Recently, FBI star Zeeko Zaki recently told CinemaBlend he’d love it if Maggie and OA took part in a full-blown crossover on the spinoff. He also revealed he wanted to work with Nick Gehlfuss, and I’d love nothing more than to have OA and Bill solving a case together. OA has yet to interact with a CIA character, and Weiss' comments go a long way to explaining why. But, hey, a girl can dream, right?
Be sure to tune in on Mondays beginning at 8 p.m. ET on CBS to see what happens next for both casts in the franchise. New episodes will stream on Tuesdays with a Paramount+ subscription.
