Is OA leaving ‘FBI’? Season 8 finale twist shakes things up for fan-favorite special agent
'FBI' Season 8 went out with a bang, leaving fans deeply concerned about one character's future. Though Omar Adom “OA” Zidan (Zeeko Zaki) survived the episode titled 'Defector,' the circumstances he may find himself in the next season are dangerous to say the least. The agent was fired from his job during the finale, which made many fans think it was the end of the road for the character on the show. But later, in an unexpected turn of events, the agent found himself in enemy territory. As the episode unfolded, more details about his future came to light, which further exposed the ninth season's dangerous premise.
The episode followed Maggie (Missy Peregrym), OA, Scola (John Boyd), and Eva (Juliana Aidén Martinez) as they teamed up with Anna Vorpe (Claire Coffee) and her strike team for a mission. The group was on the lookout for a serum that could cure civilians in a bus infected by a dangerous bioweapon. The group tracked it down, but to the FBI's surprise, Anna's team attacked them and took away the serum for unknown purposes. The civilians from the bus were apparently "moved" without receiving the cure. The superiors tried to brush the incident under the carpet, with ADIC Green (Curtiss Cook) instructing the team to move on. OA, unable to handle the sheer disrespect towards the FBI team and the lives of civilians, protested and was promptly fired. Maggie then broke down, telling her now ex-partner that she can't lose him, too.
OA then went to a bar to drown his sorrows, and was joined by Anna. She explained to him that the serum was taken so that it could be replicated on a large scale for the benefit of the larger population. The victims in the bus had to be sacrificed because there wasn't enough serum for both them and the experiment. She then offered OA a spot on her strike team, which works "off the books" for the Department of Defense. Later, he called Maggie and Isobel (Alana De La Garza), sharing that he is "in." This conversation suggested that the firing was part of a carefully orchestrated plan to make OA a double agent and destroy Anna's team from within. Considering that Anna's dangerous team includes several other unknown forces, OA's next mission could be full of deadly obstacles.
Zaki is excited about his character's storyline in the upcoming season. The actor is interested in seeing how his character balances his moral compass amidst the "off the book" activities he will be forced to do for Anna. “At the end of the day, he will always choose his righteous path … fingers crossed,” Zaki said to US Weekly. Mike Weiss, the showrunner, assured fans in his TV Insider interview that Zaki will remain a series regular, and this move does not mean that he is exiting the series. "We might see him standing in some different rooms at the beginning of Season 9, which I think will be really exciting. Letting him and the show shake things up at the top of Season 9. We’re really excited to see him deep undercover in a different way," the showrunner explained.
Weiss further shared that the next season will be important for OA, as he will find himself working in a team that does not have much regard for the community. "We’ve seen OA struggle with civilians and members of his community, the Muslim community, New Yorkers in general, who have, for various reasons, given up on law enforcement or started to distrust law enforcement. And so for OA, he’s right in the middle of this whole debate, and we’re going to get to see him remind himself of why he took this job in the first place," Weiss added. The show will return next fall on CBS.
