“After so much time off, It’s been extremely fun to be back on FBI,” says Zeeko Zaki, who plays dedicated and fearless New York special agent Omar Adam “OA” Zidan on the popular crime show.
All three shows in the franchise—including the spinoffs International and Most Wanted—kick off new seasons on Tuesday, February 13, starting at 8/7c. OA and the team’s first case of 2024: a bus explosion. Below, Zaki exclusively teases Season 6’s first few cases and OA’s surprising girlfriend.
FBI’s sixth season premieres with a very literal bang. What happens?
Zeeko Zaki: We have a massive explosion on a bus full of civilians in Episode 1. When a bomb goes off, terrorism is always on the table. I was very eager to see how we would handle terrorist attacks this season with everything that’s going on in the world. Our show does a really good job staying on that 50-yard line, and it’s a very interesting route we take. There will be false roads and twists and turns that our characters are involved in and terrorists who reinforce how crazy a world we live in.
Should we assume there are casualties?
Yes. It’s safe to say the bombing does take some innocent lives.
Are foreign or domestic terrorists involved?
You might call them domestic terrorists, but they’ve lived in other countries and they’re fighting foreign battles in [the U.S.]. They’re involved with branches coming out of Africa.
Like the real-life Al-Shabaab Islamist terror groups?
Yes. It’s not ripped-from the headlines, but we take you close to the headlines. The audience and the characters are on the same journey of what happens when we assume certain people are behind this attack. It’s assumed it’s Middle Eastern terrorists, and that’s an interesting line for OA (who is Muslim from Egypt) that brings everything to light.
Will anyone in the New York Bureau go undercover?
It’s not OA, but there is an undercover [operation] that goes terribly wrong.
Is the bombing part of a multi-episode arc or one and done?
There will be fragments of the storyline sprinkled throughout the season for some of the characters.
Bennett Raglin/CBS
Which character will be most affected?
Tiffany [Katherine Renee Kane] will be really close to it. She makes a call that results in a situation that brings the unit all together.
Does OA get to do any big action scenes early on?
I do get to put on my action hero pants in the first couple of episodes. And in Episode 3, I have a cool maneuver when a suspect enters the room. I’m excited to see that on cameras.
Is there anything new in OA’s personal life this season?
There is definitely some romance in the air for OA starting in Episode 3. There’s a woman who’s at the other end of the spectrum from his last girlfriend, who was a lawyer. We’ll explore some other types of social circles in Manhattan and what they have to offer. It’s a fun and different type of relationship for OA. Of course, it has its ups and downs. I can’t say anything more about her yet.
What are some other stories coming up?
In the second episode, we step into a storyline for [Assistant Special Agent in Charge] Jubal [Valentine, played by Jeremy Sisto]; it’s very family focused concerning a kid about the age of his son, who had been kidnapped at one point.
With special agent Nina Chase (Shantel VanSanten) on field duty on Most Wanted, her partner Special Agent Stuart Scola (John Boyd) is a part-time dad for the baby they share. How he’s doing?
His journey into being a father so far has been very wholesome and positive, nothing too high stakes.[Laughs] Hopefully that will stay that way for a while.
Will there be any crossovers from International and Most Wanted in this shortened season? [Executive producer Rick Eid says “Nina will return to her FBI roots on occasion. There will be some cross-pollination among the three shows.”]
I think with how backed up the show was with the strike, it might take a little while for that.
FBI, Season 6 Premiere, Tuesday, February 13, 8/7c, CBS