FBI: MOST WANTED: David Hudgins Teases the ‘High-Stakes’ Finale Case and a ‘Good Old-Fashioned Cliffhanger’

FBI: MOST WANTED wraps up its second season as the team heads to Tennessee to try and figure out whether an undercover DEA agent has flipped in the midst of their assignment.

But on the personal side of things, there may be a tougher go of it: Jess’ (Julian McMahon) father, Byron (Terry O’Quinn), may have had a picture-perfect wedding to Marie (Rachel York) in the penultimate hour, but Jess will be facing some relationship drama of his own in the finale.

So, what’s to come? FBI: MOST WANTED showrunner David Hudgins offers a few teases about the season 2 finale…

The team is going up against another member of law enforcement in “Chattaboogie.” How is that impacting their approach?
It is very much a high-stakes case, because it is exactly that: it’s somebody else in law enforcement, and it raises the question of what happens when you’re going after one of your own? It just immediately heightens the episode and the stakes, especially in a scenario like this, where it’s our team chasing a fugitive [and] there’s people higher up involved that have agendas. It’s a challenge for the team.

When somebody goes rogue, say for example in APOCALYPSE NOW, Colonel Kurtz goes up the river and he goes rogue, and so you immediately think, “Oh shit, what are we gonna find when we get there?” That’s what the episodes about. It’s about taking these guys out of their comfort zone in many different ways, including than sending them down South, where these people are very clannish, and they stick together. And you never know if anybody’s giving you a straight story. It just makes it very hard to do the job and catch the fugitive.

The other thing about the A-story that I really like is that our fugitives [who] are not what they seem are always the most challenging. When you add on top of that somebody who’s really smart and clever and ahead of the game, and has done their homework, it just makes it a really challenging case for the team. And it’s the finale, it’s big: we’ve got lots of action, lots of stuff going on. It’s a really fun A-story that moves.

How much is police reform playing into this storyline? Or is it entirely about this specific person?
It’s dealing with a specific person and the specific world. We covered some of the territory you mentioned in episode 2×12, so it’s not so much about that, as it is about going down and having to try to infiltrate a very close-knit group of people, none of whom are what they seem. They’re having to do it in a way where they’re a little bit hamstrung by this ongoing investigation that this agent was a part of, so they’ve got a lot of masters to serve in this case, and it just makes their job extra hard for this episode.

Sarah (Jen Landon) and Jess seem to be at a crossroad in their relationship. What can you tease about what’s in store for them?
I’ll put it this way: the last five minutes of the episode I love; I come from a network TV background, I always love a good old-fashioned cliffhanger. And we’ve been setting up this relationship with Jess and Sarah for most of the season. We love the two of them together, and it’s a very interesting story for Jess, someone who’s been widowed for four years. Can he find love again? Will he find love again? Is he capable of finding love again?

Sarah has certainly found a way…as he said in [episode] 14, this is the happiest he’s ever been. So for Jess, it’s a question of am I going to get close to this woman? The answer is yes. Then there’s always obstacles in a relationship, so what’s coming at the end of the finale is a big ol’ obstacle.

We wanted to put Jess to the test—how far are you willing to go for those you love? Jess is a very black and white guy; what happens when you throw a gray situation at him? So that’s where we’re headed at the end, for what we think is a very juicy last five minutes.

Is this an issue that they’re having as a couple, between them, or is it from external forces?
I don’t want to give it away, but let’s just say it involves a very major test of their relationship.

Looking elsewhere, Clinton (Nathaniel Arcand) has been on assignment for much of the season. Is there a timetable for his return?
That does fall into spoiler category!

Okay! On the flip side, Ortiz has been a great addition to the team. Does he feel like a long-term character in your mind?
We love Miguel Gomez, who plays him, and we love the character. We thought he filled the niche in a very great way.

There’s an episode where we delved into his backstory, and we feel like it’s just the tip of the iceberg with this character, and there’s a lot more to explore about where he came from, what his personal life was before; he’s divorced. We don’t know anything about that yet, other than the fact that he is divorced. So there’s a lot of territory to dive into with this character, and we’d love to keep him around.

FBI: MOST WANTED, Tuesdays, 10/9c, CBS

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