FBI Post-Mortem: Katherine Renee Kane on the Team’s Big Loss and Tiff’s Path Forward
February 13, 2024 by Marisa Roffman
[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Tuesday, February 13 season premiere of FBI.]
The FBI team kicked off season 6 with a big investigation into a bombing—and the tragic loss of one of their own.
With the team trying to find the person behind the bombing, Tiffany (Katherine Renee Kane) took the lead on an operation—after Jubal (Jeremy Sisto) told her TPTB wanted her to be more assertive—in a Somali restaurant, taking Hobbs (Roshawn Franklin) as her backup.
“Just play it nice and cool, no need to rush things,” Jubal warned Tiff, noting it had been a while since Hobbs was out in the field.
When they got to the restaurant and spotted their suspect, Hakeem, Tiff suggested Hobbs follow the man and see if he had a scar on his neck; Hobbs, however, was wary, noting it might seem suspicious and spook the guy. Tiff encouraged him to go ASAP…and Hobbs’ cover was blown and he was killed.
Unfortunately, they weren’t able to get justice for Hobbs—despite a couple of close calls, Hakeem escaped.
Here, Kane talks with Give Me My Remote about filming “All the Rage” and what this loss means for Tiff going forward.
What was your reaction when you got the script?
Oh my gosh, I was so shocked. I was so shocked that we were losing someone, one of our beloved team members. It was not only [a loss] for the characters, but for the actors. We create a little family unit, [so] to see one go, it’s just so close to the heart.
I will say that I was happy to—not necessarily to see him go or be the reason that he goes, but to be able—be there with Roshawn, who plays Hobbs, to do the scene work with him. He was great. And it was just really great to work with him. I don’t even get to work with him one-on-one in scene work a lot. So it’s always cool to work with somebody new and in a new capacity.
What conversations, if any, were you able to have with the writers about how much this would be impacting Tiff going forward? Or is that still something you’re waiting to find out as you get scripts this season?
It’s a combination of both. She gets to continue to work through and resolve all of the emotions, the pain and remorse, or the sort of festering vendetta she has against this perp in regards to her losing her teammate. I think when that’ll happen is still to be said. But how that happens, we’ve talked a lot about how that can have an impact on her: who she is as a person, who she is as an agent, how it can lead to more evolution in how she works. Because I think the one thing that is really significant about this moment is that she’s stepping forward into more of a leadership role. Stepping forward to give herself more to her work and continue to grow as an agent as something she really cares about. I think it’s part of her identity as a person. But I think that also requires her to continue to expand and evolve as a person so that she could be a better agent. So I think it’s going to be happening.
Earlier in the episode, Jubal mentions that one of the pieces of feedback for her review is that she needs to be more assertive. How much of that is a learning process for her this season and how is she juggling being more assertive within her own comfort and boundaries?
I think that actually does have a lot to do with her trying to figure out her particular brand of leadership. She is incredibly headstrong, and she is a bold agent. When she gets an order, she can go do it. But I think the thing that Tiffany really has yet to develop is an intuition as an agent. A way to…discern which way to go and how to approach something without having to be told exactly how to do it. I think she has it in her, but she’s never been pushed out of her comfort zone. And I think it’s really great.
It’s a really, actually, generous thing that Jubal does, to push her forward into what she is ready for—you’re never going to really hone your skills until you’re in the battlefield to do so. And so I think the weight that comes with that is just something she also has to learn how to deal with and how to really resolve her emotion so that she could think clearly.
Obviously, she does try a little bit in this episode to be proactive—and it doesn’t go the way anyone wanted. It’s certainly not her fault that things go awry, but how much is the weight of this playing into how she chooses to assert herself in upcoming episodes?
It will play pretty heavily. I think it’s not going to stop her from doing her job and in seeking to be effective. But I know that Tiffany does wear her heart on her sleeve, in a sense, when it comes to taking care of her teammates. That is something that she does care about; it is not something she neglects.
So to have lost someone like that, while she was taking the lead—it’s [not] something she can shake very easily. But I think she’s determined [move on]. I don’t think she wants it to be in vain. And I don’t think that she is one to crumble under pressure. I actually think she will see herself solidify in how she works, how she wants to continue, and how she wants to see herself move past this. But it’s definitely going to be a trial.
What was it like actually filming that Hobbs death scene?
It was different. It was a very different experience. It felt very distinct from a lot of the things that I’ve done; almost everything that I’ve done on the show so far. We’re not only saying goodbye to that character, we’re also saying bye to the cast member.
The atmosphere felt very thick to me when we were filming that…[I] really put myself in that position, because this is the thing that agents go through all the time. And how do they go forward? [It’s] a real circumstances of seeing somebody that you’ve worked with, and that your heart is tied to, [when you see] a colleague lose their life. How do you even describe that?
So it was just a very palpable, like, thick experience. The air just felt thick. And I think everybody gave space to that in respect to that and [we could] also feel that as we were filming it.
There was a beautiful moment earlier in the episode where OA (Zeeko Zaki) and Tiff acknowledged that non-white people are often blamed (whether it’s right or not) in the immediate aftermath of a tragedy. What was it like filming that scene with Zeeko?
It’s so funny, just thinking about Zeeko and I being both actors of color working on this job, and how who we are personally has sort of blended into who our characters are. And that they toe the line in a way that I really respect and I think is beautiful. These two characters have to grapple amidst the whole world of politics as they relate to identity, but also their personal calling towards upholding justice. And I think that it’s something that I would love to continue to explore between those two.
We’ve done it in the past in one episode, where they got to connect and sort of support each other and say, “You know, I see you.” And the other one say, “I see you. And I also see how, despite where you come from and how you identify, you also know that you have a place here. You also know that you have a place in this bureau. And it aligns with who you are as a person, that you haven’t given up on justice, even though sometimes it has sort of been biased towards you.” So it’s really cool when we have those little moments.
I think they feel really natural and really meaningful to the both of us. But I also love how the characters don’t find themselves engulfed in that. They can sort of touch on it and then come back out and get back into the work and allow that to be dealt with in a time when it can be dealt with properly.
There’s also Tiff’s partnership with Scola (John Boyd). How is he supporting her as she’s struggling with this loss moving forward?
One thing I really love about the partnership between Tiffany and Scola is how they’ve been able to find connection from very different perspectives. Being from very different backgrounds, from work history, from how they were raised, socio-economic status, whatever it might be. As she’s going through this thing now that she has to deal with, trying to step into leadership but having a huge blow come at her right away, and him being on the other side of this new life [with his son and quasi-new relationship], I think they’re always very perceptive. They’ve always been very perceptive and keen with how they’ve seen each other and being able to speak to each other, honestly, and get down right to the heart of the matter. And I, myself, look forward to and hope for more moments in this season, where they can support each other from where they are, when they’re able to do that.
I think that that’s something that the writers are really good at and I love. I love the dynamic between myself and John. He’s always very, very in tune with those types of things. So it’s a color I want to play.
And the case isn’t resolved by the end of the hour. How much is that playing into what’s ahead?
Well, there are always new emergencies and new cases and new perps—the work doesn’t stop for them. But I think that’s not going to be something that she lays down very easily. I think that she is wanting to…we’ve seen her in the past continue to follow the lead, to continue to dig at a problem in whatever way she can. So I hope to continue to see her pull at this when it’s appropriate, obviously. We have to give our full attention to what’s at hand; we can’t slight anyone for our own personal or emotional grudges or anything like that. But I don’t think any of the team is able to really forget that this guy is still at large, let alone her.
FBI, Tuesdays, 8/7c, CBS
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