FBI: INTERNATIONAL: Carter Redwood and Matt Olmstead on Raines’ Recovery and an Unusual Return to the Vo-Raines-Powell Triangle

February 26, 2024 by Marisa Roffman

“June” – The Fly Team, with the help of their new intel analyst, Special Agent Amanda Tate (new series regular Christina Wolfe), works to clean up the pieces left behind after a massive explosion rocks headquarters and their key suspect slips away, on the third season premiere of FBI: INTERNATIONAL, Tuesday, Feb. 13 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs). Pictured: Carter Redwood as Special Agent Andre Raines. Photo: Nelly Kiss/CBS ©2023 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

When FBI: INTERNATIONAL’s second season concluded, fans were left with an edge-of-your-seat cliffhanger: A bomb went off in the headquarters, leaving all of the team in danger—excluding Raines (Carter Redwood), and their honorary canine team member Tank, who were outside when the explosion occurred.

But the CBS series has a twist in store in season 3 premiere, as everyone inside made it out okay…except for Raines, who ran in to help his friends, and suffered a serious leg injury while saving Powell (Greg Hovanessian) from certain doom.

In the end, Raines’ life was saved, and, thanks in part to Kellett (Heida Reed), he was also able to keep his leg, which had been at risk for amputation.

And viewers weren’t the only ones thrown by the curveball. “It was all a surprise,” Redwood tells Give Me My Remote. “It was funny, I told [new FBI: INTERNATIONAL showrunner] Matt [Olmstead] when I first started reading the script, when I got there…I had to put it down for a second to catch my breath.”

“I knew that there was going to be a surprise and I knew that someone would end up injured just because of the nature of the explosion; I figured someone would be hurt,” he continues. “I had no idea it would be Raines considering he was the one that was outside of the building. And I’m happy that I didn’t know during the strike. I think this sort of added to the surprise, added to the excitement, and sort of the awe factor—not only just for the audience, but also for me. So that was really fun to work through.”

Olmstead admits the writers hoped they’d be able to surprise the audience with the twist and seems delighted it did indeed work. But a momentary blindside wasn’t the only thing they intended. “He became injured by saving Powell’s life, so there’s this debt that Powell owes Raines which Raines is aware of, that gives them something to play going forward,” he previews. “Also, the fact that Kellett witnessed that and was with him by his side, at the hospital, and it was touch and go whether he lost his leg or his life. And that, along with a couple other things, really informed her decision to go back and revisit and honor this pledge she made to her sister to kind of live life for the both of them.”

“With INTERNATIONAL, we’ve always kind of played that there’s the sense of it’s great to be away from everything in Europe and you’re away from HQ, but sometimes people are running away from certain things,” he continues. “And she, in revisiting her past, felt that she was running away from her own kind of trauma with her sister dying and her mom…so that kind of informed her departure.”

“The Last Stop” – When ex-FBI agent Bill Cormack (guest star Jeffrey Pierce), captured by hostile forces in Libya years ago, suddenly resurfaces in a brutal Tripoli prison, Forrester and Powell risk everything to go undercover as prisoners to break him out. Also, the Fly Team adjusts to their new and improved HQ, on FBI: INTERNATIONAL, Tuesday, Feb. 20 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs). Pictured (L-R): Vinessa Vidotto as Special Agent Cameron Vo, Carter Redwood as Special Agent Andre Raines, Luke Kleintank as Special Agent Scott Forrester, and Chido Nwokocha as Legat Tim Connelly. Photo: Nelly Kiss/CBS ©2023 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

And, as seen in the second episode and in subsequent hours, Raines’ injury “gives a very fine actor in Carter something to play,” Olmstead says. “Certainly in the first part of the season, [Raines] commitment to the job and wanting to stick it out and go through the rehab necessary [is a storyline].”

Redwood had conversations with the writers, an he recalls they told him “they really wanted this to be sort of a big recovery story for Raines…[the premiere] obviously was an amazing episode, I thought, just in terms of raising the emotional stakes for everyone involved and for our Fly team. It felt like a really strong entrance into the season.”

As he continues to recover, “you see the team rally around him and you’ll also see his importance to them,” Redwood previews. “You can see them coming together to fight for each other.”

Notably, the series was one of the few to pick up directly after its finale, but they did implement a time jump in the second hour. “We did owe, as you do with cliffhangers, [the fallout] moments later, and so we were tied to that,” Olmstead says. “But then we wanted to not play up this prolonged rehab sequence for Raines. So we just jumped ahead between [episodes] 1 and 2. It’s kind of cool because in 2, we just kind of jumped into this new hub [for the team]. And then when Raines shows up from rehab, he’s the audience surrogate in that moment; he’s the one looking around.

“So it was a way to stagger certain things,” he continues. “We wanted to show that he was going to go through rehab, but we wanted to give enough time where we could kind of pick him up on the tail end of that and get him back in the field where he’s very strong.”

“I didn’t know how the recovery was going to pan out overall or how many episodes it would take to get back in action,” adds Redwood. As for playing a recovering Raines, “it was about walking with a boot and trying to figure out exactly how this affected his mental state, as well, in addition to his physical state, obviously. But it’s one of those things where when you can’t do everything as you normally can, it takes a toll on you. And I think that’s what I got to explore with Raines in these first couple episodes.”

With Raines back in the field in episode 3, he has a “renewed appreciation for it,” Olmstead previews. “The injury does come up [later]…he has a little bit of a disagreement with Powell and he shows him the scar on his leg…which is a reminder for Powell, like, ‘Yeah, okay. I can’t play games because this guy almost lost his leg for me.’ So there are certain emotional ramifications going forward. But in terms of physically, we wanted him back there, literally, on two feet…and doing his thing. So it’s more of a kind of psychological and emotional ramifications going forward, less physical.”

“Magpie” – When an American family’s lavish sweet sixteen celebration is cut short after the mother of the birthday girl is found dead near their European estate, the Fly Team heads to Monaco to find the woman’s murderer. Meanwhile, Vo begins seeing Raines in a new light, on FBI: INTERNATIONAL, Tuesday, Feb. 27 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs). Pictured (L-R): Vinessa Vidotto as Special Agent Cameron Vo and Carter Redwood as Special Agent Andre Raines. Photo: Nelly Kiss/CBS ©2023 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

And the emotional consequences come into play in an unexpected way on the Tuesday, February 27 episode. The official tease for the hour, “Magpie,” previews that “Vo begins seeing Raines in a new light.” But is the series revisiting the potential romance that was teased in season 2?

“It’s kind of revisiting and also seen through the prism of Powell, because Powell and Vo had a romantic relationship,” Olmstead teases. “But because of the injury, because of Kellett leaving, it really shifts all those relationships.”

For Vo (Vinessa Vidotto), she’s now second-in-command of the Fly Team, which complicates matters. “It certainly changes her relationship with Powell, in ways, because she’s kind of his boss now,” Olmstead notes. “And then also with Raines, she’s also kind of moved up a little bit ahead in their good-natured race to see who’s gonna keep on moving up [in the FBI ranks].”

In “Magpie,” “it’s more kind of Powell taking a look at the Vo and Raines of it all,” Olmstead previews. “And because [Vo and Powell are] not really an item anymore, I would say [Powell] somewhat petulantly makes a comment about the dynamic that he has viewed between the two of them—and probably misinterprets it as more than it really is.”

“But all it takes is dropping a little pebble in a pond sometimes and there can be clearly some ripple effects,” he continues. “So it’s just that triangle, really, that we’re exploring in this forthcoming episode.”

As for Raines, he “is giving Vo her props,” Redwood allows. “And Vo is a leader and she’s stepping into that leadership position. And I think Raines is proving to her that he has her back, no matter what.”

Though he does preview that things in the episode get “tense” and “some emotions boil to the surface,” things are a little bit murkier for Raines and Vo on a potentially romantic level.

“Well, I mean, they’re great friends,” Redwood says. “She’s been there for him since the very beginning; they started as partners when she first joined the team. So there’s always been a close bond between them.”

“The fans are definitely pushing for something between them,” he continues with a laugh. “But I think where he’s at, he’s supporting her in her new position, and he’s trying to heal. So I think that’s what he’s thinking about. I don’t think he’s thinking about anything more between them right now.”

But, the actor acknowledges, given how much he was surprised by Raines’ injury, anything is possible. “I don’t know what’s gonna happen,” he says. “I don’t know if there are any plans to take it in a more romantic direction…our writers are great about keeping us on our toes, as well. So I’m excited to see what happens, but I have no clue. I know that right now he’s supporting her as a teammate.”

Intrigued about the drama ahead? Watch an exclusive clip from “Magpie” as Powell confronts Vo about Raines…

FBI: INTERNATIONAL, Tuesdays, 9/8c, CBS

RELATED:

Follow @GiveMeMyRemote and @marisaroffman on Twitter for the latest TV news. Connect with other TV fans on GIVE ME MY REMOTE’s official Facebook page or our Instagram.

And be the first to see our exclusive videos by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases made through links/ads placed on the site.

Filed under FBI: International

Comments Off on FBI: INTERNATIONAL: Carter Redwood and Matt Olmstead on Raines’ Recovery and an Unusual Return to the Vo-Raines-Powell Triangle

Comments

Comments are closed.

FBI: INTERNATIONAL: Carter Redwood and Matt Olmstead on Raines’ Recovery and an Unusual Return to the Vo-Raines-Powell Triangle

Related Posts

Comments

Recent Posts

GMMR Favorites

Matched content