FBI Post-Mortem: Shantel VanSanten on Scolina's 'Healthy' Relationship and Her Thoughts About Their Future - Give Me My Remote : Give Me My Remote

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FBI Post-Mortem: Shantel VanSanten on Scolina’s ‘Healthy’ Relationship and Her Thoughts About Their Future

April 16, 2024 by  

FBI Scolina

“Best Laid Plans” – When a retired FBI agent is tortured and killed while working a security job, Scola and Nina (FBI: MOST WANTED) go undercover as a married couple deep in the diamond game as the team tries to find out who is responsible. During the course of his and Nina’s dangerous assignment, Scola is plagued by the possibility that their son Doug could end up parentless, on FBI, Tuesday, April 16 (8:00-9:00 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): Shantel VanSanten as Special Agent Nina Chase and John Boyd as Special Agent Stuart Scola. Photo: Bennett Raglin/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Tuesday, April 16 episode of FBI.]

FBI’s Scola (John Boyd) and FBI: MOST WANTED’s Nina (Shantel VanSanten) went undercover as a married couple on the Tuesday, April 16 episode of FBI, but that just scratched the surface of their couple-centric turmoil.

In the hour, “Best Laid Plans,” Scola was worried about traveling to a friend’s wedding on the same flight with Nina, concerned about what could happen to their young son, Dougie, if something went wrong. Naturally, going undercover together brought all of that drama to the surface, too.

But, ultimately, Scola came around: He agreed to take the same flight with Nina to California.

Getting to explore the personal side of the new parents has been a treat for the actors. “You know, I think it’s important that we see two working parents—a lot of times in the world we live in, now, there aren’t one-income households that are possible because of the way our world is,” VanSanten tells Give Me My Remote. “And so often, two parents are deep into their work—and especially if they have a kid. For them to be able to even choose to go somewhere together, away from the job, for me, only shows that they’re quite a healthy couple. “

“And from the MOST WANTED episode, I was nervous to show the audience the first time [we were] back [on-screen] and butting heads,” she continues. “But the way that they were able to overcome and have this healthy emotional moment together and [of] repair was so important. So often couples fight about the toothpaste on the sink or the dishes that are left in a dishwasher and not put away when really it’s about something deeper. And I think being relatable, normal humans that our audience can watch is important. That sometimes it’s about a flight that you’re scared of, but really it’s a deeper idea of the risks of the job that they both do.”



FBI Scolina undercover

“Best Laid Plans” – When a retired FBI agent is tortured and killed while working a security job, Scola and Nina (FBI: MOST WANTED) go undercover as a married couple deep in the diamond game as the team tries to find out who is responsible. During the course of his and Nina’s dangerous assignment, Scola is plagued by the possibility that their son Doug could end up parentless, on FBI, Tuesday, April 16 (8:00-9:00 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): Missy Peregrym as Special Agent Maggie Bell, John Boyd as Special Agent Stuart Scola, and Shantel VanSanten as Special Agent Nina Chase. Photo: Bennett Raglin/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Given how solid the duo seems to be—and given they just went undercover as a married couple—does that mean wedding bells might be ringing for them soon?

“It’s funny, like they live together, they have a kid together, they navigate their jobs,” VanSanten says. “I mean, I have a tendency to go against anything that society thinks we have to do. I’m a little like, what’s the point? I guess if we need to for some kind of legal reason for Dougie, for insurance purposes… I think that Nina’s not as romantical about life and is a little more practical. So if there was a practical reason that we would need to be married, fine. But I just don’t think it’s on Nina’s radar.”

“It’s a little like, we have this life, we’re basically already married,” she continues. “We live together, we navigate the job, we navigate parenting. Like, what more is it? It’s a ring that I can’t wear on the job anyway. I also sem- had a tiny little thought when I was, you know, looking through these giant diamonds that were in front of me [during the undercover op] like, ‘What if Scola just slipped one of these into his pocket and it appeared for Nina?’”

But, ultimately, Nina’s “not a person of convention and would kind of go against what’s expected or quote-unquote, normal,” VanSanten says. “And it’s not a necessity until it is, in her mind. So I don’t really think it’s probably giving her any, you know, warm and fuzzy romantical notions of marriage. Like, they love each other. And that’s enough for her.”

Navigating their cross-series romance has also been an adventure given the realities of network TV. “I had a conversation at the beginning of the season with [FBI: MOST WANTED showrunner] David [Hudgins] and the writers’ room,” she recalls. “And I knew a little bit of what was gonna happen, but not really. I kind of found out episode to episode which I used to not like on like big dramas; I wanted to understand where a character was going. But so much of the FBI worlds really have to do with how the case affects each character. And that’s what’s interesting to find out, script to script, because it’s not this big, heavy, driven character drama.”

“It’s always different from job to job,” she continues. ”Obviously, I would like to find out if we’re getting married. I found out that we were going to be pregnant at the beginning of season 5 of FBI, and I had five episodes and they said, ‘Well, you know, on your last episode, you’re going to be pregnant,’ so I kind of found out ahead of time. But we don’t always get a lot of heads up.”

FBI, Tuesdays, 8/7c, CBS

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