FBI: Zeeko Zaki Teases a Tough Case for OA and the Agent’s Draw to Gemma

May 6, 2024 by Marisa Roffman

“No One Left Behind” – The team is thrown into a highly political case after four members of the Taliban are shot and one is kidnapped in New York with no record of their entrance into the country. Having served in the U.S. Army, this case hits close to home for OA, who struggles to open up to Gemma about his past in Afghanistan, on FBI, Tuesday, May 7 (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: Zeeko Zaki as Special Agent Omar Adom ‘OA’ Zidan. Photo: Bennett Raglin/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The FBI team gets entangled in a very delicate case on the Tuesday, May 7 hour, “No One Left Behind.”

“We’re chasing down some ex-military guys who have kidnapped a Taliban member,” Zeeko Zaki, who plays OA, tells Give Me My Remote. “And the crazy part is that the United States government is involved with the Taliban trying to cut a deal for resources.”

For OA, who served in the Army prior to joining the FBI, the case hits close to home. “It just shows that it’s okay to have and stay true to your own morals and values, even inside of a broken system,” Zaki previews. “And that’s what I think is really great about our characters: We’ve gotten written as, and get to play, very honest, true and honorable people. And just getting to represent that side of people…on television has been an honor.”

“OA has boundaries and he can internalize and compartmentalize things,” he continues. “We’re representing real people and these real people have their exact same dilemmas and their darkness in their past…and people that they feel comfortable with and the ones that they have to wear different masks around…It just feels so real to do an episode where he’s carrying so much and it’s kind of just on his back. And sometimes that’s the case; sometimes you don’t have somebody to share the load with you.”

“No One Left Behind” – The team is thrown into a highly political case after four members of the Taliban are shot and one is kidnapped in New York with no record of their entrance into the country. Having served in the U.S. Army, this case hits close to home for OA, who struggles to open up to Gemma about his past in Afghanistan, on FBI, Tuesday, May 7 (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): John Boyd as Special Agent Stuart Scola, Katherine Renee Kane as Special Agent Tiffany Wallace, and Zeeko Zaki as Special Agent Omar Adom ‘OA’ Zidan. Photo: Bennett Raglin/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The timing of the case is a little complex for OA, who is sans his normal partner, Maggie (Missy Peregrym), thanks to the agent taking a (deserved) break in the aftermath of unexpectedly losing a friend and becoming a de facto guardian of the woman’s orphaned daughter. But OA does have the rest of the team to work with…and his still-new girlfriend, Gemma (Comfort Clinton) to lean on.

“This specific case brings up a part of his past that Maggie isn’t aware of,” Zaki previews. “So I think maybe this is kind of the perfect opportunity for her not to be around because it’s such a vulnerable experience for him to [potentially] open up to his girlfriend about it, let alone his work girlfriend or his work partner.”

“So what’s really nice is that the character, and as the actor, we have grown, and we trust our whole team so well that it really has gotten to a point where it isn’t a weakness to be paired with somebody else on this show,” he continues. “So it’s really nice to actually get to play that [Maggie]’s taking a break and to also feel like it’s nice that [Missy] gets to take a break in real life, as well. So I think it just shows the strength of our show, the strength of our teams, and the strength of all the characters. In any combination, you’re gonna get a powerful duo to take down some bad fake bad guys.”

“No One Left Behind” – The team is thrown into a highly political case after four members of the Taliban are shot and one is kidnapped in New York with no record of their entrance into the country. Having served in the U.S. Army, this case hits close to home for OA, who struggles to open up to Gemma about his past in Afghanistan, on FBI, Tuesday, May 7 (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): Comfort Clinton as Gemma Brooks and Zeeko Zaki as Special Agent Omar Adom ‘OA’ Zidan. Photo: CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Highest quality screengrab available.

And while some fans may be shocked OA and Gemma are still together—after all, her friend group ended up involved in a case and he withheld information from her about that—Zaki concedes it’s been an unconventional road to coupledom.

“I didn’t think the writers had the nerve to put me in a relationship with someone that does coke,” he says with a laugh. “It’s been kind of cool to see how we haven’t really hit the nail on the head, right? And that through these little episodes and these little moments of, ‘Oh, we’re working things out’ or ‘Oh, she’s doing good’ or things like that…the third part of the equation is the audience’s imagination…it’s just so nice that the minimum effective dose [of screentime] to create such a massive conversation around our relationship. So it’s been fun to play.”

“I think we’re still together because OA has his own demons that he’s been dealing with,” he continues. “I think he is very gracious in the sense that just because you might surround yourself with the wrong people or things like that…he is just as intrigued and curious to see where this is going. But I think the best part of our relationship is the balance and how far away she is from his work life and the person that he is [there]. The saying goes ‘opposites attract’ and I think [we] found a nice opposite character to play his girlfriend. So I’m excited to see where it goes.”

“No One Left Behind” – The team is thrown into a highly political case after four members of the Taliban are shot and one is kidnapped in New York with no record of their entrance into the country. Having served in the U.S. Army, this case hits close to home for OA, who struggles to open up to Gemma about his past in Afghanistan, on FBI, Tuesday, May 7 (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: Kate Burton as Department Secretary of State Evelyn Kates. Photo: Bennett Raglin/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The hour also features a fun guest star: Kate Burton, who plays Deputy Secretary of State Evelyn Kates…albeit Zaki only got to enjoy her appearance on the show from afar.

“I didn’t work with her personally,” Zaki laments. “But, again, when we get to bring in awesome guest stars, it just shows our world and how big it is—the scope of it and the reality of the FBI and the machine that it is and all the different parts. So when our show grows on set, it grows in the minds of the audience, too. So it’s just really exciting when we get to play an episode that feels bigger than usual.”

FBI, Tuesdays, 8/7c, CBS

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