What FBI: Most Wanted’s Cliffhanger Meant: Showrunner Spills on What Would’ve Happened

CBS may have canceled Dick Wolf’s FBI spin-offs, including FBI: Most Wanted, but one of the series’ showrunners has opened up on how things would have ended very differently if it got a seventh season. The show aired its final episode on May 20.

“We never got to the point of exploring stories for Season 7 because the cancellation news came so early, which gave us time to craft the series finale,” showrunner David Hugdins shared with TV Insider. Thankfully, this allowed the writers and producers to give the series a fitting ending that saw Remy (Dylan McDermott) retiring and opening his own restaurant with Abby (Susan Misner). Barnes (Roxy Sternbeg) took over as team leade

This definitely would not have been the case if FBI: Most Wanted were to continue airing, according to Hudgins. “Remy would have re-upped for another year as Task Force leader and the cliffhanger in the season finale would have been a big ‘white whale’ fugitive who gets away — only to be captured in the following season,” he shared.

Something else that may have ended differently for the series would have been the storyline with Nina (Shantel VanSanten) making up with her father, which fans got to see at the start of the final episode. “I loved the idea that Nina had already forgiven him — as a survival mechanism — so it was definitely a move on her father’s side,” Hudgins said. “Perhaps we would have played out the tension more had the series not ended.”

FBI: Most Wanted followed the Fugitive Task Force of the FBI in New York as they track down and capture dangerous criminals on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. The series aired for six seasons and 108 episodes before it was canceled in March 2025 alongside the FBI franchise’s other spin-off, FBI: International. The original series has been renewed through its ninth season, meaning it will stay on the air at least through 2026-2027 before it could possibly face a similar fate.

FBI: Most Wanted Showrunner Praises Series Finale’s Acting

While the ending of FBI: Most Wanted may have been a bittersweet moment considering how the showrunners clearly had further plans for the series, Hudgins was quick to praise Dylan McDermott for delivering a heartfelt goodbye that managed to wrap the series up nicely for both its characters and the viewers while filming the final episode.

In the end, Remy kept up the FBI tradition of passing along handcuffs to inspire his coworkers to “keep catching those bad guys.” Hudgins told TV Insider that the emotional ending “was a way for the audience to say goodbye to each of the characters — with Remy as their voice. Dylan nailed it as usual.”