CBS has been responsible for some of the biggest TV cancellations in 2025 so far, from S.W.A.T.’s third axing (resulting in its upcoming Hondo-led spinoff) to The Equalizer to a pair of already established FBI spinoffs and then some. By and large, FBI: International co-creator Derek Haas has kept mum about the network drama’s fate, as he’s been busy putting the first season of Jensen Ackles’ new drama thriller Countdown together.
Now, Haas has addressed the unfortunate circumstances that left FBI:International fans without a properly conclusive ending for Wes, and told TVLine how he felt after hearing the cancellation news, saying:
I was so sad to hear about the cancellation, because I loved Jesse Soffer as Wes on the show and really thought it was a dynamic cast addition in Season 4.
Haas also complimented fellow Season 4 recruit Jay Hayden of Station 19 fame, saying he and Soffer were “gold” together as Special Agents Booth and Miller. Though he’d co-created the second FBI spinoff with Dick Wolf and served as the showrunner for its first two seasons, while also co-showrunning his other Wolf-based series, Haas stepped down from those duties on both shows in 2023 in order to embark on creating new projects such as the aforementioned Countdown.
Unfortunately for fans, Derek Haas wasn’t able to offer any deep insights into why the drama was canceled, nor where the story would have gone following the two-part series finale that took the Fly Team to Japan. He voiced his trust that CBS’ execs had justifiable reasons to end it, though, saying:
I love Amy [Reisenbach] and [EVP of current programming] Eric [Kim] over at CBS plus all my good friends at Wolf [Entertainment], and trust their instincts. So they must’ve had reasons that had nothing to do with the quality of the show.
But can any decision to cancel a TV series legitimately be entirely unrelated to the quality of the show? One would imagine that’d make the decision to end things more difficult, but as it often goes, narrative superiority takes a backseat whenever money issues speak too loudly.
What CBS’ Boss Said About The FBI Cancellations
For what it’s worth, Amy Reisenbach did speak out in regards to FBI: International, FBI: Most Wanted,, and The Equalizer‘s cancellations in May when anouncing CBS’s Fall TV lineup, and she pointed the finger of blame at financial issues, saying:
We have to be fiscally responsible, and ultimately those deals and the shows just weren’t penciling out for us for an economic perspective.
Since then, I don’t believe any follow-up explanations have been offered that shine a brighter light on what elements of the show became too financially irresponsible. While it’s fairly common for network execs to tighten their budgetary belts around the 7-season mark, when contractual rasies become more of a factor, FBI: International would only have been heading into its fifth season, led by two actors who’d only joined the year prior.
