FBI Season 8, Episode 3 is the debut of Juliana Aidén Martinez as new main character Eva Ramos. But in “Boy Scout,” Eva gets overshadowed by the whole rest of her team—and veteran actor Max Martini steals the show as undercover DEA agent Bobby Galloway. Viewers are going to be surprised, just not in the way they expected.
Partly, that’s because Eva’s arrival is underwhelming in a few ways. Her backstory of being a former federal prosecutor turned FBI agent is an odd device that Wolf Entertainment fans will find too familiar. Anyone who watched Martinez on Law & Order: SVU might call it “the reverse Carisi.” The real deep cut is from Law & Order: LA, which as part of its creative revamp had Alfred Molina’s character quit being Deputy District Attorney and return to work as a detective. That idea wasn’t convincing then either. It’s also a weird coincidence that both new female characters on Wolf shows this season are named Eva—Eva Ramos and Eva Imani on Chicago PD.
But comparing the two also highlights another reason why the Eva Ramos character doesn’t yet work. Over on Chicago PD, Arienne Mandi plays a very outwardly tough character, but has already been able to crack that exterior. “Boy Scout” writes Eva Ramos as a one-note tough agent until her final scene—which makes her backstory even more of a mess. Eva reveals that she was dating her partner, who turned out to be part of the terrorist organization ForeFront. It would be fine if FBI wanted to go with that, or wanted to go with the lawyer-turned-cop bit (even if it is awkward), but doing both feels like trying to cram too much into one character, hoping that something sticks. Viewers may find themselves missing Emily Alabi as Dani Rhodes already.
