FBI Season 7, Episode 7 “Monumental” seems to confirm what the show had already realized and acted on: Syd Ortiz wasn’t a good fit the team. Or as Stuart Scola’s new partner, for that matter. And though it’ll be sad to see Ortiz — a trained Behavioral Analysis Unit Agent who joined FBI’s New York field office criminal division played by Lisette Olivera — go it’s actually in the show’s best interest to replace her sooner rather than later.
Why is Syd Ortiz leaving FBI?
The reason Ortiz is being written out of FBI is simple: Olivera, who shined in Disney’s National Treasure, is completely overshadowed in the show, not just by Scola (John Boyd), who she is supposed to complement, but almost everyone else in the show too. Her chemistry with Boyd isn’t exactly something to write home about, but when compared to OA and Maggie, things look even worse. Scola and his partner are supposed to be the lighter partnership of FBI, so when Maggie and OA turn out to be the fun ones of Season 7, something is really wrong.
Scola has had a hard time keeping a partner since Special Agent Tiffany Wallace (Katherine Renee Kane) left in the Season 7 premiere. The revolving door was supposed to stop with Ortiz, but it seems like it will continue on with another new partner. The idea for Ortiz seemed to be to give Scola a different type of partner, who was not a field agent, but someone who was a profiler and could help the team in a different way — which is exactly what we see in “Monumental.” It’s just that there’s not one memorable moment of Olivera in the episode — not with Scola, with Maggie, with OA, or even by herself. Instead, she seems to have no real presence in the show, and though all the other characters are shown to be listening to her at various times during the episodes she’s been around, it’s been hard for the show to establish her as something more than a character who drops a few lines of wisdom and then that’s it.
Deadline‘s report of the original reason why Olivera left the show included the quote, “Olivera’s departure is not a reflection of her work but stems from how the character fits into the show,” with sources saying that she “may have been miscast” because she “played too young for an FBI Special Agent, an authoritative figure requiring gravitas that comes from life experience.” The show doesn’t exactly have her playing too young as an FBI agent, but it does perhaps have her playing too young as a member of this particular unit — or as someone who fits in with the dynamics Maggie, OA, and Scola have already established. And that’s the problem with coming into a show in Season 7. You don’t get to build your own thing. You have to fit into what already exists.
We don’t actually know what will happen with Syd Ortiz after she leaves the New York field office. Or, what will happen with Scola for the rest of the season. Maybe we can keep playing musical chairs with his partners for the remainder of Season 7. One partner every episode until he gets sick or we find someone we actually like. Or maybe he just won’t have a partner. Stick him with Maggie and OA, and make them a trio for a while. Either option is probably better than keeping Ortiz around to be overshadowed by absolutely everyone (even the guest stars) in every single episode.