CBS fans have been buzzing since the network confirmed that FBI’s fall finale will air as an extended two-hour event — a rare move for the long-running procedural drama. Now, series star Jeremy Sisto, who plays Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jubal Valentine, is breaking down exactly why the finale demands a supersized runtime. And after hearing his explanation (and seeing the explosive new preview), viewers finally understand why the creative team pushed for a double-length episode.
A Two-Hour Finale Wasn’t Just a Network Decision — It Was a Storytelling Necessity
Speaking about the upcoming event, Jeremy Sisto revealed that the finale was always conceptualized as a longer, more ambitious storyline than a standard 42-minute episode could contain.
According to Sisto, the writers pitched a plot so layered — spanning multiple cases, locations, and emotional turning points — that cutting it down would have destroyed the momentum:
“There was just too much story for one hour. The stakes build in a way that needs time to breathe. If we rushed it, we’d lose what makes the finale powerful.”
This confirms what fans had suspected: the finale isn’t simply “two episodes aired back-to-back.” It’s a single, continuous story designed to escalate with every scene. Sisto emphasized that the pacing depends on this structure:
“The tension doesn’t reset. It keeps rising. You need the full two hours to feel the pressure the team is under.”
Jubal Is at the Heart of the Chaos — And It’s Personal
The fall finale will reportedly put Jubal in the spotlight, with a storyline touching both his leadership and his emotional vulnerability. While details are tightly guarded, Sisto teased that Jubal faces a decision that “could change everything” — not just for the case, but for his team and career.
That emotional depth is part of why the two-hour format matters. Sisto explained:
“When Jubal is confronted with something that shakes him, you want the audience to sit in that with him — not cut away before it lands.”
Fans have long praised Sisto’s ability to bring human fragility to a procedural framed around gritty crisis response. The finale seems built to showcase exactly that.
The Stakes: A Threat Bigger Than Anything This Season
CBS released a short preview of the event, and it immediately supports everything Sisto said.
The trailer hints at:
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A mass-casualty threat unfolding across multiple boroughs
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Simultaneous investigations that appear connected beneath the surface
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A race against the clock involving an unidentified leader orchestrating the attacks
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Personal fallout that puts team members at risk emotionally and physically
The threat is so big it affects:
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Local law enforcement agencies
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Federal task forces
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Civilians across several high-density locations
This is not a villain-of-the-week. This is a season-defining adversary, and the two-hour structure gives the narrative room to tie together clues planted throughout earlier episodes.
As one fan commented after the preview dropped:
“This feels like a movie, not a finale.”
Jeremy Sisto Says the Audience Must Feel ‘The Weight of the Clock’
One element Sisto repeatedly returned to was the pacing. The finale features a “real-time urgency” that mirrors the pressure of an unfolding national security threat.
“If we’re asking the audience to feel how little time the team has, we can’t skip beats. You need to feel every dead end, every revelation, every mistake.”
He explains that the story structure places the team in a constant sprint. Cutting from clue to conclusion would emotionally deflate the episode — and undermine the realism the show prides itself on.
This also explains why a two-part week-to-week release wasn’t an option. Breaking the story into two episodes with a commercial break of seven days would shatter the tension.
Bigger Budget, Bigger Set Pieces — and Fans Will Notice
Several production newsletters hinted that this finale includes some of the largest sequences FBI has filmed in years — including large-scale crowd scenes, explosive effects, and complex stunt choreography.
Sisto confirmed that the team went “all in”:
“The action is bigger, the consequences are bigger, and you need two hours to land that responsibly.”
The expanded runtime gives those set pieces room to shine without feeling rushed or jammed into cramped television pacing.
A Finale That Respects Longtime Fans
Jeremy Sisto acknowledged that the writers crafted this finale as “a thank-you to the fans who’ve stayed with the series from the beginning.”
The two-hour format allows for:
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Character-driven resolution
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Emotional callbacks to earlier seasons
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Arcs that tie Jubal’s past with the team’s present
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Time for multiple characters to shine in key moments
This isn’t just spectacle. It’s a culmination.
As Sisto put it:
“You’re going to see the team pushed to a breaking point. But you’re also going to see why they’re a family.”
The Action-Packed Preview Now Makes Total Sense
Before Sisto’s explanation, the promotional teaser looked almost too dense — as if cramming a season’s worth of disaster into a single hour. But now fans know:
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It was never meant to be a normal episode.
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The scope isn’t inflated — it’s intentional.
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The pacing reflects the enormity of the threat.
The preview — which features multiple explosions, a manhunt across New York, a possible hostage situation, and a chilling final line from the unidentified antagonist — now feels like the opening chapter of a two-hour cinematic experience.
Final Thoughts: The Two-Hour Finale Could Be One of FBI’s Best Moments Yet
Between Sisto’s candid explanation and the escalating stakes teased in the trailer, it’s clear the fall finale was built for scale and emotion. The creative team didn’t stretch a story to fill two hours — they expanded the format to support a story big enough to demand it.
For fans, that means one thing:
This finale is going to be intense, emotional, and absolutely unmissable.
