Back in 2018, CBS found another primetime hit in FBI. The action-packed drama is executive produced by longtime show creator, Dick Wolf, who is best known for his Law & Order and Chicago franchises over at NBC. Like his NBC hits, Wolf’s FBI has grit, heart, and an ensemble of strong characters that keeps viewers hooked episode after episode. Among them are partners, Missy Peregrym’s Special Agent Maggie Bell and Zeeko Zaki’s Special Agent Omar Adom ‘OA’ Zidan, who work out of the bureau’s field office in New York.
Maggie and OA might not be the only characters partnered up and working constantly together on CBS, but these two agents stand out primarily because of their dynamic. After going through six seasons of intense moments and shocking tragedies on FBI, Maggie and OA have certainly connected on a deeper level. That said, their relationship has also remained platonic after all this time, which is rather refreshing for a crime drama. While this hasn’t stopped fans from shipping the characters together, Maggie and OA continue to keep the romantic tension out of their relationship. After all, their partnership works fine as it is, solid proof that the partners-turned-lovers storyline isn’t always necessary to make a solid show.
‘FBI’ Introduced Maggie and OA as Partners Early On
In the pilot episode of FBI, viewers meet Maggie and OA after the agents arrive at the scene of a bomb explosion. The partners are all business, working together to get everyone out of the immediate blast zone. The worst is just about to happen, and sure enough, seconds after Maggie and OA’s arrival, another explosion occurs, with a residential building being reduced to rubble. Unlike other shows, FBI doesn’t take its time providing insight into Maggie and OA’s backgrounds or how long they’ve been partners. Throughout the pilot, the two agents share some banter, though they keep this to a minimum—there’s a bomber on the loose, after all.
In this episode, Maggie also has a ton to deal with, as she’s still mourning her husband, Jason (Chris Conroy), who recently passed away at that time. Maggie is also struggling to come to terms with the death of a young boy who was inside the building during the second explosion. In the episode, OA tells Maggie that he knows about her husband’s death, but he doesn’t pry and simply offers his support. She later tells OA that she’s bothered about the young boy and OA reminds her how others are alive because of her. Later on, he drives her to the boy’s wake, but Maggie goes in alone. In short, the partners can be open with each other, but they respect each other’s boundaries.
Throughout Season 1, Maggie and OA’s relationship strengthens, as midway through the season, Maggie confides in OA when she begins to suspect that Jason’s death may not have been accidental, after all. Although OA brushes this theory off initially, he looks into it and later confirms to Maggie that Jason was killed by the same hitman who is also a suspect in another reporter’s death (Jason was an investigative journalist). This storyline culminates soon enough, and during the show’s Season 1 finale, Maggie—with OA’s help—finally arrests the woman who ordered Jason’s murder.
Maggie and OA Have Avoided Becoming Another Cliché on ‘FBI’
Maggie and OA may have become closer as partners in Season 1, but the characters continued to respect their professional boundaries long after that. Sure, they don’t always agree on everything, but at the end of the day, Maggie and OA have mutual trust and respect for each other, making them formidable agents on the field. When situations get dicey, Maggie and OA always have each other’s backs. For instance, in Season 2, Maggie rushes to find OA after he takes a bullet to the vest while confronting a suspect. Later on in the show, OA and Maggie go up against a bioterrorist with sarin gas, and when Maggie becomes exposed to the gas, OA pulls her out before it’s too late.
These agents clearly take their partnership very seriously, but there’s never been any flirtatious energy between them. They’re more like great friends who have each other’s backs, which is exactly what they need to get through their jobs. That said, both Maggie and OA eventually find love with other people in the series. For starters, OA first becomes involved with federal prosecutor, Mona Nazari (Yasmin Aker), before dating Gemma (Comfort Clinton), and Maggie eventually finds love with special agent and hostage negotiator, Nestor Vertiz (Josh Segarra).
By giving OA and Maggie other love interests, the professional relationship between the partners is preserved and respected. Because of this, FBI has managed to avoid the cliché of work partners becoming romantic as they continue to work together. In the CBS universe, this has already happened too often. For instance, in NCIS, Tony (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva’s (Cote de Pablo) flirtatious will-they-won’t-they tease eventually leads to the two agents becoming parents. In the CBS series, Blue Bloods, partners Jamie (William Estes Nipper) and Eddie (Vanessa Ray) eventually admit their feelings for each other and get married. Certainly, there’s no reason for the same thing to happen again on FBI.
Missy Peregrym and Zeeko Zaki Weighed in on OA and Maggie’s Relationship
Since Maggie and OA spend a ton of time together on the series, there’s been some interest in how their relationship could further evolve onscreen. Some viewers even wonder if there will be some romance between the two characters in the future, but if it were up to Peregrym and Zaki, that wouldn’t be the case. During an interview with TV Insider, Peregrym said, “What’s so great about us is that we do have a platonic relationship that we can lean on each other and support each other through other life things.” As for Zaki, he shared a similar view in another TV Insider interview. For the star, keeping things platonic between Maggie and OA “is definitely different enough and, hopefully, just shows the world that you can have friends, and it doesn’t need to always be romantic.”
It’s also worth noting that Peregrym has already once played a police officer who gets involved in a series of interoffice romances in Rookie Blue; the last thing she probably wants is to explore something similar again. That said, no matter what happens next, fans can expect more FBI episodes after the hit series received a three-season renewal.
FBI is available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S.
