Update: Reactions from FBI colleagues following John Boyd’s death md20

In FBI season 7, episode 14, OA expressed his deep love for his girlfriend, Gemma, after they were held hostage together and Gemma nearly died. However, this isn’t necessarily an obstacle to their potential romance, as Maggie’s feelings about OA also came to the surface during the crisis. Thus, this incident could be the beginning of a love triangle in FBI, although such a scenario would cheapen OA’s declaration of love to Gemma.

FBI Season 7 May Finally Be Teasing A Maggie & OA Romance

Maggie Worked Behind The Scenes To Get OA Free, Demonstrating Her Deep Love For Him

OA and Maggie didn’t interact much during the hostage crisis in FBI season 7. OA was quickly tied up by the hijackers, so he couldn’t communicate with Maggie or anyone else, while she was on the ground trying to protect all the hostages and ensure OA would be rescued safely. Thus, OA never heard Maggie’s concern while she was working on dealing with this situation. Meanwhile, inside the train, FBI‘s Gemma was seriously injured, causing OA to declare his love for her.

When all was said and done, however, OA told Maggie how guilty he felt about Gemma’s injuries, prompting his partner. I predicted that this would be the start of a love triangle because many shows follow this same trajectory. I have covered many stories in my career in which a character develops feelings for a second person moments after declaring love for the first, so it would be unsurprising if this happened for OA. However, this would not be the best path for these characters to follow, so hopefully, FBI doesn’t follow this common pattern.

Maggie & OA’s Relationship Is Better Without Being Romantic

Star Zeeko Zaki Has A Strong Point About Their Longevity

FBI‘s Zeeko Zaki believes that Maggie and OA should remain platonic instead of going down the well-worn path of two law enforcement agents making the transition from work partners to lovers. I agree with Zaki; Maggie and OA’s strong friendship would demonstrate that there are other types of love that are equally valuable to romantic relationships. Network TV often seems to be in a rush to pair people romantically, which is unfortunate. Not all friendships translate to successful romances, and there should be room on TV for representation of strong friendships and platonic love.

Furthermore, in this case, putting OA and Maggie together now would paint him in a negative manner. In the past, I wasn’t impressed with OA and Gemma’s relationship because he found it more difficult to confide in her than in Maggie. Furthermore, Gemma was angry when OA had to arrest her friend early on. However, OA’s declaration of love was heartfelt and sincere, and at this point, he and Gemma are deeply committed to each other. Thus, it would be cruel—not to mention hard to believe—if OA chose to be with Maggie instead now.

Additionally, it would be logistically difficult for OA and Maggie to become romantic partners. They likely couldn’t be partners on the job anymore, and they might run afoul of rules against people in the same unit dating. FBI’s Nina and Scola solved this by her transfer to a different team. However, with two spinoffs canceled, there are fewer places Maggie or OA could transfer to and remain on-screen. Even if it were possible, splitting up Maggie and OA’s work partnership would change the dynamic in FBI, as their partnership has been central to the procedural for the past seven seasons.

Exploring Maggie’s Feelings For OA Without A True Romance Could Still Work For FBI

Maggie Could Acknowledge It Wouldn’t Work While Also Realizing How Deep Her Feelings Are

It’s rare for characters on television to acknowledge romantic feelings without acting on them. In many cases, someone tries to ignore those feelings but is egged on by well-meaning others to express them and see what happens. However, that type of trajectory would put FBI into soap opera territory. It would fit FBI‘s brand better for Maggie to acknowledge her feelings without any intention of acting on them. For example, Maggie might gravitate toward Scola (John Boyd) as her work partner and confide in Isobel (Alanza de la Garza) that she is avoiding OA because of her feelings for him.

I would be in favor of this type of story as long as it didn’t end with Maggie pushing OA to develop a romantic relationship. FBI could offer a fascinating twist on the usual tropes by having Maggie explore her feelings and realize that she has confused the intimacy of her work partnership for romantic love. This unique angle would allow the procedural to honor the popularity of the OA/Maggie romance idea without moving too far in a direction that would not be good for the show.