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Fans said goodbye Scott Forrester in the Season 3 finale, and now we have the official answer to how the beloved Fly Team leader was written out. Why is Scott Forrester leaving FBI: International? Here’s everything we know about Luke Kleintank’s character’s departure.
FBI: International is the third spin-off of Dick Wolf’s FBI. It follows the elite operatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s International Fly Team. Headquartered in Budapest, the team investigates crime and terrorism abroad, neutralizing threats against American citizens. Luke Kleintank has starred as Scott Forrester, the head of the Fly Team unit, since Season 1. Rounding out the cast is Carter Redwood as Special Agent Andre Raines, Vinessa Vidotto as interrogation expert Cameron Vo and Season 3 newcomer Christina Wolfe as Special Agent Amanda Tate.
In April 2024, Kleintank announced his departure from the show after three seasons of leading the Fly Team. His sudden exit begged the question of how Forrester would be written out and how the show (and Fly Team) would go on without him. We have the answer below.
Why is Scott Forrester leaving FBI: International?
Why is Scott Forrester leaving FBI: International? Kleintank’s final episode as Forrester was Season 3, Episode 11, “Touts.” In the next episode, Season 3, Episode 12, “Gift,” Forrester is missing as the Fly Team investigates where he went. The team discovers that Forrester’s mom, a double agent in hiding, sent him a message about how to find her. The episode ended on a cliffhanger as Amanda Tate, the Fly Team’s Supervisory Intelligence Analyst, gets information from the NSA to where Forrester’s mom is.
She then asks Brian Lange, the NSA’s liaison to the FBI, for his help to track Forrester down. Lange doesn’t give her an answer, as the episode ends on a “to be continued.” Forrester was officially written out in the Season 3 finale, “Tuxhorn,” in which it’s revealed that Forrester and his mother, Angela (played by Elizabeth Mitchell) have disappeared and are somewhere in Alaska. The Fly Team discovers where Forrester is in the final moments of the episode, but while they know they should reveal his location to Deputy Director Adell, Lane orders them to wipe the file showing where Forrester and Angela, keeping the Fly Team leader’s former leader’s location a secret.
Given that there was no mention in finale’s logline of the Fly Team mourning the loss of their leader, fans were confident that Forrester wouldn’t be killed in the line of duty like other FBI franchise leads (we’re looking at Julian McMahon’s Jess Lacroix on FBI: Most Wanted). Prior to the finale, fans assumed that Forrester would leave FBI: International to transfer to another department, just as Jamie Kellett (Heida Reed) did early on in Season 11. Fans also hoped that Forrester would leave to be with her again. Fans also speculated that Forrester would be fired. Given his history of putting his team first, no matter the cost, many viewers saw him taking the fall for the Fly Team for something major.
Why is Luke Kleintank leaving FBI: International?
Why is Luke Kleintank leaving FBI: International? Kleintank is exiting the show to spend more time with his family, which includes wife Christina Vignaud and 1-year-old daughter Ruby Roland. He announced his decision on April 26, releasing a statement that read: “After much thought and consideration, I’ve made the difficult decision to leave FBI: International. This decision is driven by my unwavering commitment to my family, whose love and well-being are paramount in my life.”
“I’m profoundly thankful for the extraordinary cast and crew of the show, who have not only been colleagues but also a family away from home,” he continued. “Their unwavering dedication and remarkable talents have made every moment on set an unforgettable journey that has enriched my life in countless ways.” The actor concluded: “Lastly, I would also like to extend my thanks to the fans who have supported us through the first three seasons.”
Kleintank previously told Parade in 2022 about how many FBI: International cast members had to uproot their lives and families to film the series. “When we started this show, it was a big step for the majority of us. Taking a big jump over here because we were leaving our families and everybody, but it’s been a real blessing so far to be honest,” he said.
Kleintank also told the site about the logistics of filming in multiple countries. “We haven’t done a lot of moving this year because of logistical reasons and production reasons because we started late in the season. But we went to Croatia for the finale,” he said. “We went to Prague for an episode. They’ve done some exterior things in France and some in Austria as well. Our art department’s amazing. They’ve been able to convert Budapest into a lot of these different places. And I know from the producers next year we plan to go to a different country every three to four episodes. For me, it’s amazing. It’s a blessing I get to go see a new country that I’ve never seen in my life.”
Eva-Jane Willis, who plays Megan “Smitty” Garretson on FBI: International, teased Forrester’s exit an interview with Cinemablend in May 2024, in which she confirmed that no one — even the Fly Team’s leader — is safe in the series. “I think that there are shows where everyone is always safe all the time,” she said. “This is not one of those shows. This is a show where there are real stakes. We’re really going in with guns. We’re really being blown up one minute and shot at the next. And we want the stakes to be real and the stakes to be high and for the audience to know that these people really are in danger and they are real people and they might not survive. So I guess what FBI does is keep the stakes high. Keep people guessing and make sure that it’s as much of a roller coaster for you as it is for us.”
Following Kleintank’s departure, Chicago Med alum Colin Donnell will be joining the cast for the final two episodes of Season 3. Donnell plays Lange, the NSA’s liaison to the FBI, who was introduced in the penultimate episode in Season 3.
FBI: International airs on CBS on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. EST and streams on Paramount+.
