‘FBI’: John Boyd and Shantel VanSanten Break Down Scola and Nina’s ‘Constant Conflict’ During Dangerous Undercover Op and Their Surprise Wedding (Exclusive)

Monday’s midseason premiere of FBI included the long-awaited Scolina wedding, and John Boyd and Shantel VanSanten broke down the episode with PopCulture.com.

In “Confetti,” after VanSanten’s Special Agent Nina Chase is on an undercover operation that goes sideways, the team works together to flip their only witness to help them hunt down a rip crew at a cartel wedding.

The aftermath of the operation leads Scola (Boyd) and Nina to realize that they are ready to tie the knot. It was announced in January that the fan-favorite characters would finally be walking down the aisle, but it wasn’t an easy ride to the altar. The midseason premiere included some major conflicts for the couple, the cartel wedding turning into something much bigger, and, of course, Scolina’s proposal and wedding. Take a look at what VanSanten and Boyd had to say and what could be next for the newlyweds. (Interview has been edited for length and clarity.)

PopCulture: The episode starts off with Nina undercover, and we find out that she’s actually been on the op for about two months, and Scola, not surprisingly, is very on edge about the entire thing. What has it been like being able to really dig into both sides of the job and the relationship?

Shantel VanSanten: It’s such an interesting balance. You get to explore it, and I’m sure much of the way it comes across on screen, which is that there’s a constant conflict of what’s gonna sacrifice this time? What’s gonna take the back seat? What’s the priority? I don’t necessarily think that Nina reacts well, but I think that sometimes we see these characters be so deeply involved in the mission of that specific task or what’s happening, and it takes over. And they can share that commonality and understanding of that, but, obviously, the way she reacts and responds isn’t always kind. But there is something really wonderful that the show did in the writing of seeing a conflict between them and it spilling out to their coworkers, and them having to navigate it and find a way to repair it and become closer, better, more aware because of it.

PC: Going off of that, throughout the episode, they have some disagreements about the op. Nina wants to do it, but Scola doesn’t want her to because it’s too risky, even bringing up Dougie. And at one point, the term “overbearing husband” is even used. Maggie and OA overhear everything, and they have to tell them that they have an agreement where one of them is on a risky op, the other one has to be on the bench. What has it been like working off that complicated dynamic with each other?

John Boyd: I love that moment in the episode. For me, that was the new level that what’s happening in their relationship that we see Maggie and OA witness that and that Scola has to explain to them what that moment in the episode says. For me is this is costing them. There is something that they’re doing that is costing them something, and it’s painful. And we can’t keep that bottled anymore. It was really significant for me. It’s a more mature level of their conflict. It’s a newer place for them, I think.

VanSanten: Then just like anxiety, worry. It’s more complex. It’s something that was ingrained in the fiber and something that we discussed when in the creation at some point along the way of Scola and Nina’s relationship was that there was this agreement that this was something that I don’t know if we ever know what was gonna be said in an episode to the audience, but it’s something that was kind of in the fabric of the relationship that we had talked about creating for them was this agreement because it also creates a conflict.

And that’s something that’s interesting to watch. No relationship is a fairy tale bubble. It’s real. And so what is the realness of the relationship and the ways that we get to see it? And, obviously, calling each other names is not our best. But she apologized. She’s super good at apologies.

PC: Nina and Maggie go undercover at a wedding, which turns out not to be a wedding, but instead a front for a massacre. Shantel, what was it like not only getting to work more with Missy [Peregrym], but having to do all these stunts in a dress and heels?

VanSanten: It was a new challenge: the stunts and heels and stuff. But, obviously, working finally with Missy and in a substantial way, not just in a scene where we acknowledge each other as we all leave the job or something, was so much fun and such a long-awaited moment. I think for both of us, we both were instantly… when we read the script, texted each other, and we’re like, “This is gonna be so much fun, minus the dressing room.” But navigating those things, it only adds to the complex feelings you’re feeling of what you would have to do in the moment and the way that they’re trained.

I didn’t know that I could run on carpet in six-inch heels so well. I was terrified of the simple act of running in heels. I was like, “Should I practice this?” But also the stunt coordinator, Victor [Paguia] just is incredible and has a great, great team of people who did some of the tougher moments of toppling down the stairs, but I was there watching her and making sure her dress was covering her and all of those moments that they were able to spare me of all the bruises, somebody else who does it for a living making me look awesome. So it was a really fun challenge, and it was such a different episode for so many reasons and so rewarding.

PC: And, John, obviously, we know what Scola thinks about the op and how worried he was, but what do you think was going through his mind when he and OA lost connection with the girls and when they found out what the true meaning of the wedding was?

Boyd: It’s an interesting turn. I think that’s really when he kicks into final full gear. It’s a great turn in the episode, and it leads us into the final sequence and the action. But I think it’s auto. I think he’s thinking this is go time. It’s desperation.

PC: After all is said and done with the op, Nina and Scola have a very heartwarming discussion in the bullpen. Apologies are made, realizations are made, and Nina is about to ask Scola to marry her, but then Scola realizes what’s happening, grabs his ring that he says he’s had for six months, and finally proposes to her. And I think it was a very on-brand proposal for them. Would you have changed anything with how it happened?

Boyd: Absolutely not. I wouldn’t change one thing.

VanSanten: It was the scene I looked forward to. Did we do it on the last day or the second-to-last day? It was towards the end of the episode, and it was so wonderful that it played out that way because I had really been through this whole mission and episode, and got time to sit in the same room where our characters met for the first time, other than the roof. But in all actuality, where we shot our first scene and be like, “Wow, this is so crazy.” And I wouldn’t have changed one thing.

I felt like the writing was so great to sink my teeth into and on brand for them in the quiet, vulnerable moments to open their heart to one another. That’s what they’ve done, whether it was inside an elevator or in quiet and simple and present and truthful.

PC: What was it like finally having these two characters who have been through a roller coaster together say “I do” to each other?

Boyd: I think that “I do” moment spoke to the family of the show, like a momentous occasion for the years of what this show’s been through and the fans. I think it was great that our story got to kind of help tell the bigger picture of this show and family and these characters, the years of experience together.

VanSanten: Yeah. I agree. I don’t think that I know, for me at least, when I started my little jaunt as Nina, I never could have envisioned the stories I would get to tell and that that’s where it was going. I didn’t even know when I picked up the phone, and they asked me to come and do it. I was like, “What? That’s what we’re doing?” I know it was a beautiful surprise, and there’s maybe more in the future, I guess. Yeah. I don’t know.

PC: I know that we got the answer in the episode, but in your own opinion, why do you think now is the right time for them to tie the knot?

VanSanten: I mean, you were the one that had the ring for six months, so…

Boyd: I think Scola puts together that the person that he fell in love with, the same person that loves him fiercely, is that’s the same side that is striving almost to her own demise to make a better world. I think that’s the connection that he makes peace with, the fact that that’s who she is, and he has to accept it. And it doesn’t mean it’s easy, but I think he sees a change in her. And so I think they both know that it’s time.

VanSanten: I think when the same theme of them juggling the job, relationship, parenthood, partnership happens, and it feels like each time there’s more and more of a risk. And I think for the first time, that we get to hear Nina say, maybe she felt it before, but that she was scared, and that there is more at stake. Not that there hasn’t always been, but that’s just her moment of realization. Her close-to-death experience that happened of not being able to defend herself and looking down the barrel of a gun, and whatever switch flipped it did and realized that there needed to be some solidification of their commitment to one another for the sake of their relationship and for Dougie.

New episodes of FBI air on Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS, streaming the next day on Paramount+.