'FBI: Most Wanted' Star Not Returning for Season 5

FBI: Most Wanted is losing Alexa Davalos for the upcoming season. Deadline reports that the actress will not be coming back as Special Agent Kristin Gaines for Season 5 of the CBS procedural. Reportedly, Davalos was informed by a producer on set that she wouldn't be coming back after filming her final scene in Season 4, despite her character not having any plans to leave the Fugitive Task Force at the end of the fourth season. Sources also revealed that both the conversation and Davalos' departure were amicable.

Davalos joined the cast of FBI: Most Wanted beginning in the third season as Kristin Gaines, who previously worked with the Miami Field Office, replacing Kellan Lutz's Kenny Crosby. Since the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes have paused any and all productions working under struck companies, no details have been released for the upcoming fifth season. It's unknown how the series will say goodbye to Davalos and Gaines, but hopefully, it will leave the door open for her to return in the future.

The reasoning for Davalos' exit is unknown, but a lot of shows are going through major changes for their upcoming seasons, and a lot of it has to do with budget cuts. Particularly, a lot of the Wolf Entertainment shows are cutting their casts, either permanently or by way of lessening episodic guarantees, meaning that not everyone will appear in every episode. It's possible this could be why Kristin Gaines is leaving the Fugitive Task Force, but nothing is confirmed.

It's also unknown that with Alexa Davalos leaving if anyone will be filling in. The series did just welcome Edwin Hodge as former NOPD cop and FBI Special Agent Ray Cannon during Season 4, but it wouldn't be surprising if they added another member to the Fugitive Task Force. Hopefully, this is the only departure for the series, though, because it has already seen a lot of changes since the beginning, and it would be heartbreaking to lose anyone else.

With the strikes, FBI: Most Wanted won't be part of CBS' fall 2023 schedule and won't be coming back until at least early 2024, possibly later. So fans will have to wait until next year to see how Kristin Gaines' story closes out and if anyone new will be joining the team. In the meantime, the latest season is streaming on Paramount+, so fans will be able to keep occupied and watch more of Davalos before she's really gone on FBI: Most Wanted.