Tonight’s fall finale of FBI was an emotional one for OA and Zeeko Zaki told PopCulture.com what’s next for him. In “Riptide,” three custom officers are shot dead in a cargo heist and “the team entrusts OA’s old army buddy Clay to help determine if it was an inside job.” Fans had met Clay earlier in Season 7, and OA made him a CI. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite work out in the fall finale because not only was Clay not taking it seriously, but he wound up betraying his friend. The outcome was devastating, and Zaki revealed just what could be next for OA when FBI returns in the New Year. (Interview has been edited for length and clarity).
PopCulture: With the series continuing to dig into OA’s army background, has there been anything that surprised you or made you play him in a different way?
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Zeeko Zaki: Yeah. The way OA is written, he is very strong, and I feel like the strongest people have overcome the most difficult things. So getting to learn about these difficult things that always dealt with that to justify his strength and his power has been really fun to sort of learn and discover along the way with the audience. So, getting to finally tell that story to Maggie about being with the army, it’s really nice to see that there are things that OA keeps to himself. There are reasons for that, and we kinda see what it takes for him to share those things is a fun ride.
PC: Clay has been working as a CI, but in the fall finale, he wasn’t really taking things seriously. He was even joking around. OA put a lot on the line by making him CI. Do think he regrets the choice at all?
Zaki: I think when you owe someone your life, there are risks that you’re gonna take in those relationships and in that sort because of that. I guess my hands were sort of tied, and I just have to answer for the decisions and the choices that I’ve made, and we didn’t see that kind of happen. So, it definitely was an interesting journey to take.
PC: I did really like seeing OA open up to Maggie about what he went through in the army, how he was trapped, and how Clay mounted a rescue mission all on his own. He hasn’t really been one to talk about what happened in the army. So why do you think it’s important now for him to not only admit what went down but to be so open with Maggie about it?
Zaki: It’s easy for an agent personally to take risks and to sort of push the envelope. But when you need your partner to join you in on that, sometimes you need to pull out some pretty intense cards to sort of convince them to just be on your team, no questions asked. And withholding this information for Maggie for so long, I believe is because of how vulnerable and how maybe insecure he is about not succeeding in a mission. We see him succeed in all of the missions and in the FBI. So, sort of just not wanting to share that weakness with her definitely says something, but it’s really nice that we find a reason to get that out.
PC: It was revealed that Clay had basically betrayed OA, he cut the surveillance and even held OA at gunpoint. What do you think was going through his mind, especially since this was someone that OA had known for a long time who had saved his life?
Zaki: It’s definitely a… we can call it a mental health issue. We can say when people are really at rock bottom or really have given up and they see a way out, they might forget everything and do whatever they have to do to survive. And it’s really an intense moment to see a friendship sort of breakdown over something like money. And it’s tough, but I’m happy that it gives the opportunity to show OA’s morals and values.
PC: Going off of that, unfortunately, in the end, OA did wind up having to shoot Clay and kill him. What will that aftermath look like?
Zaki: You know, I think always sort of conviction and strength is something that I have had to really learn to even understand myself, but I’d like to believe that he has the ability to sort of analyze every decision he makes with hyper speed. And even though it does sort of come out of nowhere, his life’s on the line. His partner’s life’s on the line. And at the end of the day, he had to do what he had to do. And I think that’s what’s so impressive about these agents is that sometimes they have to do really hard things and seeing how they live with it and compartmentalize it is another part of the journey.
PC: Is there anything that you’re excited to explore more with OA in the New Year, especially after the fall finale?
Zaki: I’m definitely excited to explore my relationship on the show. Me and Gemma, it’s really fun to get to play that layer and that level of it. And it’s so opposite end of the spectrum for me and Maggie that it’s fun to play.
PC: As the show continues to touch on OA’s army past, what are you hoping to learn more about?
Zaki: I think the army thing is one of my favorite parts about the character, especially just from a representation standpoint. So, my biggest thing is trusting the process and seeing where the writers wanna go with it. But I love the storylines that sort of bring that to the forefront because, again, we’re representing a large group of people, and getting to sort of show what they experience and go through on screen is something that I really enjoy doing.
FBI returns on Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.