Listen, if anyone needs a getaway on FBI, it’s OA (Zeeko Zaki), after what happened with his friend Clay earlier this season. Unfortunately, his plans for a romantic vacation with his girlfriend Gemma (Comfort Clinton) go awry in the March 11 episode.
In “Hitched,” when a passenger train is hijacked and rerouted while at high speed with an unarmed OA and Gemma on board, the team races to wrest control away from the unhinged perpetrators and prevent a catastrophe. Below, Zaki previews the adventure for OA and Gemma.
How’s OA and Gemma’s relationship? Strong?
Zeeko Zaki: Yeah, they’re going very strong. We get to go on this little romantic trip, and I think we’re still very much in that honeymoon phase and it’s great. Yeah, everything’s going good.
But then their train is hijacked, OA’s unarmed. How much danger are they in?
Yeah, it’s definitely as high stakes as it gets. We’re going on vacation, we’re on a train. It gets hijacked. There is a whole group of bad guys on the train, and I am without a gun, a badge, a vest, or any of the sort of traditional safety nets that I have with me. And I’m with my girlfriend and not my partner, like in the past and we can really handle anything together. So it’s really cool to be in that position, especially with your romantic partner and to see if they can hang or not. And of course things turn, get a little sticky, but I think at the end of the day, she was definitely a really great person to have next to me for it.
But then there’s also the fact that OA doesn’t want anyone to know he’s an agent, so how much can he do because of that?
No, exactly. Literally and metaphorically, I have my hands tied, and it was really cool to get to play this differently, and it really did feel like a different show for a moment or a different movie, and it was just really fun.
How does OA handle not being able to leap into action? Because on the one hand it might be easier because he’s not going to take any risks with Gemma, but on the other hand, it’s hard because he wants to protect her.
No, exactly. I think at the end of the day, these characters are really superheroes and no matter what, if you’re on the clock or you’re not on the clock, your instincts are kicking in. And with all of his training and all of that, there’s really only one thing for him to do, and it’s to try and help.
And you said it’s a different kind of episode, so talk about filming it. How was the set for the train scenes?
Yeah, it was really fun to film. We had a train built on one of our stages, and for four days, we were on this train, maybe five days, and I had a whole different cast, about 10 guest actors, and it was so fun to play with them. It really just felt like we were shooting a little short film, and they were all so fun and so talented, and the dynamic and the banter and the improv and all of those things were just so refreshing, and it really was just a great experience. Again, it felt like a whole different job for a week, and it was really fun.
How small of a space was it for the train, the set itself?
Well, it was funny. It was actually larger than a train would be just because we had to fit cameras and things like that. So it was a little bit of a plus-sized train, I guess you could say. But it definitely becomes a little trippy being in the same space for four days and inside of a stage. So there were no windows for 14 hours a day for four days, and as we’re shooting this train thing. But I think it just made it feel all the more real.
What’s the rest of the team doing to help? How do they handle OA being in danger and not being there with him?
I think it just really gave us an opportunity to show the strength of our team and of the bureau. And no matter what the circumstances are, we can figure it out. We can come together, we can be there for each other. And I think everyone got to hit a different emotional note for the episode, and I’m sure it was fun for everybody.
So a few episodes back, OA was the first to become privy to the fact that Isobel (Alana De La Garza) got married and didn’t tell anyone. Had you known about that before seeing the script?
No. No, no, no. Even in the table read, when I read it for the first time, I think I verbally gasped. It was such a cool little Easter egg. But yeah, I had no idea. But it definitely sort of brought home the point and the message of that moment, which is these agents have to compartmentalize and they have to be able to keep their personal life away from their work life because it does muddy the water.
And OA still wouldn’t know if Isobel didn’t need to bring it up to talk to him in that moment.
Exactly, she’s a pro.
Is there anything else coming up with her husband? Are we going to meet him?
Yes, you will meet him.
FBI, Tuesdays, 8/7c, CBS
