‘FBI’ Officially Brings OA’s Undercover Mission Into Its Endgame [Exclusive]

1 week ago 20

Zeeko Zaki sitting at a bar in FBI Season 9, Episode 3

Published Oct 16, 2026, 4:00 PM EDT

Ryan O'Rourke is a Senior News Writer at Collider with a specific interest in all things adult animation, video game adaptations, and the work of Mike Flanagan. He is also an experienced baseball writer with over six years of articles between multiple outlets, most notably FanSided's CubbiesCrib. Whether it's taking in a baseball game, a new season of Futurama or Castlevania: Nocturne, or playing the latest From Software title, he is always finding ways to show his fandom. When it comes to gaming and anything that takes inspiration from it, he is deeply opinionated on what's going on. Outside of entertainment, he's a graduate of Eureka College with a Bachelor's in Communication where he honed his craft as a writer. Between The IV Leader at Illinois Valley Community College and The Pegasus at Eureka, he spent the majority of his college career publishing articles on everything from politics to campus happenings and, of course, entertainment for the student body. Those principles he learned covering the 2020 election, Palestine, and so much more are brought here to Collider, where he has gleefully written on everything from the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes to Nathan Lane baby-birding sewer boys.

The Season 8 finale of FBI ended with a bombshell twist that saw OA (Zeeko Zaki) "fired" from the New York field office in order to go undercover in the orbit of Anna Vorpe (Claire Coffee). The dramatic reveal set up one of the procedural's most intense storylines to date that would force the seasoned agent into territory he's never explored too deeply before. As Season 9 has gotten underway on CBS, he's managed to maintain his cover without too much issue while his teammates have kept the secret under wraps in the office. However, that's about to change in Episode 3, as OA faces his greatest challenge yet.

"White Rock" will see OA's undercover operation enter its final stages. As the team prepares to make its final move against Vorpe and her elite Strike Team, he struggles with the weight of what he must do to ensure the operation's success. Keeping suspicion off of him will require even more morally dubious actions that he hopes will be worth it in the end if they can bring her down once and for all. In the office, though, there's also some drama brewing over the decision to keep the true nature of OA's dismissal confidential among a select few agents keeping tabs on his progress.

Collider can exclusively reveal a new sneak peek at Episode 3 that shows the fruits of OA's labor. It opens on Anna receiving a call from one of her allies, who's perturbed by how her latest operation went. What was meant to be an in-and-out mission turned into an attention-grabbing explosion in the heart of London that, while successful, drew way too much heat. Unbeknownst to either of them, though, that was all part of the plan. OA bugged their call so Scola (John Boyd) could listen to it at the behest of the rest of the team. Although they initially plan to keep it a secret how they managed to get the recording, Maggie (Missy Peregrym) drops the act and tells him the truth that OA was only technically fired as a ruse to get him in with Anna. Moreover, the explosion was also his doing, specifically so Anna would receive that angry call that would allow the FBI to listen in. Scola is none too pleased about being kept in the dark, but Isobel (Alana de la Garza) reminds him of the importance of finding who is protecting Anna after all the havoc she's wrought on the bureau.

'FBI' Season 9 Winds Down Its Strike Force Storyline With Episode 3

Getting rid of Anna's protection will finally open up FBI to send in the agents to clean up her operation, meaning the endgame is quickly approaching. She's been a particularly dangerous thorn in the bureau's side because of her ability to act with relative impunity, and the circumstances needed to bring her down had to be particularly extraordinary. Speaking to Collider's Christina Radish, Zaki broke down the experience of doing such an experimental storyline to kick off Season 9 and what the toll has been for OA to go undercover. While the agent isn't too shaken by the mental side of the job, there is a fine line in showing how OA becomes accustomed to some questionable or downright evil acts for the sake of his job. Episode 3, in particular, will push him even further in this morally gray world.

"That’s the whole dilemma that he’s in. It’s really fun to play because there are these very wide or big gray areas in law enforcement that we’re exploring. What’s wrong for one person might not be wrong if you have the right clearance. It’s fun to play and to trust the writers to make sure that I’m not turning a blind eye to truly evil things, which we kind of are. It is very difficult for OA, but what we show is that doing anything for long enough, it starts to grow on you, so we’re hoping that it doesn’t grow too much. It was definitely really fun to play."

FBI Season 9, Episode 3 premieres on Monday, October 19. Check out our exclusive sneak peek in the player above.