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Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS ahead for episode 4 of FBI Season 5 called “Sacrifice”.
The CBS Agents FBI are used to doing everything they can to find justice for victims, but usually not while processing their own traumatic incident. In the latest episode, OA was lured into a trap after hearing a woman scream, only to learn that she was working with a partner to rob people who were trying to help her. Held at gunpoint, he was attacked and robbed, but tried to work on the team’s latest case without even mentioning it to his fellow agents. The attack affected OA throughout the investigation and, according to actor Zeeko Zaki, cost him a layer of protection.
While trying to investigate the case of assaulted and murdered women, OA also tried to avoid the questions of his colleagues and to avoid the detective who wanted him to look at a photo array. He finally had to come clean to Nina and agreed to look at the photos after learning that his captors had escalated to the point of shooting someone. Ultimately, he was able to use his experience to create a relationship with a victim who – like him – had withheld the details of what happened to protect herself.
Zeeko Zaki spoke with CinemaBlend about the events of “Sacrifice” and what OA went through during the hour. Because the OA is a physically imposing agent and often the one chasing down and dealing with the team’s fleeing suspects, viewers rarely see him in a situation where he can be defeated. In fact, both of his thieves were smaller than him, but armed when he wasn’t. When asked whether the physical abilities and training of O.A. making it difficult for him to judge that he had been robbed, Zaki shared:
100% I think embarrassment is at the root of all attacks, but when you’re taller and you live your whole life feeling like it’s a layer of defense against things like that, when you spend time building up layers of defense, and then all of a sudden they collapse, it’s just that “house of cards collapsing” feeling. When these characteristics are directly related to your work, it just makes you question a lot of things. Kind of like a golfer losing his swing.
OA struggled with feelings of shame to such an extent that she withheld details and projected her trauma onto one of the victims of the case. In the heat of the moment of the robbery, he did the right thing to save his own life and was the key to the arrests of the assailants, but he just couldn’t shake the feeling of shame.
Victims being shamed to the point they don’t want to come forward is a topic regularly featured in shows like Law & Order: SVU, but usually from the perspective of a female character. Zeeko Zaki opened for FBI dealing with feelings of shame after an attack from the perspective of a male character, saying:
That was the challenge of the episode and I think it really showed that there are multiple perspectives in why someone behaves a certain way and why someone divides things a certain way. They can be cultural, economic, regional. All of these things can influence why a person shuts down. In the proverbial battle for justice, there will always be an opportunity to close or open.
The OA can usually be able to compartmentalize his personal feelings to focus on the case, but on rare occasions like in “Sacrifice” (and last season’s episode involving sarin gas, to a lesser extent), he can’t just close everything. Zeeko Zaki continued:
I think the OA’s point of view—whether it’s male or female—he takes the religious cultural side and sees that there needs to be a spiritual and religious safe space around traumatic events so that people feel comfortable talking about them, and I I think just recognition is an important thing. When you take an aggressive angle on a traumatic event, I think there’s really no way it’s going to turn out well. There has to be a balance. I think there should be a gentle approach to something traumatic. We need to look into this.
The OA didn’t take a gentle approach throughout the episode, but finally made enough of a personal breakthrough to be able to accept what happened to him and help the victim realize that she can face what happened to her as well . It was the key to solving the case and catching the bad guy of the week, and according to Zeeko Zaki, he wouldn’t have been able to connect with the young woman if it wasn’t for his experience with thieves. He said:
I think his personal experience was definitely a key factor because I think that’s the relatability. He finds something to connect with these victims. And to be able to protect them, you know, I think you put up these walls of, “Okay, I can’t relate to what they’re going through. I understand what they’re going through, but I can’t relate to it. Pure defense is the drive against that shift when you have that “Oh shit” moment. “I understand and I can relate” and I think then it shifts to something personal. When you can really relate to something, it becomes personal.
Luckily, OA got the catharsis she needed by the end of the episode, with some help from Nina. Although Zeeko Zaki shared why FBI fans should be excited about the return of Missy PeregrymShantel VanSanten’s Nina has been a valued member of the team since Maggie was exposed to sarin gasand she still will be around for a bit longer.
See what happens next for OA and Co FBI (opens in new tab) with new episodes on Tuesdays at 8pm ET on CBS and rewatch past seasons streaming with Paramount+ subscription. There’s plenty of action on Tuesday on CBS, with FBI: International at 9 p.m. and FBI: Most Wanted at 10 p.m. For more viewing options in the coming weeks, check out our 2022 TV Premiere Schedule.
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