It’s time to finally meet the FBI Fly Team.
TV Guide, alongside CBS, has released the first official cast photos for FBI: International, the latest spin-off of the hit franchise. With filming underway, this is the first look fans have of the new team ready to take the FBI franchise to new heights of success.
The FBI going international
A third FBI spin-off seemed a natural for CBS. Since its debut in 2018, the mothership FBI show has been a major hit on Tuesday nights and continues producer Dick Wolf’s track record for hit shows.
Its popularity was so large that CBS wasted no time with a spin-off, FBI: Most Wanted. It was given a “backdoor pilot” in the first season of FBI before becoming its own hit program.
CBS is so confident of a third spin-off’s success that they ordered FBI: International directly to series in May without bothering with a pilot. With casting completed in July, the show is underway for a September 21 premiere.
The plotline uses the actual idea that the FBI has 93 units embedded in embassies, military bases, and other sites worldwide. The fictional “Fly Team” protects American citizens in those areas.
According to showrunner Derek Haas, the team “is ready to get in the air wherever and whenever American citizens are threatened,” and “they handle everything from a child kidnapping to corporate theft, espionage to arms trafficking, organized crime and overseas murder.”
Surprisingly, the series has a cast of mostly unknowns in the key roles rather than go for any familiar TV actors. At last, CBS is giving details on who these new agents are.
Who’s who on the FBI Fly Team?
Leading the team is Special Agent Scott Forrester (Luke Kleintank). Haas describes him as the “team leader you want to work for because he puts the mission ahead of anything else,” and the rest of the team “have to match his pace and intensity level.”
Scott has a secret weapon at his side: Tank, a Schutzhund protection dog who’s as well-trained as his master.
Aiding Forrester is second-in-command Special Agent Jamie Kellett (Heida Reed), a career FBI agent who’s established a vital information network and a top-notch brawler. “After five years [working] together, Kellett and Forrester are tight,” Haas stated.
Special Agent Andre Raines (Carter Redwood) may seem less dangerous with an accounting background. But he’s very sharp at tracking the money trail of criminals and after two years on the team, is quite capable of handling himself.
The team’s newest member is Special Agent Cameron Vo (Vinessa Vidotto), a West Point graduate who followed in her military dad’s footsteps. Haas states that while Vo is a strong interrogator and strategist, “she’ll need to [earn] everyone’s faith and trust.”
Rounding out the cast is Europol Agent Katrin Jaeger (Christiane Paul), the “tough as nails” liaison between local police and the Fly Team. Haas hints that the relationship between her and the American agents can be unique. “Though they wind each other up, Jaeger is cut from the same cloth as Forrester. She wants to catch the bad guys.”
The team’s missions will take them around the world to handle various U.S. interests. One touch is that the team is banned from using firearms in most countries and thus has to rely on their fists and wits.
The series will have a special premiere following the Season 4 premiere of FBI and the Season 3 premiere of FBI: Most Wanted on September 21. It then settles into its regular time slot in between those two shows on September 28.
With just weeks to go before its debut, this first look at the Fly Team shows how FBI: International is ready to boost the franchise to a global level of excitement.
FBI: International premieres on Tuesday, September 21 at 10/9c on CBS. It then moves to its regular timeslot of Tuesdays at 9/8c on September 28.