FBI's Zeeko Zaki Talks OA's 'Meteoric Moral Compass' And That Shocking Finale Twist

In Monday's Season 8 finale of "FBI," Anna Vorpe returns to 26 Fed to make a complicated and dangerous situation that much worse. 

After a high-risk bio-hazard sample is stolen from a transport vehicle, OA, Maggie, Scola, and Eva are tasked with tracking it down before the deadly pathogen can hit the streets. They soon discover that it was the NSA that stepped in to steal the sample, which is revealed to be one of the most transmittable RNA viruses known to the government. But when the NSA moved in on the truck, the sample was already gone. After finding out that Anna and her team are using torture to get answers out of some truck drivers, OA and Maggie are furious. The threat is eventually eliminated, only the villain-of-the-week had already released the virus on a busload of civilians.

Despite the situation being reported as resolved, 26 Fed learns that the NSA plans to cover up the entire operation. OA and Maggie are then ordered to fudge up their field reports and make no mention of the pathogen or its victims. Cover it up. As for the civilians? They're as good as dead. But the obtained sample will help the NSA find a cure for the virus, and according to Anna, the greater good makes it all worth it. But that's an injustice OA can't accept. According to newly appointed ADIC Lawrence Green, there's nothing that can be done, regardless of OA and Maggie's feelings about it. Even still, letting Anna and her team get away with murder, despite the possible benefits, doesn't sit well with OA. 

"OA and Maggie have a moral compass," Zeeko Zaki tells TVLine. "Anna represents the darker side of law enforcement. They do whatever it takes. Shoot first, ask questions later. We do not like that one bit. It's a sad reality that people bend the law, but it's one we need to show." 

The difference in approach and morals between the FBI and the NSA is clear very early in the finale, especially when it comes to torture (or as Anna calls it, "enhanced interrogation").

"It goes against everything [OA] stands for," Zaki explains. "But at the end of the day, he is a soldier. And rules are rules, and apparently, some people don't have to follow them. We believe there is a right way to get the job done, while Anna's team has no problem using the wrong way."

Throughout the hour, it's apparent that the weight of the job grows heavier by the case, and OA is certainly feeling the pressure. He even states to Maggie that, "Things weren't like this when we signed up. The whole world feels like it's coming apart at the seams." Another harsh reality he's forced to endure because of the job.

"He is referring to how intense these attacks are becoming. Bio weapons. AI. The world is changing, and he has a front row seat to how the dark side is evolving," Zaki says. "But at the end of the day, he is strong and sticks to his rights and wrongs. No matter how the landscape changes, his gut has never failed him. So his mental battle is staying true to himself. And it's a tough one."

After OA and Maggie are ordered to fake their field reports, he blows a gasket and refuses. He even tells Green that he's a disgrace to the bureau. Immediately, Green relieves him of duty and tells him to surrender his gun and badge. OA says some quick goodbyes and storms out of 26 Fed. 

But that's not all. 

While he's drinking his sorrows away at a bar, Anna approaches him to offer him a job on her strike team. He'd be working for the DOD, and it's off the books. In the shadows. OA plays it cool as she slips him a card with info on it. He picks up his phone, and at first it seems like he's calling to accept the position. Only it's Maggie and Isobel on the other end of the line. And in one shocking final twist, OA says, "Anna made her move. I'm in." 

"I think the saying is: 'If you can't beat them, join them,'" says Zaki. "But with OA's meteoric moral compass, it will be fun to watch how far we can bend it to save the day and do what is right. It's always fun to see the team in a way you haven't before, and I think this is a great way to do that and start Season 9."

When asked what the upcoming Season 9 of "FBI" will look like, showrunner Mike Weiss offers up the following tease. 

"We're going to start Season 9 with OA having been gone for weeks or months," he says. "He's deep undercover. No one has seen him. I don't even know yet, because it's early days, but we'll have to figure out a way... how can you report back to your team when you're embedded with, as we've seen, really, really dangerous, capable military operators. So that's going to be difficult. Just to get him and Maggie in the same room will be a challenge in a fun way, at the top of Season 9.

"There will be some fallout from some of the other characters who were not brought in on the plan," he adds, "and I think getting to see Scola and Jubal be like, 'Hey man, that sucked that you didn't tell us that you were only fired for pretend,' will be difficult, but fun for the audience."

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