'FBI' Star Jeremy Sisto Breaks Down a Game-Changing, Family-Building Jubal Episode (Exclusive)

It was about time for another Jubal-centric episode of FBI, and things are finally (mostly) going well for the special agent in charge of the JOC. It was a painful road to get there though, as this episode reunited him with a dark part of his past and endangered his potential future with his estranged wife. But at least he got to leave the field office!

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The hour centered around Jubal (Jeremy Sisto) and his informant Faheem (Omid Abtahi), who failed to show up for a meeting. The two have been working together for many years, so Jubal knew something was very wrong when Faheem didn't show up. And he was right, because the guy had been kidnapped from his home. Faheem later showed up at Jubal's house and asked to talk, alarming his ex-wife Sam (Mara Davi) and putting Jubal and the entire team on high alert. He explained that his incarcerated brother was going to be transferred to a different prison, and during the transfer, he would be killed without help from the FBI.

It took a while for Jubal to get the truth out of Faheem, and it required digging deep into their friendship and working partnership in a way that meant they could never recover. Faheem reminded Jubal of the times Jubal had been so drunk he was unable to stand, and chided him for lying about still being married to Sam. In the end, they saved the brother. But Faheem and Jubal could not continue to work together, and he got a new FBI handler. In better news, Sam invited Jubal to get off the couch and return to their bedroom, meaning she and Jubal could start to put things back together again.

In an interview with Parade, Sisto praised showrunner Mike Weiss for having written this "great" episode.

"He had the intent to try something a little different," the star said, "to really spend a lot of time with Jubal and his CI and explore how Jubal handles this really tricky situation where he can see his friend is trying to manipulate him, is lying to him, and he must extract the truth, somehow. It's a real chess match. Not an easy thing to write, and he killed it. And given what the character of the CI, Faheem, was up against, he infused his tactics with real targeted attacks on all Jubal's sensitive areas — his relationship with his ex-wife, his history with addiction. It's pretty intense for our Jubal."

Read on for all of Sisto's thoughts on Jubal's trip into the field and the rest of Season 7 of FBI.

Sam took Jubal back! Does this mean we're in for a lighter, happier Jubal? How does this change his attitude at work?
He has been working to get back in that door for a long time. And the last thing he wants to do is cause more heartbreak. So, having Faheem show up there makes it a very tense starting point.

What was it like working with Omid? You guys had to create such a deep relationship in one episode, so how did you go about doing that?
He’s such a great actor. He really just made it easy. Came to the table really understanding the layers of the character and the complicated circumstances. Just being so present while battling all these internal contradictions made playing all those scenes with him really sing.

Jubal only seems to go out in the field when the case affects him personally. Do you have a preference? He seems so in his element in control of the JOC.
Yeah, it’s great to get out there sometimes and see how the crew, who is like family to me, works so hard out there to get the most out of the locations. I’m always really impressed with everyone. And I think it’s important for Jubal to get out from time to time. He needs to be connected to that part of the job so he doesn’t start assuming certain things. It's like any boss-type role, spending time operating in all of the company’s positions just makes you a more compassionate and effective leader. However, I think it’s a bit frustrating out there for him, as he is used to having access to a lot of eyes, not just his own set.

The show tends to move too fast to really have time to keep up with how these sorts of cases affect the agents. But do we see any effect on him?
I think, in this case, things work out alright in the end, so he’s able to put it behind him pretty quickly. But it is definitely sad to let go of his friendship with Faheem.

What are you hoping for Jubal now that he's putting his family back together?
From Jubal’s point of view, I hope he is able to rebuild his family. From the actor playing Jubal’s point of view, I know that too much of a good thing is not as fun for a drama as things falling apart. But, ultimately, I try not to hope too much, so I can be open to where the writers want to go.

John Boyd said the back half of the season gets pretty dark. Is that how you would describe it? How would you tease what's coming up?
There are a lot of really interesting, unexpected cases coming up that put our characters into uniquely challenging circumstances. Some really intense episodes, for sure.

FBI airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on CBS.