CBS Officially Confirms OA & Maggie's FBI Romance Fate In Season 9

Published Oct 6, 2026, 5:15 PM EDT Laura Hurley has been writing about the entertainment industry for more than twelve years, after a decade as a content producer and editor at CinemaBlend after writing for WhatCulture and Examiner. Attending events like SCAD TVfest and San Diego Comic-Con over the course of her career, she has been immersed in the world of network, streaming, and cable TV. Warning: this article contains spoilers for FBI season 9, episode 1, "Rendition."FBI has officially returned for season 9 on CBS, but the team at 26 Fed isn't back to business as usual. After the eighth season ended with a twist that turned the show upside down, the first episode of the fall season revealed the consequences of that cliffhanger. The show is off to a strong start this fall. The drama needed a strong start to this fall. The decision to shuffle CBS' lineup in the 2025-2026 TV schedule last year was good for the NCIS franchise, but the audience size for FBI dropped so much for season 8 that it barely made the top 20 list of top broadcast network TV shows by the end. For the first time since FBI's first season, Missy Peregrym's drama was airing without an FBI spinoff due to the cancellations of FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International. CIA didn't premiere until the spring. FBI launched season 9 without one of its best elements. Maggie and OA were still split up, after last season ended with OA's fate in the balance, as he was seemingly fired by his agency, but was secretly going undercover. Maggie was dealing with the stress of keeping the secret, while OA had to find a way to work undercover without crossing too many lines. The only times they both wore big smiles in the season 9 premiere "Rendition" were when they reunited. Absence making the heart grow fonder seemed like the time to finally make a romance happen, if it ever would, and CBS' complete 2026 fall schedule officially settled the question. FBI Season 9 Will Further Explore OA's Relationship With Zara CBS While it remains to be seen when OA will be back in the mix with his usual team at 26 Fed, at least one relationship is going to develop for the former agent in season 9. Actor Zeeko Zaki confirmed that romance is on the horizon for his character, to pay off on a story that started in season 8. Speaking with TV Insider, Zaki shared when Special Agent Zara Ushruf will return after sparks flew between the characters in the spring: We get to work together, so everyone will get to see Zara in Episode 4. It’s really fun, and we get to have a really cool moment that I don’t get to do on the show a lot: bedroom scenes. She’s great, and I hope it continues, and I think it will, but that’s not up to me. Zaki went on to share that for OA, Zara is "someone that understands your career or someone that understands your culture." Unlike Scola, OA hasn't dabbled in a successful inner-FBI romance over eight full seasons so far. Apparently, Zara will have the kind of professional understanding that OA ultimately didn't get from Gemma. All signs point towards FBI building on Zara and OA's bond, and the chemistry between Pardis Saremi and Zaki. For anybody who believed in a romance blooming between OA and Maggie, their "Will-They-Won't-They" relationship is now firmly in "they won't" territory. Why FBI Shouldn't Make OA & Maggie A Romantic Couple Unlike the One Chicago shows in Dick's Wolf expansive TV universe, FBI doesn't usually deliver workplace romances. Scola and Nina are exceptions rather than the rule, while Jubal and Rina's relationship ended in tragedy. That approach has clearly worked for FBI to carry it into nine seasons, and the most important relationship has always been the partnership between Maggie and OA. That partnership has been very close, and they clearly love each other, but also firmly platonic. FBI should keep it that way. Such a foundational bond between partners arguably hasn't happened on a Dick Wolf TV show since the days of Benson and Stabler on Law & Order: SVU. Maggie and OA's long-running partnership is far healthier and more functional than Benson and Stabler's relationship on SVU was by their ninth season together, and the CBS drama has spent a lot of time and a lot of episodes developing FBI's central partners as friends. Maggie and OA remaining platonic also allows them to build on their loving relationship without any unnecessary tension. Maggie hasn't had any luck in romances over the years, whether in the workplace or outside the Bureau. OA has been the steadiest presence in her life, and FBI is such a procedural show that such a strong, ongoing relationship only enhances it. In fact, FBI found the right balance between professional and loving for Maggie and OA's friendship that can't be found anywhere else among the franchise's current crime shows. Chicago P.D. is famous for romantic entanglements between cops, Law & Order's cast changes prevented any partnerships from growing beyond a single season or two, and SVU is even more procedural with its relationships than FBI is. Suffice it to say that FBI has a very good thing going with Maggie and OA's strictly platonic friendship, and their reunions in the season 9 premiere were the brightest parts of the whole episode. Viewers can just wait and see how long OA's undercover work will keep the partners separate as FBI's ninth season progresses on Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. Release Date September 25, 2018 Network CBS Directors Dick Wolf Cast Missy Peregrym Maggie Bell Zeeko Zaki Omar Adom OA Zidan Writers Dick Wolf Creator(s) Dick Wolf, Craig Turk