There are a lot of moments in my life that are tied back to cast members from the television show One Tree Hill. Their work, their words, and as we’ve all gotten older – their social media, has been there through some of the highest highs and the lowest of lows in my life. They’ve grown into other roles, but that’s the beauty of fandom like One Tree Hill – fans will follow them into other roles.
Now what does this have to do with anything about the FBI franchise? For me… everything.
Quinn James may be a character of the past, but Nina Chase is a character of the present. When Shantel VanSanten joined the cast of FBI in 2022 when Missy Peregrym went on maternity leave, I found that I had stopped making FBI a show that I would watch On Demand and instead made it appointment television. After all, it was a show that I already loved, and now it had an actress that I thought was great.
And many of my One Tree Hill fandom friends did also.
I rarely get so nervous that I admit it, but as my zoom opened to a conversation with Shantel VanSanten about her role as Nina Chase, I word vomited it. I let her know I was nervous rather than saying a million things I could have. She instantly has a presence though that puts you at ease, one that makes you very much feel like you’re listening to the Calm App.
For someone that was only supposed to do ten episodes, and with the way that FBI ended last season, seeing the character of Nina Chase transition to FBI: Most Wanted seems a little unexpected. Nina Chase has been through it and she just had talked about slowing down, along with her partner Scola. They have a baby, and while I am definitely not saying that a woman who has a dangerous job can’t have a child, it just had me wondering about the transition.
Because the Fugitive Task Force didn’t seem like a natural transition. It seemed like the opposite of it. But when Shantel explained why it made sense – it made sense.
“I think it’s Nina’s choice. I can’t say that it’s the best for the family. But I think she’s trying to choose what’s best for herself,” she started to explain why it works for Nina, “I think we’ve seen. We’ve seen that story, right? We’ve seen the story of the dedicated female to her job that then gets pregnant and turns into the mother who’s now dedicated to the child.”
She continued, “I know I’ve seen that story done, and I can’t tell you where it goes, but I can tell you that I want to tell a different story.”
“All of my friends are Mom’s and I’m not. And I think that that lends itself to a lot of my friends being honest with me about motherhood. And there’s a story that I want to tell that’s a collective of some of their truths that they’re scared to tell. And I think there’s an opportunity for something different,” she commented in regards to Ninas story and motherhood fitting into it, “And you know, we’re going to get to see that this season, and it may be accepted, and it may not. And that’s okay. It’s important to tell all the stories you know. Not just the same story we see of.”
She continued, “You know, a woman who’s dedicated to her job and feels guilt or feels torn, or, you know, makes the choice that we think every mother should make, which is well, now you have a child, it’s your focus, and that life can look a little more complicated and different.”
And it looks like FBI: Most Wanted has now become appointment television for me too.
FBI: Most Wanted airs Tuesdays on CBS at 10 pm ET/PR and streams the next day on Paramount+.