'FBI: Most Wanted' Boss Explains Alexa Davalos' Sudden Exit

Dylan McDermott as Supervisory Special Agent Remy Scott and Shantel VanSanten as Nina Chase.

The Fugitive Task Force is in for a wild ride in the coming weeks, it seems. Ahead of the premiere of FBI: Most Wanted Season 5, showrunner David Hudgins revealed a bit about what fans can expect from the abbreviated (and strike-delayed) new episodes of the beloved CBS procedural, and it sounds like things are going to be even more intense than usual when it comes to the agents' caseload.

In an interview with Parade, Hudgins promised that even with a shortened season (rather than the near-two-dozen episode count the series enjoyed over the last two seasons, there'll be 13), size doesn't matter in this case.

"The storytelling in the personal areas is much more compact," Hudgins explained. "But I think it actually heightens things in a good way."

One such facet of the show that'll be enhanced with this concentrated new season is the kind of caseloads the crew will deal with. In episode 1, titled "Above & Beyond," for example, the team will be dealing with a deadly deal gone wrong in Virginia that leaves multiple bodies in the wake—and a getaway car at the bottom of a lake. In episode 2, "Footsteps," the team will have to grapple with a serial bomber who is targeting retired NYPD officers. And that's just the start of the mayhem in store for this season.

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"We also have some episodes that experiment with the typical format of the show, and some A stories (fugitive of the week) that are just bonkers—we're a 10 o'clock show, and we go there," Hudgins explained. "We're chasing bad guys in a coal mine, we're doing a cliff rescue in the mountains, [and] we're hunting a serial killer with a very twisted M.O. that actually required its own special production meetings... I feel like we get to make a movie each week."

Another major change in store for this season is the sudden departure of Special Agent Kristin Gaines (Alexa Davalos), who will not return, despite her exit not being hinted at in season 4's finale. If you were among the millions of audience members wondering what exactly might've happened to Kristin, well, Hudgins won't make you wait for the answer.

"Kristin has moved to the Denver Field Office. Her daughter is a freshman at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and her son just landed his first job in Colorado Springs," he said. "The team was sad to see her go, but Remy [Scott (Dylan McDermott)] respected her decision, knowing how close she is to her kids, especially as a single mom."

Of course, with every departure comes a new addition, and this time, it's FBI's own Nina Chase (Shantel VanSanten)—who is herself a new mother—who joins the squad in Season 5.

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In one of CBS's sneak peeks of FBI: Most Wanted's Season 5 premiere, we see that there will be at least some initial friction that emerges between Nina and Remy as she joins ranks with the task force. He's shown telling his therapist that he wasn't fond of "the tone of [her] question" when she asked whether Kristin's departure was his doing. Not to worry, though—they'll learn to get along on the job.

"After getting some initial baggage out of the way, she and Remy do click, and the team appreciates her toughness and dry sense of humor. She brings great energy and it's entertaining to watch," Hudgins teased of her addition to the show.

With Nina's full-time stint on FBI: Most Wanted, her romantic partner (and baby daddy) Stuart Scola (John Boyd) will also have a reason to come and mingle with the Fugitive Task Force folks, creating a few of what Hudgins calls "mini-crossover scenes." Hey, it might not be another massive global crossover event, but something's better than nothing, right?

FBI: Most Wanted Season 5 premieres Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.

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