‘CIA’: Necar Zadegan Says Nikki Getting Into Trouble Showcases History With Colin

As TV Insider exclusively revealed, CIA Episode 3, airing on March 9, is taking Deputy Chief of Station Nikki Reynard (Necar Zadegan) back into the field.

In “Bridge of Lies,” a deeply embedded U.S. intelligence officer is detained in Hong Kong, and Nikki insists on being the one to travel there to bring him home. But after her cover is blown, it’s up to the fusion cell — led by Colin (Tom Ellis) in her absence — to figure out how to get her back.

Below, Necar Zadegan discusses Nikki going back into the field and her early thoughts on how Bill’s (Nick Gehlfuss) doing as the new addition to the team.

We talked before the premiere about how Nikki wants to go back out into the field and gets sucked back into the field and you said that leads to undercover stuff and spy storytelling. It sounds like that’s the case with this episode? What can you preview? 

Necar Zadegan: It is where I enjoy the show the most and where I love where the show lives, which is exactly that, spy craft and very just playful storytelling, spy storytelling and the exotic quality of the spy world and the most sensational part of spy world. And that’s really this episode.

Mark Schafer/CBS

Why does Nikki insist on being the one to bring this U.S. intelligence officer home?

Well, we have this backstory [that] Nikki is new to this kind of administrative position, and her life has been spent out in the field, and that’s a really exciting character that’s been traveling and working in the shadows. And to suddenly step into an administrative position is very out of character for this character. And so this is, I think, the first episode that really shows, and we really get to play with, that kind of discomfort for the character with regards to the choice she’s made and the world she’s in. Her comfortable space is out in the field. So I think it’s nurturing for her to go. That’s just what she’s used to. And so we let her and see what happens when she does.

But what does that mean for the CIA New York office while she’s in Hong Kong? What can you say about who’s in charge and how much can the fusion cell actually help her?

Well, it becomes really troubling for the New York office because, of course, she’s in the position to lead, and she has shown that she’s capable of it and good at it, and it’s a surprise for her to throw it Colin’s way. Colin can easily handle it, but it’s not his position. He’s also in the field.

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But what’s kind of beautiful about this episode is because of this choice that this character makes, we get to see Colin react to the relationship between them because these are characters that kind of live inside the shadows. That’s what we’re playing, the emotions and, of their lives have to be contained to a certain degree, but because of this event that they’re suddenly confronting, we really get to see the background of their relationship, Colin and Nikki’s, come to the surface. He’s kind of pushed up against the wall and has to admit that he cares and that there’s a history there and that he’s fighting for it and fighting for this person.

How does Nikki think having Bill in the fusion cell and as Colin’s partner is going so far?

I think she has a lot of faith in it, just like she has a lot of faith in Bill, and that’s why she chose Bill. Because of the deep relationship between these two characters, the deep history and relationship that we’ve been trying to build between Nikki and Colin, she’s very compelled to want to make sure that he’s safe when he is working on these very sensitive cases. And for that, not only does he need a good partner, but he asked for a good partner, and she’s gone above and beyond to make sure she finds one. So, though she sees the kind of bumpy waters between them, she’s confident, and she believes in Bill, and she sees the value that he’s bringing. And I think she’s really rooting for him.

CIA, Mondays, 10/9c, CBS