‘FBI’: Juliana Aidén Martinez Says Eva’s Hurting After Facing Drug Kingpin From Her Past — Will He Be Back?

For its 150th episode, FBI gives us the origin story of how the team’s newest member, Eva Ramos (Juliana Aidén Martinez), went from being a lawyer to an agent.

After two children and a daycare worker are killed because of an accidental drug exposure, Eva traces it back to a drug kingpin, Hector Vega (Noel Guglielmi), whom she failed to take down in the past. But there’s someone more dangerous out there, which means that Eva can’t go after him as she’d like. TV Insider spoke with Martinez about that and more. Warning: Spoilers for FBI Season 8 Episode 15 ahead! 

Hector tells Eva about someone in New York dealing synthetic opioids, and this is a serious enough threat that Isobel (Alana De La Garza) says they have to entertain working with him. But Eva can’t forget that, when she was a young prosecutor, Hector used his job to distribute product across New Jersey — and he killed her one witness she’d convinced to testify a day before the trial. And this time, he gets away again, though the team does bring into custody Turner, their other target; Hector took a bullet during the sting operation, and by the time anyone checked on him, he was gone, and his vest was left behind.

At the end of the episode, Scola (John Boyd) checks in on Eva. He knows this was the case that flipped the switch and made her want to go from the U.S. Attorney’s office to the FBI. It brought her back to those days, she admits, but he assures her she’s no longer that person — because now she has him backing her up.

Below, Juliana Aidén Martinez breaks down this episode.

How is Eva feeling at the end about Hector being gone? Because yes, they got Turner, but it’s like this was the guy she wanted to get so badly.

Juliana Aidén Martinez: It hurts. It hurts, Meredith. It hurts. Even my heart hurts, as I’m saying it hurts because this was her second chance. When you get the second chance, you’re like, “Oh, I’m not going to mess this up. I’m going to do everything right now. This is not going to get away from me again. I know exactly what I’m going to do.” It’s just the certainty and ambition with how life works that just is such a poignant part with Vega and with what happens to him.

Bennett Raglin/CBS

And I feel like she was going to find anything that she could to make sure that that deal did not happen.

Exactly.

And that’s what I liked about her because even though she’s like, yes, we can use him, but at the same time, she wasn’t letting that go.

Yeah. Well, that’s what I really like when we have the opportunity to be with characters for a long time, is that people, even if they do such noble and heroic things, they have flaws about them. There are people that have certain vices and things and attachments. And for Eva, this is a guy that she has an attachment to and what she wants to happen. And I think you see a little bit of that stubbornness and that humanity in her, that she’s like, “I’m going to find anything I can to get this result.” And she has to play ball. She has to play ball with the rest of the team.

Are we going to get any follow-up to this, whether it’s another episode about Hector or simply seeing Eva keeping tabs on any possible sightings? Is that going to be part of the story going forward?

I can’t say. I do know that the writers really enjoyed it and they fell in love with the cast. I think they really like everything that the cast did, including Noel, who played Vega. So, I could totally see it as a possibility, but I don’t know. We have to see with what the future holds.

What was your reaction to being able to explore in-depth that case that did flip that switch and had her move from the U.S. attorney’s office to FBI? Because I liked that conversation about it with Scola at the end.

I think it’s really fun because this is our first chance to really see Eva’s backstory and why a prosecutor would go out into the field where it’s a lot more dangerous and a lot more precarious, why she would put herself front facing in the face of justice. And I really like that you get to see Eva’s motivations of why she would take that step. And then what you said with Eva and with Scola at the end, having another heart-to-heart talk, I think it’s going to be really great for the audience to see that bit of Eva’s history.

Related

Does Maggie's Sister Erin Die on 'FBI'? Missy Peregrym Details What's Next for Her Character

Did getting that history change anything about the way that you see the character?

I think so. You grow with the character. So, the character starts unfolding to you more and more as you do it, which is really fun and very interesting, I think, as an actor and also for an audience because simultaneously, the audience and you, the actor, are understanding and uncovering who this character is at the same time. So yeah, it definitely did.

This one was a test of sorts for Eva and Scola’s partnership. So how much was keeping him in the dark at first about the fact that they’re still new partners and how much was it simply about the case itself and that history and everything that brought back for her? Was it both?

I think it is. I do think with how Eva comes in, there’s a trust issue at play. Her last partner betrayed her deeply, which is another part of that certainty I was talking about of being like, “I know how this works. No one is going to get me.” And then she gets betrayed and then she has this what feels like a personal failing for her and this new partner. And it’s kind of like, “Do I trust him? Do I trust him with the ugly parts, with the shameful parts of me? Can I trust that he’ll have my back?” And I think that’s something that plays throughout the episode.

And it’s something she needed to see, I think, that yes, she can trust him.

Yeah, exactly.

OA (Zeeko Zaki) offers her advice about Scola, and if anyone knows anything about a strong partnership, it’s him. So she takes that to heart because it’s not just what she sees with Maggie (Missy Peregrym) and OA, but it’s also what he says about Scola, too, because this is someone who’s been working with her partner for a lot longer, so she can trust that judgment, right?

Yeah, I agree. I think what Eva wants is a true partnership and you know when you really want something, whether it’s true love or a family or something, and then you kind of get in the way of that, I think it’s a similar — She wants true partnership. She wants to trust somebody. She wants to build that loyalty, and it’s like, “How do I do that? I have all this stuff getting in my own way.” And hearing that from OA, I think, is a really sobering moment for her because he’s reflecting back to her. “Hey, do you see your partner? You want your partner to see you, but do you see him?”

Yeah, and this is the perfect team for her to be on for that because we see that everyone trusts each other and everyone can trust each other.

Exactly. So, when she says in the first episode, “This is the place I knew I needed to be.” I think it’s very accurate. She needed to be here.

Bennett Raglin/CBS

But she didn’t realize how much, I think, until … I feel like this episode is really telling her, “Yeah, this is it.”

Yeah, exactly. I agree with you. Absolutely.

So, what else is coming for Eva after this episode?

Well, I think you’re going to see her be more integrated in the team as this trust is being built. And I think that’s really exciting because you see where her growth as a character comes, her development, and just a lot more integration in a team unit. So, there’s going to be some really cool episodes just with what the team is doing in itself, which I’m really excited about. And also it’s like, we’ll see. I think who Eva’s going to be after this is going to be interesting.

What’s on your bucket list to explore with her going forward?

I’m slightly afraid to say this, but maybe it’s excited. I’m curious what it would be like for her to even talk to someone romantically. I don’t know what it would be. I feel like she wants what Schola and Nina [Shantel VanSanten] have. I’m just curious what it would be like for her to even attempt to have something romantic with anybody.

But I think this team is going to help her open up to that because she can see she can trust a partner at work again…

Exactly. I think Scola’s going to be a very instrumental part of her healing process.

The next episode has a bit of a crossover with CIA, with Necar Zadegan‘s Nikki. What can you preview?

I don’t know, to be honest. I didn’t have a scene with her. But I do know that when she was working with some of our cast, they were really excited. She was really great. So I’m excited to see how we continue to cross over with each other.

I was going to say, are we going to see you over on CIA? Because it would be interesting to see her over there, especially with that lawyer background.

I know, I would love it. She’s very much a lawyer, which I really love. But yeah, I would love to see how that turns out, because especially with Tom’s character who’s kind of like the rules are guidelines, for instance, and you’ve got someone who’s like, “The rules are law, OK?” I think it would be very interesting.

What was your favorite scene to film from this episode?

I think my favorite scene to film was the very tenuous and fragile scene when she reveals to Scola what’s going on.

It’s such a good scene.

Yeah, I think that was my favorite because you get to take the veil off a little bit, and I love scenes like that.

FBI, Mondays, 9/8c, CBS