‘CIA’: Natalee Linez Breaks Down Gina Undercover & That Shocking Death (VIDEO)

CIA showcases a “very different” but “confident” side of analyst Gina Gosian in the Monday, April 20, episode, and Natalee Linez loved bringing it to screen. Gina goes undercover with Colin (Tom Ellis) and Bill (Nick Gehlfuss), but, of course, things go sideways with dangerous nuclear material up for sale. Warning: Spoilers for CIA Season 1 Episode 8 ahead!

“She could have taken a few more deep breaths maybe,” Linez admits in TV Insider’s video interview above. “But overall, she did it.”

It is a success, in general, with the nuclear material recovered, but first, Gina has to sell herself to go undercover after retired arms dealer Jonah Le’ Roux (Donal Logue) goes missing in the middle of the op; he and Bill have been taken and are being held captive in the hotel’s basement at that point, but she and Colin don’t have time to go looking for them with what’s at stake. Nikki (Necar Zadegan) is a bit hesitant to approve it, but Colin backs her.

Linez thinks that “probably means that they’ve had multiple conversations where she wasn’t able to go out, but maybe she gave him an idea or she brought something to the table and he clocked that and ultimately trusts Gina. They work so well together and it was fun to see them jive and understand maybe what the other person was thinking.”

Gina also volunteers to distract one of the other buyers, an FSB agent, Sasha (Costa Ronin), that Colin spots at the bar while he searches the hotel for Bill and Jonah. For Linez, that was about what she’s seen as an analyst and who she is and her confidence in her ability to adapt as needed.

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“She’s got a bird’s eye view of every situation going on at all times, so I think she’s learned so much mixed with her talent of being able to anticipate the needs of the situation or the operation that’s going on that just makes her eventually someone who’s going to be a really great field agent,” she says.

While the mission is ultimately a success and her teammates save her when Sasha sees through her cover and takes her, Gina is still “disappointed” at the end of the day, Linez shares, but adds, “I think that she’s proud of herself for what intelligence that she did get from that operation and that ultimately no good guys died.”

But a shady one does die. Former cop and retired arms dealer Jonah, with the nuclear material about to melt down, drives to a quarry away from civilians and is presumably still in the SVU when it explodes. We have to admit: It feels like Donal Logue was being set up to be a recurring presence on the show!

“When I read the script, I read it as that he does die, and that’s what really pulled my heartstrings,” Linez tells TV Insider. “So, it can go either way, but I think thinking of him as dying is heartbreaking because his character was so … You just rooted for him.”

Watch the full video interview above for much more from Natalee Linez about this episode, Gina undercover, her perspective of Colin and Bill’s partnership, and what’s to come in the finale.

CIA, Mondays, 10/9c, CBS