Spoilers are ahead for Episode 4 of FBI Season 7, called “Doubted.”
CBS’ FBI delved into a case of sexual assault that just kept getting twistier and twistier the longer they worked on it in “Doubted,” thanks to BAU Profiler Sydney Ortiz bringing it to the team’s attention. Not too long ago, National Treasure: Edge of History alum Lisette Olivera was set to join the hit drama as the newest series regular, but Syd’s time will be limited, and I was more struck in this episode of the fall 2024 TV schedule by some easy-to-miss moments from Maggie that amount to a touching reveal. They also reminded me of what leading lady Missy Peregym shared with CinemaBlend earlier this year about Maggie’s relationships.
What “Doubted” Revealed About Maggie’s Personal Life
The main character of the newest episode on November 12 was definitely Syd, which wasn’t a surprise since this was supposed to be the case introducing her as the newest regular member of the team. As a longtime fan of learning more about Maggie’s life and history, though, my ears perked up when the agent mentioned her sister, Erin. When talking to Syd about her actions while investigating an assault on her own sister, Maggie said:
For whatever it’s worth, there’s no way I would have been able to sit on the sidelines either. If someone went after my sister, I’d want to hunt that guy down too.
Erin hasn’t appeared on FBI since Maggie made a harsh decision about her back in Season 5, and their relationship has been complicated every time they’ve interacted on the show to date. Their interactions don’t always make Maggie look the best due to Erin’s history with dugs, but I also think that they result in some of Missy Peregrym’s most compelling performances. Later in the conversation with Syd, Maggie said:
Yeah, I have a hard time believing my sister too… She has her demons.
The way that Maggie mentioned Erin’s demons, I thought that perhaps the sisters hadn’t made much progress on their relationship off-screen since Season 5. As it turns out, though, her resigned reference to “demons” may have just been due to the memory of their struggles, as she dropped this line to OA when they were celebrating closing the case at the end of the episode:
I called to check in. Ella’s doing great. I mean, it helps that she loves Erin.
Honestly, if I wasn’t such a fan of whenever FBI delves into Maggie’s family and history, I might have easily missed that the agent was presumably referring to her sister when she mentioned “Erin.” Surely there could be no other Erin when Maggie dropped the name in the same episode that included references to her sister, right? It’s all about the context with these two, and I know what the context of “Doubted” points toward.
I certainly took the quick line to be a sign that Maggie and her sister not only reconciled, but are on good enough terms that Maggie trusts Erin with Ella and they’ve spent enough time together that Ella loves her. All in all, it reminded me of a conversation that I had with Missy Peregrym during Season 6 about Maggie, Ella, and Erin.
What Missy Peregrym Shared About Maggie And Erin
I spoke with Missy Peregrym back in March after the massive development for Maggie that she had to step up as mom for young Ella. At the time, the actress opened up about how her character’s attempts to help Ella in the wake of tragedy while still giving her all at work just didn’t make sense at that point in Season 6. I also asked for her thoughts on whether her complicated relationship with Erin prepared her for the complications of caring for a mourning Ella, and Peregrym said:
I think that that would make it even more complicated. [As Maggie], I don’t have a great relationship with my sister and it’s all I want to have but I don’t know how to have a healthy one. I don’t have the tools to create space and therefore we can be in a healthy relationship. That would be painful to me, that I’m not sharing this with her, or that I don’t have that fallback. That’s another thing that we can explore. The complications of that is something I’d love to explore. How do you bring the family back together?
While FBI technically didn’t explicitly say that the “Erin” who Maggie mentioned at the end of “Doubted” was in fact her sister, I really see it as a sign that Missy Peregrym’s character really did explore and resolve some of those complications. Admittedly, the actress likely hoped to do so on screen in an episode, but it’s a lovely idea that Maggie does have her sister as fallback and can have more family than just Ella nowadays. Peregrym went on:
She is my actual family, and then I have this responsibility to take care of this child and be her family and create a new thing. You would probably feel ill-equipped or questioning yourself because if you can’t even do that with your sister, you feel this pressure of how can I lead a child and take care of a child and know that I have what it takes to really show up? But again, I love the gray area. I love sitting in the complicated dynamics of people. They could take this really anywhere they wanted to. I just have to wait and see.
If the mention of Erin at the end of the latest episode of Season 7 is truly confirmation that the sisters are back on good terms, having to “wait and see” involved less than eight full months since Peregrym shared her thoughts and when “Doubted” aired. All in all, I’m now tempted to go back and rewatch the earlier episodes with Maggie and Erin, which is easier enough with a Paramount+ subscription. As for what’s next, check out the promo for the episode that will air on November 19:
Watch On
See what’s next for Maggie and Co. with new episodes of FBI on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET, followed by FBI: International at 9 p.m. ET and FBI: Most Wanted at 10 p.m. ET, all on CBS. The newest installments of all three shows are available next day on Paramount+, as well as the first six seasons of FBI. The earlier seasons of International and Most Wanted are streaming elsewhere for fans with a Peacock subscription.