‘FBI’: Katherine Renee Kane Talks [Spoiler]’s Death & Tiffany’s Survivor’s Guilt

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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the FBI Season 6 premiere “All the Rage.”]

We knew that FBI would be losing one of its own to kick off the sixth season, but that doesn’t mean we were prepared for how it goes down!

Just before the team starts tracking down a terrorist, Jubal (Jeremy Sisto) encourages Tiffany (Katherine Renee Kane) to be more assertive. And one of the ways in which she does that is by enlisting Hobbs (Roshawn Franklin) for an undercover surveillance op. However, after she encourages him to follow the suspect into the bathroom, he’s shot and killed. What’s worse: The terrorist remains at large at the end of the episode.

Kane takes us inside this episode and teases how Tiffany’s dealing with her grief going forward.

Talk about Tiffany stepping up. It comes about after Jubal talks to her about being more assertive. What’s been holding her back from doing so until now?

Katherine Renee Kane: I think it has a lot to do with her experiences in the past, whether it be from the NYPD or when she was at other bureaus. Sometimes it’s been a little bit difficult for her to manage her emotional ties, whether it be certain issues or people or circumstances to try to rein that in to think clearly and make good decisions. I think that she’s been sort of playing back-footed in that sense. So she’s very front-footed and bold as an agent as far as taking leadership. She needs to be given a little bit of a push in order to take up the space that she can handle if she really puts her mind to it.

She does step up and is the ones that comes up with the plan at the restaurant and take the lead in the field with Hobbs. And the thing is, despite what he says, she is the one with more current field experience and they were working an urgent case. Do you think she might’ve made the same call even without that conversation with Jubal, if she had been in the same position in that restaurant?

I believe so. I don’t think she had any reason to not trust that Hobbs had the temerity to take on the case. It is always good to be reminded to look out for your teammates and to take into account where people have been, that he’s been behind the desk for a while. But I think she is one to go headfirst into a problem, so she probably would’ve made a similar call. But yeah, I think it’s the aftermath that really gets to her, all the weight that comes with leadership. And like Jubal says, this is just how things turn out sometimes. It’s not always that you did a good or bad thing, it’s just how it’s fated, and so she just has to deal with that.

Bennett Raglin/CBS

And it’s easier for her to feel the rage than the guilt in the immediate aftermath, right?

Yeah. That just tends to be how her personality is, and that’s something that I hope to continue to explore in her is where that comes from and how that can be better used or better honed or uncovered to see all the colors of who she is so that she can become more of a leader and better agent.

Tiffany tells Jubal she thinks she screwed up and shouldn’t have pushed Hobbs, but he disagrees and says it was the right play. Did that get through to her? How is she feeling after that? It couldn’t have helped that Jubal also said that Hobbs’ wife wasn’t ready to see her.

Yeah, it’s hard for her to reconcile that a good call can also mean the death of somebody that you care about and especially teammates, someone who also puts their life on the line. There’s a little bit of survivor’s guilt that also comes with those kind of situations, I’m sure. I mean, having somebody who wants the same things you want and you’re put in a position where you kind of have to take their lives in your hand in a sense, I just can’t imagine the people who do that on an everyday basis. So yeah, I think it’s still tough for her.

I really seeing Tiffany and Maggie (Missy Peregrym) working together and Maggie being the one to hold her back from bursting into the room. The way you play that, it’s so easy to see how hard that was for Tiffany to not just go in. Talk about filming that.

Yeah, I love filming with Missy. She is an incredibly generous and thoughtful scene partner and working on that scene, we don’t get to do it a lot. So when we do, it’s like we’re chomping at the bit to just really bring a lot of nuance to try to make sure that we’re very clear about what this means to each character and where they are in their relationship. It was really intense, but it felt good to do that with her. And I think that her character is just the heart of the show, so she knows very well how to connect with her teammates.

The episode ends with everyone gathered to raise a glass to Hobbs, and while Tiffany joins them, she remains by herself. How is she feeling in that moment? And talk about filming that because it’s not often we see that part of the lobby.

Yeah, it’s always fun to find those little new things in the show. Procedurals can go by with a very particular procedure and protocol, steps and events. I think in the filming of it, I also sort of discovered— Tiffany kind of comes upon this impromptu memorial and it’s in this very impromptu area that’s definitely used for other things other than memorials for our fallen comrades. So it was a flurry of mixed emotions to toast to somebody who you were responsible for, that you still feel guilt over that you’ve not totally resolved, and you didn’t even get to catch the guy. I think she gave a toast as sort of part of the whole ritual, but it still feels like she couldn’t quite drink to that soaking of admiration or token of what the team was trying to memorialize for Hobbs. She couldn’t really take part in it. She still has something that had to be resolved in her.

Bennett Raglin/CBS

How is dealing with Hobbs’ death going forward in coming episodes?

It is still to be discovered it. Right now has a lot to do with trying to catch the guy that is responsible for it, and so we have to wait and see how that happens. I think that it’s just something that’s sort of festering in her until the time can come when she can take revenge—not necessarily revenge, but seek justice for his loss.

Because she can’t get any sense of closure with him still out there?

No, not really. Not at all. And that’s about Hobbs, but it’s also about all the other people whose lives are now on the line. This guy is a terrorist.

What will we see from that search for him? Is Tiffany going to be the one leading the charge?

I think we can absolutely expect for Tiffany to continue to step forward into a leadership role, especially as it pertains to this case and this perp. But exactly how, when and where I think is still a mystery. He can come up anywhere. He’s so elusive.

Will she be leaning on anyone going forward with everything that’s happened? This show is so good about crafting such great dynamics between any two characters.

I think that’s the amazing thing about the show is that it has an amazing ensemble of not just actors, but characters that have been built by those actors. I think that’ll be a great thing to see, is her lean on variety of her teammates. They all have a quality that can strengthen her, they can strengthen each other. I think you can absolutely expect to see it to come up between her and her partner, probably with her first line of defense and all of her other teammates.

What do you enjoy about Tiffany and Scola’s (John Boyd) partnership?

It’s sort of a meeting of two worlds, which has a perfect little harmony to it, them both being from New York, but different sides of New York, different sides of socioeconomic experience. But I think they both bring a very openhearted and a very understanding mindset to each other that allows them to connect on so many different things while also having their very unique views and their unique perspectives on life. It was a little rocky and uncertain in the beginning, but I think they hit a stride, and I very much look forward to continuing to see how their relationship will grow as partners. I really love working with John. He’s a fantastic actor and a great scene partner.

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You need somewhere to grow to, and you get that with that relationship.

Exactly. I think they still have a lot of places they can grow to and a lot of places where they can see themselves expanding, finding connections. They found a lot of connection, but I think there’s still a lot of room for expansion in their partnership.

What else is coming up for Tiffany? Anything off the job?

I hope so. I think that she’ll see some evolution in who she is as a person through all of the trials that she experiences as an agent. I think she’s put a lot of her personal life on hold to continue to level up in her work, but at some point I think it will become time for her to really do some soul searching and to continue to evolve as a person. And I really hope to do some more exploration with her family.

FBI, Tuesdays, 8/7c, CBS