FBI: Most Wanted

Did You Know?

• Julian McMahon's character Jess LaCroix is shot in the neck and killed by a fugitive in Season 3.
• Kellan Lutz's character Kenny Crosby is wounded by a former Army comrade during an investigation in the FBI Season 3 premiere.
• Roxy Sternberg's character Sheryll Barnes is the longest-serving member of the Fugitive Task Force, having been a member for ten years by Season 4.
• Dylan McDermott's character Remy Scott retires from the FBI in the series finale to open and run a restaurant with his girlfriend Abby.

Premise

The series follows the Federal Bureau of Investigation's New York Fugitive Task Force, which tracks and captures criminals on the FBI's Most Wanted list. The team is overseen by Supervisory Special Agent Jess LaCroix, a seasoned profiler who uses his skills to understand criminal behavior. In Season 1, the task force includes Special Agents Sheryll Barnes, an ex-NYPD detective with a behavioral psych degree who serves as second in command; Kenny Crosby, a U.S. Army Military Intelligence veteran; Hana Gibson, the intelligence analyst; and Clinton Skye, an experienced field agent and sharpshooter who is also LaCroix's brother-in-law.

The team operates from 26 Fed in Manhattan or an unidentified FBI-controlled building, and uses a mobile command center while in the field. In Season 2, Skye is assigned to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and replaced by Special Agent Ivan Ortiz, an ex-LAPD gang officer, while Crosby becomes the sniper. In Season 3, Crosby goes on medical leave after being wounded and is replaced by Special Agent Kristin Gaines from the Miami field office. Later that season, LaCroix is shot and killed by a fugitive, and Supervisory Special Agent Remy Scott takes over as team leader.

Ortiz leaves to care for his father in Los Angeles, and by Season 4 he is replaced by rookie Special Agent Ray Cannon, an ex-NOPD detective.

Cast

Julian McMahon portrayed Jess LaCroix (seasons 1–3), the FBI Supervisory Special Agent and team leader, a widower and father who uses profiling to track criminals. He is killed off-screen in Season 3 after being shot in the neck. Kellan Lutz played Kenny Crosby (seasons 1–3), an ex-Army Intelligence officer who becomes the team's sharpshooter; after being wounded in the FBI Season 3 premiere, he returns to Oklahoma to recover. Roxy Sternberg played Sheryll Barnes, the second in command and a former NYPD detective married to lawyer Charlotte Gaines, with whom she has two children; in Season 5 they divorce, and in Season 6 she declines a supervisor job in D.C. to lead the task force after LaCroix's death and Remy Scott's retirement.

Keisha Castle-Hughes played Hana Gibson, the team's intelligence analyst and hacker. Other cast members included Nathaniel Arcand as Clinton Skye, YaYa Gosselin, Miguel Gomez as Ivan Ortiz, Alexa Davalos as Kristin Gaines, Dylan McDermott, Edwin Hodge, and Shantel VanSanten.

Production

On January 29, 2019, CBS commissioned a backdoor pilot with a series commitment for a spin-off titled FBI: Most Wanted, which aired in the latter part of FBI's first season. The series was ordered on May 9, 2019, and premiered as a mid-season replacement on January 7, 2020. Production was suspended on March 13, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while filming episode 15 directed by Lexi Alexander. CBS renewed the series for a second season on May 6, 2020, which premiered on November 17, 2020; showrunner René Balcer left and David Hudgins took over for Season 2.

A third season was renewed on March 24, 2021, premiering September 21, 2021. On May 9, 2022, the series was renewed for a fourth and fifth season; the fourth premiered September 20, 2022, and the fifth on February 13, 2024, delayed from September 2023 due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, resulting in 13 episodes. A sixth season was renewed on April 9, 2024, premiering October 15, 2024; filming of campus climate protest scenes for the premiere at Queens College was interrupted by supporters of the 2024 pro-Palestinian protests.

The series was canceled on March 4, 2025, after six seasons. Julian McMahon was cast in February 2019, followed by Kellan Lutz six days later. YaYa Gosselin was promoted to series regular for Season 2, Miguel Gomez was cast as Ivan Ortiz on February 26, 2021, and Alexa Davalos joined as Kristin Gaines on July 12, 2021.