FBI kicked off Season 8 in the fall 2025 TV schedule with a major loss to the team at 26 Fed, with a twist ending that revealed Isobel (Alana De La Garza) survived her brain surgery but Agent Dani Rhodes (Emily Alabi) took a bullet during the case of the week and died. Alabi’s exit was announced ahead of Season 8 without showrunner Mike Weiss spoiling why Dani would no longer be around. Now, ahead of Law & Order: SVU alum Juliana Aidén Martinez joining as a new agent, here’s what Weiss told us about her character.
The death of Dani Rhodes in the Season 8 premiere (available streaming now with a Paramount+ subscription) was the biggest to rock the hit CBS drama since Kathleen Munroe’s Rina was killed off in early 2022, so the stakes are quite high for the new agent who will soon join the team. The actress will be a familiar face for any fans who watch the NBC shows in the expansive Dick Wolf TV universe, as she was briefly a series regular on SVU. The showrunner previewed what to expect from the newcomer:
This happens a lot at Wolf [Entertainment] because there are just actors that do a great job, and the Wolf team wants to keep them in the mix. But she’s not coming over as the same character, so this is a brand new character for her, and she’s playing a character named Eva Ramos, who is new to the team, and she’s going to bring a slightly different approach to the work that we all do.
It’s certainly not unprecedented for actors from one Wolf Entertainment show to join another as a completely different character; both Alana De La Garza and Jeremy Sisto spent years on the original Law & Order before joining FBI. So, Juliana Aidén Martinez will not be playing SVU‘s Detective Kate Silva again.
After FBI went through a number of newcomers in Season 7 to fill the vacancy left by Katherine Renee Kane’s Agent Tiff Wallace, Eva Ramos will apparently take a new approach to the team’s work. Mike Weiss elaborated:
She is from the city, went to law school, and became a federal prosecutor, where she worked for a few years before switching and going and getting trained at Quantico and becoming an FBI agent, which is increasingly common in the FBI. A lot of real FBI agents have law degrees, so she’s going to bring a prosecutor’s eye and a prosecutor’s edge and also a prosecutor’s verbal abilities to crack cases. She’s really fun in interviews. She hopefully feels a little bit like you’re not just in an interview with an FBI agent. You’re on trial for what you did, or you’re in the box because of what you saw.
Unlike Syd, played by Lisette Oliveras in Season 7, it sounds like Eva Ramos comes into 26 Fed with a lot of experience behind her other than just a desk at the Bureau. It’s not clear if she has much field experience by the time she arrives, but as Weiss said, she brings some elements to the series that nobody else has.
One of those elements? She’ll be the latest agent to become Scola’s post-Tiff partner. Dani was the first one he really clicked with after losing his previous partner, so it should be interesting to see how fast he takes (or doesn’t take) to Eva after Dani’s’ death. The showrunner teased what Eva will be like as a partner:
We thought that was a really fun way to pair Scola, who we play as an uptown, snappy, witty, dry guy. We thought, instead of doing an opposites attract thing, let’s go with a girl who can absolutely keep up with him, mentally and verbally. We’re really excited to have her on the show. She’s a fantastic person. She’s so great, and we’re really having fun with the character so far.
Fortunately, the wait for fans – and presumably Scola – to meet Agent Eva Ramos is nearly over, as she’ll debut in the third episode of Season 8, called “Boy Scout.” Check out CBS’ episode description for a taste of what to expect:
After a young man is found beaten to death on federal land, Scola and Special Agent Eva Ramos (new series regular Juliana Aidén Martinez) hit a roadblock when their case intersects with a DEA operation. Meanwhile, there is a potential shake-up inside of the JOC.
Depending on how long Isobel will be out for her recovery, it’s possible that the “shake-up inside of the JOC” doesn’t just refer to Eva Ramos. The premiere revealed that Jubal as leader was intended to be temporary, and Isobel’s office had been cleared out. Perhaps Eva Ramos’ arrival won’t be the only big change to the team in the coming weeks.
Find out with Juliana Aidén Martinez’s first episode of FBI airing on Monday, October 27 at 9 p.m. ET, ahead of Watson at 10 p.m. ET on CBS. You can also stream the newest episodes next day via Paramount+.