Spoilers ahead for the Season 6 finale of FBI, called “Ring of Fire.”
The sixth season of FBI was tumultuous for just about every key character, but Tiff reeling from the death of Hobbs in the premiere went unresolved until the very end of the finale. In “Ring of Fire,” the Somalian terrorist group responsible for what happened to Hobbs resurfaced, presenting fresh danger for civilians but also the 26 Fed’s team best shot at catching the bad guys. Katherine Renee Kane, who plays Tiff, opened up to CinemaBlend about what went down as her character went through the wringer to finally get some closure in the 2024 TV schedule.
In “Ring of Fire,” the hits kept coming for the team, starting with OA getting sucker-punched in the face and escalating until the eventual standoff between Tiff, OA, Maggie, and Scola vs. Hakim. After Tiff repeatedly toed the line when it came to getting justice for Hobbs with the terrorist group, she ultimately was the one with a seemingly unarmed Hakim at gunpoint… and she pulled the trigger several times. Fortunately, Hakim wasn’t actually unarmed, and the case finally seems closed on getting closure for Hobbs. Tiff visited his widow to drop the news and hopefully start the recovery process.
There’s no denying that Tiff was on edge with this case for much of Season 6, though, so I asked the actress if her character would ever be so consumed by it that she’d pull the trigger regardless of if he had a gun. Kane shared:
I don’t think so. I think that she has a lot of doubt cast on her in that unjustifiably. She’s had moments where she was very unhinged. In Episode 8, I was scared for Tiffany. But I think that she is true to her word. She actually has been doing the work, and I don’t think that she cares so little about her colleagues’ opinions of her that she would say she was doing work and not be doing work. Or that she would try to skirt by or that she would not take into account their advice. And I think they show very much that they care through how adamant they are in getting her to find help and getting her to be honest and take accountability for her emotions.
Throughout Season 6, the only one of her colleagues who seemed ready 100% of the time to come to her defense about Hakim was Scola, who has had his own personal life complications with that FBI: Most Wanted crossover. In the Season 6 finale’s climax, everybody seemed to doubt that she’d truly seen a gun on the man when she shot him, and all three of the other agents breathed a sigh of relief with OA found the weapon. Despite some “unhinged” moments, Kane believes that Tiff wouldn’t have done what the other agents feared. The actress continued:
I feel like she’s come to this place where she knows what she has to do in order to face this huge demon in her psyche and in her life. And I think it is hard for her to have doubt cast on her once again when she knows that she was acting with integrity. But I think that’s also a great thing about the writing is that they keep us on bated breath until the last second, and to see her have that moment of relief was a huge amount of relief for me as an actress. I just wanted Tiffany to be okay, and I’m glad that she’s okay and that the writers agree that she’s okay.
Tiff really deserves to be okay after she went almost the entire season blaming herself for a tragedy that wasn’t her fault, with her coworkers doubting whether she had enough control of herself to do her duty. Jubal even asked if she was mentally fit! She proved that she was “acting with integrity,” to quote Katherine Renee Kane, and hopefully will receive the benefit of the doubt indefinitely after all the work she put in to catching Hakim.
When asked if it would affect Tiff that her coworkers had doubts about whether she shot an unarmed man, even if only for a moment, Kane shared:
It does have an effect on her, but I think it also puts her in a place of questioning is it justified or not? I mean, I think she also has to also ask herself how she operated that would give them the impression that I would do something like that. And I think that’s a continuation of the work that she has to do on herself so that she can become a better agent, but also a healthier and more self-possessed person. But I do think it affects you when people misunderstand you. You can’t help but feel that and she’s an emotional person, so I don’t think she can help it either.
If Tiff has truly been set up as “healthier and more self-possessed” in the Season 6 finale, it raiess some interesting questions for the future. The show certainly has one, as CBS renewed FBI for three more seasons back in April. With Maggie becoming guardian for Ella, Scola trying to figure out fatherhood when his child’s mother is busy over on FBI: Most Wanted, and OA finding with way through his relationship with Gemma, Tiff was the only one of the core field agents without a personal story in the sixth season. With closure from losing Hobbs, could that change in Season 7?
Well, we’ll just have to wait until FBI returns to CBS for Season 7 in the fall! For now, though, fans can revisit all six seasons of the hit drama streaming with a Paramount+ subscription.