The Smitty lore on FBI: International continues to grow in unexpected ways. The Fly Team’s beloved Europol representative, played by Eva-Jane Willis, already had to learn the true identity of her father alongside her coworkers. And now she has to revisit the school that once kicked her out and changed the course of her life. Apparently, Smitty was once in medical school, which was news to Willis.
🎬 SIGN UP for Parade’s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬
“It’s incredible to learn that I wanted to be a doctor! I didn’t know that until I read this episode,” the actress shared with Parade. “That’s the thing about the way we write and shoot this show. It’s so rapid that it’s like a huge, huge puzzle that we get the pieces of and we slowly put them together. And this was another turn in the Smitty history that I wasn’t expecting. But it actually does make sense. It explains why Smitty is as methodical and straight down the line as she is.”
It was Smitty herself who brought the latest case to Wes (Jesse Lee Soffer). An American student at a prestigious university in England (filmed on location at Cambridge University) was found dead. And while it looked like she might have jumped to her death, Smitty thought it was more likely she had been pushed. The investigation quickly pointed suspicion at the secret society that the victim had recently joined. She was the first female member in the society’s history and had quite a hard time getting the wealthy, entitled membership to accept her, which led to everyone wondering why she would even want to be part of something like that.
The answer was, unfortunately, not surprising. One of the members had previously assaulted her, but the school covered it up. So she joined the club to uncover their secrets and expose the corruption, only to end up dead.
Related: Everything to Know About FBI: International Season 4
Smitty’s return to the school was awkward, to say the least, as she had been kicked out for alcohol found in her room. Drinking was forbidden on campus (unless you’re secretly drinking in a secret society, of course), so the scholarship kid caught with a bottle of liquor was an immediate goner. It wasn’t even Smitty’s bottle, but ever since, she had been beating herself up about following the rules. As the episode unfolded, Raines (Carter Redwood) helped her realize the bottle had been planted on purpose, and her expulsion had nothing to do with anything she did or did not do, so she should be a little less hard on herself.
“What we learn about her and what happened to her at University explains why rules and doing things by the book has become so important to her, because she lost so much that one time,” Willis said. “She blamed herself for not being strict enough, and so in her life, she has become stricter. She was burned that one time, and that’s why she’s become the Smitty she is now.”
That Smitty has been tested this season as the Fly Team had to get used to a new boss. Where Scott Forrester (Luke Kleintank) was a lover of protocol, Wes Mitchell loves to fly by the seat of his pants and do what needs to be done, regardless of protocol. Smitty’s entire job is to smooth out relationships between the Fly Team and European law enforcement, so naturally, they clash. And they clash even more when Wes brings in his friend Tyler Booth (Jay Hayden), who follows even fewer rules.
“It’s definitely tested her,” Willis said of this season. “When Tyler came, it was even more of a challenge because now there are two of them. Tyler was pushing Mitchell in one direction, and Smitty was trying to push him in the other direction. It was kind of like good cop, bad cop on either side of him. And I think ultimately that’s why she [tried to] resign. Not because she doesn’t love her job, but because she felt like it was Mitchell’s team. And if Mitchell wants to do things a certain way and she’s constantly acting as a thorn in his side, maybe it’s time for her to just step aside and find another team where she’s not constantly trying to push so hard.”
Mitchell didn’t accept that resignation for one second, and that moment, paired with the realizations Smitty had in “Veritas Fidelis” means their dynamic can only improve.
Related: FBI: International Newbie Jay Hayden Teases Rifts and Flirtations Ahead
“I think that it will be like a love/hate relationship between her and Wes,” Willis said. “Because I think he will continue to do things on his own, sometimes in a rebellious manner, and that will be uncomfortable for Smitty. I think she’ll try where she can to be more flexible. But ultimately she has to keep good relationships with each country that they go to. If he jeopardizes that, then they have no way in, so she is in a difficult position in that sense. But I think when he sat her down and said, ‘I need you, and I’m not going to let you leave,’ that was really affirming for her. I think, in a way, she was longing for that reassurance that he does value her and he does want her on the team. I think since that conversation, there’s now the possibility for their relationship to have more mutual trust, more mutual respect, and a deeper level of friendship.”
But is it just friendship? Every week, FBI: International offers us a bunch of attractive FBI agents oozing with chemistry, and yet none of them are kissing each other. The series launched with a steamy relationship between Forrester and Jamie Kellett (Heida Reed), but the past couple of seasons have been sorely lacking in that department, and Willis agrees.
“That’s correct,” she said of the distinct lack of kissing. “There was an episode this season where [a woman] asked Smitty out, and Smitty acted like she didn’t know what was happening, but people went wild on Twitter and whatnot because there was definitely some ambiguity as to whether Smitty wanted to go out with this person. There was just a lingering at the end of that where we left it open for more exploration into what Smitty’s love life has been in the past, maybe in the future.”
So is that all we’re getting on this show? A lingering look that might lead to further exploration? While Willis didn’t have any official news about Smitty’s love life, she did really love her friendship with Booth and hopes for his return. She also said she’s personally a huge fan of Vo (Vinessa Vidotto) and Raines, and promised “surprises to come” for Mitchell’s love life, now that he’s really established himself on the team.
“I think this season, it’s been all about the way that Mitchell has affected the team as a new leader,” she said. “Obviously, him and Vo have a history as mentor and mentee, and [he has had] an effect on Smitty in terms of their way of doing things. So at the moment, that’s been the focus. But in the second half, there might be a bit more of what’s at stake personally for them as well.”
Related: ‘FBI: International’ Star Christina Wolfe Talks Tate’s Possible New Love Connection
