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Key Points Eva Ramos reveals a complicated past involving betrayal by her ex-partner with ForeFront. Her dynamic with Scola centers on mutual trust and intelligence, fostering teamwork. More of Eva’s backstory and its impact will unfold throughout the season. There’s more to Special Agent Eva Ramos (Juliana Aiden Martinez) than immediately meets the eye. FBI‘s newest addition revealed some unexpected backstory at the end of her first episode, and it was not that she used to be a detective with SVU (like her portrayer). Ramos is a former prosecutor-turned-FBI agent who left her FBI job in New Jersey for NYC. She initially told new partner Scola (John Boyd) that she had left for a “change of scenery,” but after he proved his morals to her by getting a confession out of an old friend, she told him the truth. “I was in a relationship with someone at my field office,” she said. “Right now he’s at MDC pending trial for conspiring to bring down the FBI.” 🎬 SIGN UP for Parade’s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 Her ex, it turns out, was part of ForeFront, the group that had infiltrated the agency in the Season 7 finale and nearly left Isobel Castille (Alana De La Garza) dead. Ramos was dating the guy for six months, but they were partners for years before that. “I was done,” she told Scola. “I didn’t know who I could trust. Almost lost faith in the job —almost. So when I heard there was an opening here at the team that beat Forefront, I put in for a transfer because I knew that this was where I needed to be.” So how does Ramos’ backstory impact the show and her character as the season continues? Find out from Martinez below! Related: ‘FBI’ Season 8: Everything to Know About the Dick Wolf Series’ Return Eva really surprised both the viewers and Scola with her true backstory at the end of the episode. What does it mean for her and the show going forward that she has had this past entanglement with ForeFront? I think it means that she’s someone that came in with a deep betrayal…someone that she thought she could trust, and a partner that she believed that she knew everything about romantically and also professionally. She’s coming in with fractured trust and a desire to trust again. And I think that she sees, with Scola, that he is someone that has a lot of integrity, and that this is a team that won’t back down and really cares about fighting with the best of intentions and what’s good for everybody. And she’s seeking that. She’s seeking to trust again and feel safe again and have a place at the table. And we’re going to see that more and more as the episodes go on. Is there a general sense of distrust among the whole team, especially with new people, after what they went through? I don’t know. I can’t speak for them. But I do know with Eva, there is probably a sense of like, “I’m really good at what I do, please, trust me. But can I trust you?” We see in the episode, there’s moments where she’s like, “Can I trust you, Scola? You just did something kind of duplicitous. You just did something that I would think maybe I need to be interrogating you.” And then she sees, like, oh, wait, maybe I can have a breath and open my heart a little bit, and we see that at the end. When Scola wore the wire to catch his old friend, did that help prove Eva could trust him? It did. Yeah, I think she waited in that van to see if he made the right choice, like without thinking that anyone was watching, that it was just him. And I think to her, that was like, “Okay, because you did this, you earned my trust a little bit. I’m going to give you something about me.” I’m really excited to see where that dynamic flourishes as they reveal more and more of themselves. Scola hasn’t had a regular partner in a while, since Tiffany left, and now he’s lost Agent Rhodes. What’s the dynamic like between him and Eva moving forward? Well, I think what’s really cool about their dynamic is they’re both people who have city roots, but they’re incredibly intelligent. They’re perceptive, they move through the world with their cleverness as, like, a type of weapon. She has a lawyer’s mind, you know, and she is not afraid to say her opinion. She’s not afraid to think of creative solutions to things. And she’s just always a few steps ahead, just like Scola is. And I think they’re both people who are, like two positive ions moving through space, and they’re going to keep each other on their toes. And I think that’s going to be really cool, because it’s kind of like a meeting of equals. They’re seeing reflections of themselves, and yet, there’re going to be differences, just as being people. But they are two people that use their intelligence in similar ways, and I think that’s going to be really interesting. Do you know who your ex was? Like, do you have a picture of him in mind? I do. Do we meet him? I can’t say, but yeah, there’s a person in mind. I can’t really tease too much, but he was definitely part of the ForeFront team. Is Eva the type who can leave work at work, or does it follow her home? That’s a good question. I think that Eva is someone that, being a prosecutor, there’s a sense of, like, “What is the law?” There’s a detachment that you’re able to have on a case in which you’re like, “You broke the law, you didn’t, and we can prosecute this or we can’t.” The law gives you a sense of knowing what is right and wrong on an intellectual or factual basis that I think lawyers can definitely…it gives them the ability to cope, regardless of their opinions on something. I do think that Eva is someone that has a really big heart, and it’s constantly a battle of her head and her heart. And so I’m sure that there are cases that really affected her and that we’ll see later on in the season where she messed up. Yeah, I think it’s for her, a constant battle of caring too much and finding a way to move past that. Can you tease how much more of her backstory we’ll get this season? I think we’re gonna get a little more of her backstory. I think she’s someone that has a mystery and a history to her, as we even see in the first episode. I think we’ll get some of her backstory maybe related to the question you just asked me. I don’t know. What was it like jumping right from SVU to FBI? I mean, to be able to play two different people is just such a gift as an actor. I learned so much, and I had so much fun, and so much growth in working on SVU and getting to learn from Mariska every day, who’s just the queen of television. It was such an incredible opportunity to get to learn from her, and even Ice-T, like what he drops every day is incredible. So I came in, in his words, feeling pretty dope, and I felt equipped, but also really excited and curious [about] how to do all these stunts that they do, and all the action that they do in this show. And they really took me in, and they welcomed me. They gave me gun training and tactical training. And I’m on all the supplements and vitamins that the cast is on, and it’s just it’s been a lot of fun. This cast is a great time. They really love to laugh, and we get to kind of work out and be badasses on the field at the same time, which is great.
