Jesse Lee Soffer shares which member of the Fly Team clashes with Wes on FBI: International

FBI: International fans had to get used to a lot of changes in the shortened season 3. Over the course of the year, Jamie Kellett (Heida Reed), Damien Powell (Greg Hovanessian) and Scott Forrester (Luke Kleintank) all left the series. Forrester was a huge exit as the season 3 finale had him departing to help his fugitive mother escape from enemies. 

Thus, season 4 kicks off with the Fly Team leaderless. That is, until agent Wes Mitchell comes to Budapest to hunt the man who shot his partner in Los Angeles. Mitchell is then made the head of the Fly Team and tries to settle in.

Playing the role is Jesse Lee Soffer, who’s best known for playing Jay Halstead on Chicago P.D. He departed the show in 2023 with Halstead written out as quitting rather than covering up shooting a suspect. He chose instead to rejoin the army. 

Speaking to TV Insider, Soffer confirmed the first big challenge for the role was trying to make Mitchell different from Halstead and not slip back into his Chicago P.D. mentality.

"Well, they’re both cops, sort of. They’re very different in my mind. It’s tricky sometimes because cop thoughts are cop thoughts. So there’s scenarios where I find myself like, oh, that feels like the previous guy. And then I got to kind of readjust my brain. But Halstead had so much baggage and was dragged through the mud so many times and had such a chip on his shoulder by the end of his run on P.D. and Wes is really more carefree and has kind of an unaffected attitude and is a much lighter character and unaffected by baggage. And so in that way they feel really different."

Soffer shared that Mitchell will have a “breaking in” period, including a scene where he unpacks his new place and adjusts to living in Budapest. He says Mitchell will be taking the new role “one at a time” including handling his teammates.

Does Mitchell get along with the team?

Soffer shared there will be a quick bond between Mitchell and most of the team. He trained Vo (Vinessa Vidotto), and they get along well, he also has a good bond with Raines and Tate, who he promotes to a full field agent. However, one team member may not be happy with the new boss.

"I think there is an adjustment. Wes really does not do things by procedure, does not do things by the book, and operates by the beat of his own drum, which is a frustration and a thorn in Smitty’s [Eva-Jane Willis] side. There’s some fun relationship dynamics to play out because of their uncertainty of, how much trouble is this guy going to get us in? So that’s really fun in the first few episodes…Vo is the one that kind of puts him back in line sometimes, but I’d say most of the bumpiness comes from he and Smitty."

Thankfully, one team member is fully on board with Mitchell and that's Tank. Soffer says the team’s beloved dog mascot “gives the okay” to Mitchell early on and if Tank likes him, the guy’s okay. Soffer hopes fans of the show feel the same as the show's beloved dog.

So viewers can expect Mitchell to bring a bold new dynamic to FBI: International with season 4 kicking off a wilder year for the series. Just ask Soffer, he's got knee and shoulder pain to prove it from all the action he's getting up to on-screen.

FBI: International season 4 premieres Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 9/8c on CBS. Next day streaming will be available on Paramount+. Stay tuned Americans Undercover for coverage. Follow us on X and Facebook for more content!