Fatherhood was at the forefront of Scola’s mind.
That’s why he became so emotionally invested in the case at the center of FBI Season 5 Episode 9.
It wasn’t hard to feel sympathetic toward Trevor, who had the best of intentions when he dragged the FBI agents into his life-threatening situation.
That was only fair after Trevor’s father, Vince, thrust his son into his self-created danger, exposing the unsuspecting Trevor to a bullet-filled car chase.
All Trevor knew was that men were shooting at his father, and the injured Vince insisted that Trevor grab a bag filled with fentanyl from his car just before he passed out at a nearby hospital.
It wasn’t clear how aware Trevor was of Vince’s sketchy past. But Vince driving around with a duffle full of drugs certainly was reason enough for Trevor to take it to the nearest law-enforcement division.
Granted, bringing a suspicious-looking bag into the FBI offices wasn’t the most well-reasoned choice. But Trevor was reacting after a very traumatic event. Also, taking that much fentanyl off the street would never be a bad idea.
Frankly, considering what Trevor had been through over the past hour, he handled having all those guns pointed at him pretty well. His maturity level was why he could roll with what was to come during this case.
That, and Scola offered Trevor a much-needed clean start for him and his father if Trevor could get information about where the fentanyl came from out of Vince.
Unfortunately, despite Trevor’s composition, Vince’s natural state was paranoia, and he wouldn’t admit to anything. However, he eventually let slip the name of the supplier from whom he had gotten the fentanyl.
Once the agents learned more about Chao, it became apparent that Vince was stupid ever to think that he could steal from him and get away with it. Trevor must have gotten his intelligence from his mother since all Vince had to offer was some animal cunning.
After having established how careful Chao was, Scola’s scheme of selling back his fentanyl to him seemed and proved to be iffy. Stuart ended up having to involve Trevor to authenticate his story for Chao.
That’s when things started to come apart. Trevor felt compelled to visit with Vince once more before he willingly entered the lion’s den. Not surprisingly, his composure started to crack enough that Vince figured out Trevor had been working with law enforcement.
So Vince, who the doctors had stitched back together, decided to take the fight to Chao’s crew, his way of protecting Trevor.
But after that noble act, Vince turned around and left Trevor an orphan, attacking the police rather than face more time in prison.
Poor Trevor did everything he could to extract Vince from his poor life choices. But Vince had to make one more bad decision, undoing all of Trevor’s hard work.
Why did Scola need to do everything he could to help Trevor? Blame Nina.
This storyline between the two was Nina and Stuart’s relationship in a microcosm.
Sure, they got off to a rocky start when he ghosted her after their first date. But since they got back together, it’s been all about what Nina wants, with Scola continually doing penance for his initial selfish act.
Nina initially teased him by hinting that she’s figured out what she wanted to do with her life, but she would make him wait to tell him.
Then Nina hit Scola with the old “good news-bad news” setup. The good news was that she was pregnant with his child. The bad news was that she wanted to raise the child on her own, essentially to keep her options open.
Oh, and by the way, she wanted him to sign legal documents that minimized his involvement in their child’s life. Because, well, there’s a position in Los Angeles that has piqued her curiosity.
She also threw a “this isn’t about us” into the discussion. She doesn’t want him involved in their child’s life, possibly across the country, but this has nothing to do with their relationship? Right. Sure.
Nina laid all this on him when he was in the midst of an emotionally exhausting case when he acted essentially as Trevor’s handler.
So was it shocking that Stuart transferred some of his fatherhood feelings onto Trevor? Not really. Trevor needed a reliable father figure, and Scola was subconsciously worried about losing his unborn child. So they found each other.
It’s a pleasant change of pace when Scola gets forced out of his “just-the-facts, ma’am” persona, as he was in the episode. He can emote when he has to.
In the middle of all that, when Stuart was about to attempt an ill-conceived drug sale, Nina chose then to pressure him about the legal documents she wanted signed.
It wasn’t surprising that Scola refused to sign those papers because he wanted to be part of his boy’s life.
In the end, of course, he offered to bend over backward to accommodate Nina, short of bowing out altogether as a parent.
To revisit Scola and Nina’s relationship, watch FBI online.
Was Vince’s fate sealed early on by his selfish choices?
How did you enjoy Stuart’s interactions with Trevor?
Was Nina being unrealistic in expecting to have it all?
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Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.