FBI Show: Scorpion Star Elyes Gabel's Unexpected Role Explained

FBI Season 6 brought a special guest star into play for a brand-new role as Scorpion's Elyes Gabel returned to the spotlight.

Scorpion Star Elyes Gabel Guest Stars in FBI Season 6

FBI Season 6 featured Elyes Gabel as a guest star, playing a character named Hassan Bilal in the new season's fourth episode. 

After a federal judge is gunned down in the street, the FBI team's investigation leads them to a local Islamic center, where Bilal is seen working as a janitor. Zeeko Zaki's OA Zidan notices a gun on Bilal's person, soon discovering Bilal is an FBI agent who had spent the last three months on an undercover assignment.

Bilal eventually volunteers himself to help infiltrate a potential terrorist cell, selling a Saudi banker on being a true believer as he insinuates he's willing to become a martyr for the cause.

However, it is later revealed that Bilal was part of the terrorist cell the entire time, leading to OA finding himself at a huge crossroads about what it means to be a Muslim FBI agent. Billal then becomes the subject of an investigation due to his actions against the USA.

Are Elyes Gabel's FBI and Scorpion Characters the Same Person?

Multiple fans on X (formerly Twitter) celebrated Gabel's casting in the series by referencing the biggest role of his career from CBS' Scorpion, which ran from 2014 to 2018. 

While some of these posts seemed to indicate Gabel's Walter O'Brien from Scorpion was returning in FBI Season 6, his role as Hassan Bilal was a completely different character.

Important to note is that FBI regular Alana de la Garza (Isobel Castille) also appeared in Scorpion with Gabel as another character, playing temporary Homeland Security director Adriana Molina in Season 2.

Scorpion featured Gabel as a fictionalized version of real-world genius Walter O’Brien, who boasts an IQ of 197. This makes O'Brien one of the five smartest individuals on record, which was portrayed through Gabel's take on Walter in the hit TV drama.

This series features Gabel's character running a team of geniuses in the greater Los Angeles area under Robert Patrick’s Homeland Security Agent Cabe Gallo, solving near-impossible cases every week by using their extraordinary intellect.

The Scorpion team includes behaviorist Toby Curtis (Eddie Kaye Thomas), human calculator Sylvester Dodd (Ari Stidham), mechanical prodigy Happy Quinn (Jaydn Wong), and former waitress Paige Dineen (Katharine McPhee). Also playing a supporting role is Riley B. Smith as Paige's son, Ralph, who proves to also have a genius-level IQ.

Will Scorpion Return for Season 5?

Initially, Scorpion got off to a scorching hot start in its first season, becoming CBS' highest-rated drama in 2014 (per The Wrap), getting a primetime air slot right after hit comedy The Big Bang Theory.

However, steadily declining ratings led to its cancellation (via Deadline) after Season 4 in 2018, when it was one of the network's worst-performing series of that year.

Due to those ratings, there is next to no chance Scorpion gets picked up for a fifth season, although its cast has moved on to success in the six years since its conclusion.

Following Scorpion's cancellation, Gabel found roles in shows like Suspicion and Justice League vs the Fatal Five, adding to a resume that already features roles in Game of Thrones and World War Z.

Patrick enjoyed his own time in the spotlight recently, portraying the evil White Dragon in James Gunn's Peacemaker Season 1 on Max alongside John Cena. He later played Shane Langston, the main villain in Reacher Season 2, which became a hit for Amazon Prime Video in late 2023 and early 2024.

While Scorpion appears to have run its course after four seasons, its stars show no signs of slowing down with their careers.

New episodes of FBI air every Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on CBS before streaming on Paramount+ the following day. All four seasons of Scorpion can be streamed on Paramount + and Amazon Prime Video.

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