‘FBI’ Spin-Off Enlists Long-Time Dick Wolf Collaborator to Run ‘CIA’
The series has already seen some recent changes, with it remaining unclear who, if anyone, would be crossing over from the FBI shows (FBI, Most Wanted, and International) as CIA launches. Leight served as showrunner for Law & Order: SVU from 2011 to 2016 and then returned as showrunner in 2019 to 2022 before departing once again. Leight also helped develop the Law & Order spin-off Law & Order: Organized Crime and also served as showrunner for a time on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Leight’s penchant for a darker tone may lend itself to the ambiguity that Ellis has already previously discussed of his character, Hart Hoxton, who, Ellis says is:
“So, my character is called Hart. He is an experienced field officer from the CIA, but he finds himself stuck in what some CIA agents might think was the boring end of the job in, you know, on home soil in New York. But he’s someone who, like many people who work for the CIA, has to use guile and deceit and lies to get what he wants. So there’s a large dose of moral ambiguity that comes with him, but that’s part of his job. So whilst that is, you know, not great for people in actual life, for a TV audience, it’s wonderful entertainment. So, yeah.”