Tali shows us a side of trauma and fear on FBI: Most Wanted

Tali’s attitude has changed considerably between FBI: Most Wanted Season 2 and Season 3. This isn’t just hormones but a sign of trauma and fear.

When we first met Tali LaCroix, she was a kind and caring young girl. Just look at the way she reacted when she found herself wrongly placed in an ICE detention center. It wasn’t about what happened to her but about what was happening to others in the same center.

But in FBI: Most Wanted Season 3, Episode 2, we saw a very different personality. Tali is hanging out with kids smoking weed, and there is a chance that she’s doing it too. If not, she could end up doing it.

I’m not here to have the weed debate. What I’m here to debate is what this means for Tali. This personality change is likely to be put down to hormones and “acting out,” but I’m going to say that there’s something much more serious going on.

Tali is suffering from trauma on FBI: Most Wanted

This sudden personality change comes from Tali’s experience in the Season 2 finale. When she was placed in the detention center, her life wasn’t at risk. Tali would have known that, too. She just had to wait for her dad to get to her and then she’d be able to go home. While there would have been a bit of fear, it wouldn’t have been as traumatic for her as it would have been for others in there.

So, we never saw a personality change after that. We didn’t see the trauma come up.

The change in Tali’s personality should be a sign that something serious is happening. Remember how much she liked Sarah being around in FBI: Most Wanted Season 2. Now she’s suddenly acting out against Sarah. Jess isn’t helping with his lack of discipline, and he doesn’t realize there’s something bigger going on just yet.

Tali’s life was at risk in the FBI: Most Wanted Season 2 finale. While Sarah has likely lived in fear for a while and her ex’s death wasn’t anything traumatic compared to her past, Tali had never seen something like that happened. She hasn’t had to live with her life being at risk, and she hasn’t had to see her dad kill someone in front of her to save her life.

That fear and the trauma will sit with her. And now we’re seeing it affect her. The personality change we’re seeing is the way trauma and PTSD react. It can seem like she’s acting out as a teenager and so the PTSD will likely go undiagnosed for a while. Eventually, it’s going to come out that she’s terrified something like that will happen again, and she probably blames Sarah for it happening because it was Sarah’s ex.

What do you think of the way FBI: Most Wanted is showing PTSD and trauma? What do you expect Jess to do before he realizes the truth? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

FBI: Most Wanted airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on CBS. Catch up the following day on Paramount+.