FBI - General Discussion

[Dowel Jones]

To which the program replies, "I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave"

[mxc90]

Now that's the open I like. Good for the gun to malfunction after hitting Rina and spare Jubal. I will hope this is the last of Rina on the show as she will not be able to return to duty.

Isobel should have yanked Jubal out the interrogation room the moment she found out he was in there. She gave him a lot of leeway this episode.

Nice of the other agents in the office to withhold juicy water cooler gossip about Jubal and Rina being together. Or maybe the agents are clueless to figure it out.

If the ATF agent can easily fall for the phone trick by OA, he is most likely going to screw up his 2 year case. He did redeem himself a little with finding the hidden room.

Why would Winters need to have Castlewood know/follow Rina's daily moves if the machine is set up in front of her house to just shoot her on instant recognition? There's only one path to go when she walks out her front door. At least the machine was nice enough to let Jubal and Rina finish their kiss but drew the line for her to not have a sip of her coffee.

Could Ian be a little quicker telling Jubal and Isobel: they and others are target? He was more happy to tell them how it worked. Telling them they are the targets should have been the first words out his is mouth.

Vargas watched too many Terminator movies and tried to go cheap with a facial recognition sniper machine, instead of a trusted, reliable sicario. The machine couldn't even finish the job on Maggie as it didn't see her face. Back to the drawing board fool.

If Winters has five machines, why is he wasting one to put on the outside of the warehouse? How would he know those specific agents out of thousands would go there to chase him?

Elise must be thinking: what a girl gotta do to get on Vargas' hit list? 

Edited December 15, 2021 by mxc90

[MountaineerBro10]

Both FBI & Most Wanted were very good. This season has impressed me very me very much. International is still up in the air so we’ll see. But again, so far so good. Keep it up Wolf Entertainment!

[Xeliou66]

Really intense episode - I enjoyed it from start to finish, I particularly liked Jubal and Isobel’s stuff, they both had nice roles and it was compelling to watch their emotions from start to finish, and I completely understood Jubal’s feelings about the whole situation but I liked Isobel keeping him in check and saying they can’t stoop to Vargas’ level. I wasn’t rooting for Rina to die but I am kind of sick of her and I hope this is the end of her on the show, hopefully she’ll retire on disability or something and won’t be seen again.

I liked the role everyone had, nice balance of screen time for everyone including giving the background characters big roles. The investigation was good, even if there were a couple of things that bugged me, particularly Maggie and OA calling out that they were FBI to Castlewood when they were a long way away, usually that doesn’t bother me much, this time it did. Also the facial recognition stuff came back very quickly.

I don’t like Vargas, he’s too much of a supervillain, and I’ve never cared for supervillains. Fortunately his scene was brief and I hope he doesn’t keep popping back up. 

Overall this show has really been good this season, and it’s definitely my favorite of the 3 FBI shows. I’ve found every episode so far enjoyable. Hopefully the show continues to be good when it returns in January. 

[preeya]

Jubal was totally off the rails tonight, from start to finish.

Another runner and a car chase. They shouted to Castlewood from 50 yards away.

What's up with tech guy re-activating GPS in a car in less than 5 seconds?

They shouldn't have put David Zayas in the intro, I knew he was the all fearing perp that the underlings were afraid of.

 

[mythoughtis]

Isabel just casually mentions that she knew Jubal and Rina  were dating. Your underling is dating your boss?  No Big deal?  
I would prefer that we not go down the path of the supervillain waiting to strike them down  at least once a season. 

[Netfoot]

When Rina was shot, my immediate reaction was "Wow! Isobel is really pissed at her!"

My second reaction was "TPTB have been listening, and they have devised a satisfying way of getting her out of the series!"

When they called an ambulance instead of a meat-wagon, I realized that by next week she will be fine, and back being a waste of skin, as usual.

11 hours ago, preeya said:

Another runner and a car chase. They shouted to Castlewood from 50 yards away.

And they couldn't have been more obvious when they went to apprehend Winters without having a neon sign made.

This, plus the ridiculous, instantaneous, whizz-bang technological solutions they have to every query they need answering makes this show increasingly more diffricult to watch...

They pinged Castlewood's phone by getting the number of the device he used to call his probation officer? What, are we supposed to believe the guy put the number in Castlewood's file? Or did they just 'hack' the parole officer's phone and syphon out his dialer's "Recently" list? And wouldn't that list have the call coming from "Unknown" or at least from the innocuous name of the phone's owner, the prozzie who lent Castlewood her phone to make the call? Doesn't even the FBI need to get a warrant to 'hack' people's devices and spy on their calls, etc? Can a judge issue a warrant so quickly that it takes less than one second from when they decide to 'hack' the phone and when they have successfully done so?

And why is it that after learning about the face-recognition murder-bots being after them and realizing they had to keep their faces covered until further notice, that nobody even put on so much as an N95 mask for the remainder of the episode? Exception: When they went to the gunsmith with bandannas on their faces to find the maker of the robotic shooters, and immediately pulled down the masks when they discovered that there were no humans present. Oh, and BTW, that was the lamest, cheesiest hidden entrance to a "Secret Lair" I've ever seen.

For that matter, how come nobody in the episode was wearing a mask, in NYC, the mask-mandate capital of the world? (Not counting Jubal wearing the ugly scarf at the beginning to win points with the side-piece.) I watched carefully. Not a single mask was seen by anyone, including extras on the streets, people in the background, etc, etc. Nobody! If that's how they want to play it shouldn't they have just relocated to Florida for the duration?

 

[judyri]

I personally liked the ex putting Jubal in his place at the ending scene.  Not everything is about him.

[Dowel Jones]

I'll have to give it to Jeremy Sisto.  He does play wired up and tense quite well.  When Isobel asked him why he wasn't at the hospital, I was hoping he would say something like "They got mad because I was shouting at them all the time, 'Let's go people, the clock is ticking'.  Apparently they're all professionals there."

It never ceases to amaze me on these shows that, when they bring a criminal or ex con in for questioning, the guy never lawyers up from the start.  This guy was sort of an exception, but you know that cons know their rights and don't fall for the face to face yelling.

[12catcrazy]

I was really hoping that Rina was going to buy the farm.  anybody else who would've been shot in the chest like that would have been a goner.    She has been written as such an impossible to like person and the actress really sells it - do we really need to have her on this show?    

And the Wrath of Khan - opps Vargas - I liked Jubal's idea.  Turn him loose into the general prison population and Sing Sing Darwinism will take it's course.  

This show started out as a good show but has become typical Dick Wolf dreck.  Unfortunately for me, it's a case of my SO sits through some TCM Joan Crawford movie and then I have to sit through this.  

[UnknownK]

To be honest I don't understand why everyone doesn't just lawyer up when being questioned other than not wanting to pay for a lawyer (they are only free provided you are dead broke with nothing of value). I can see talking to local cops until you find out what they are after but shut the hell up if the feds are taking you in.

 

 

[Broderbits]

21 minutes ago, UnknownK said:

To be honest I don't understand why everyone doesn't just lawyer up when being questioned

Or at the very least Remain Silent! And don't fall for the old "we can't help you once you lawyer up".

[Trey]

2 hours ago, 12catcrazy said:

I liked Jubal's idea.  Turn him loose into the general prison population and Sing Sing Darwinism will take it's course.  

That is totally what Brenda Leigh Johnson would have done.

Actually, I thought they would be justified in killing him since he had promised that he would kill them and their families.  Sort of like an abused woman who knows her husband will kill her if she doesn't kill him first.

Isabel is pretty much a walkover - she should not have let Jubal in the interrogation room but a handwave from him and she says okay.

[Dowel Jones]

3 hours ago, 12catcrazy said:

Turn him loose into the general prison population and Sing Sing Darwinism will take it's course. 

That has some historical precedence, sort of.  I understand that when Joe Valachi, the original Mafia rat, was complaining about his prison accommodations, Robert Kennedy, who was the AG at the time, replied "Tell Joe if he doesn't shut up, we're going to turn him loose."

[Cristofle]

On 12/14/2021 at 11:25 PM, preeya said:

Jubal was totally off the rails tonight, from start to finish.

Agreed. Sisto did a great job, but Jubal was pretty out of control, and for me it was even more highlighted because I haven't entirely gotten past the way he decided to go at Maggie AT THE HOSPITAL when her sister had ODed (did she need to be warned it couldn't happen again? Yes. Did it need to be there? NOPE) and because one of its sister shows airing right after it had the lead more or less keeping himself together in a high stress situation where his family was threatened. It just seemed to highlight that Jubal was not exactly...FBIing well in the episode. 

It's not that I want Rina to DIE, I just hope she retires from the FBI and is not seen onscreen again.

[LisaM]

By the end of the episode, how have they eliminated the threat from Vargas to kill their families? 

[cameron]

On 12/15/2021 at 5:29 PM, Trey said:

That is totally what Brenda Leigh Johnson would have done.

Actually, I thought they would be justified in killing him since he had promised that he would kill them and their families.  Sort of like an abused woman who knows her husband will kill her if she doesn't kill him first.

Isabel is pretty much a walkover - she should not have let Jubal in the interrogation room but a handwave from him and she says okay.

Always love the term they use on Chicago P.D. for general population (Gen Pop).  Feels right at home.

[12catcrazy]

On 12/17/2021 at 7:11 AM, LisaM said:

By the end of the episode, how have they eliminated the threat from Vargas to kill their families? 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but they haven't eliminated the threat from Vargas.  This is setting the situation up yet again where Vargas is going to be the "big bad" and there will be a crossover ep somewhere down the road.   This seems to be a Dick Wolf speciality - how many times was Olivia Benson( L&O SVU)  terrorized by some psycho guy before he was finally killed?  

[WendyCR72]

Description for S04.E10: "Fostered", airing January 4, 2022:

Quote

As the team investigates a string of jewelry store robberies that culminate in a double murder, they uncover a connection to a 16-year-old boy trying to survive the foster care system. Also, Tiffany becomes personally invested after learning about the boy’s ill-fated upbringing.

 

[Xerxes036]

Isabel is a hypocrite she got on Scola for doing almost exactly what she did to get Vargas to give her the code to disarm the bomb. If Isabel didn't like what Scola did she should consider resigning. Maggie OA and Isabel are hypocrites and borderline unlikable to me.

[Johannah]

On 12/31/2021 at 4:34 AM, Xerxes036 said:

Isabel is a hypocrite she got on Scola for doing almost exactly what she did to get Vargas to give her the code to disarm the bomb. If Isabel didn't like what Scola did she should consider resigning. Maggie OA and Isabel are hypocrites and borderline unlikable to me.

Your post made me realize that the things I don't like about these characters all revolve around their personal connections to the cases.  I like them all normally, but whenever they start making decisions based on personal experience or feelings, they become annoying.  This show (for me, at least) should be more procedural, less touchy-feely.

[mommalib]

I don't like Maggie at all, she's so smug and cold. Seeing her partner with Tiffany tonight and being able to compare their styles reminded me of how much I can't stand Maggie. Please more Tiffany less Maggie.

[mommalib]

On 12/31/2021 at 4:34 AM, Xerxes036 said:

Isabel is a hypocrite she got on Scola for doing almost exactly what she did to get Vargas to give her the code to disarm the bomb. If Isabel didn't like what Scola did she should consider resigning. Maggie OA and Isabel are hypocrites and borderline unlikable to me.

Not borderline just plain unlikable. 

[Xeliou66]

Strong episode overall - I liked the case and investigation, compelling from start to finish. I liked seeing Maggie and Tiffany partner up in this one, it was a change of pace that worked well. I liked how even though Tiffany had a personal interest in the case, she was still professional and did her job well, all too often when things get personal the characters lose their heads and it was nice to see this wasn’t the case here. Good detective work on tracking everyone down, even though I would’ve liked to have seen a bit more of Jubal and the command room, most of the action took place in the field. But everyone had a nice role and it was a good case.

I didn’t feel much sympathy for Jamal, he should do time for obstructing justice and helping the criminals, yes his life was tragic but he could’ve helped the FBI and instead he helped the villains. If they had killed anyone at the final bank robbery I would say charge Jamal as an accessory.

This was a good episode and I enjoy this show the most of the 3 FBI’s.

[hifihifi]

So who murdered the people in the Jewelery Store and the Pawn Shop Owner? Why was the Pawn Shop Owner killed. FBI no longer thinks this stuff is important? 

[shapeshifter]

9 hours ago, hifihifi said:

So who murdered the people in the Jewelery Store and the Pawn Shop Owner? Why was the Pawn Shop Owner killed. FBI no longer thinks this stuff is important? 

They were pretty vague about all of the murders.
The guy proposes to his wife and she gets shot by a rando thief? 
Doesn't the jewelry store owner have insurance and know better than to engage in a shootout with 3 armed robbers?????

If the jewelry store owner survived, the customer whose almost-fiancée got killed should have sued him for stupidity and putting him and his girlfriend in a crossfire situation. 

Were we supposed to forget about this stuff? 

And, yeah, it was unclear why they killed the fence, but I think during interrogation Tiff or Maggie proposed a reason they killed him, but it wasn't confirmed, IIRC.

Jamal was a tragedy, but I'm going to assume he eventually at least gets a GED in prison. If he survives.

Edited January 5, 2022 by shapeshifter

[MountaineerBro10]

12 hours ago, hifihifi said:

So who murdered the people in the Jewelery Store and the Pawn Shop Owner? Why was the Pawn Shop Owner killed. FBI no longer thinks this stuff is important? 

I’m pretty sure it was by Jamal’s three stepbrothers and/or his stepdad, the mastermind. They had a thing for robbing jewelry stores & shops. Used Jamal as their cover. Poor guy.

Edited January 5, 2022 by MountaineerBro10

[Xerxes036]

16 hours ago, mommalib said:

I don't like Maggie at all, she's so smug and cold. Seeing her partner with Tiffany tonight and being able to compare their styles reminded me of how much I can't stand Maggie. Please more Tiffany less Maggie.

She had the audacity to ask a colleague not to interfere in her dead husband's investigation into her murder yet Maggie begs her boss to remain involved in her dead husband's investigation 

[preeya]

17 hours ago, mommalib said:

I don't like Maggie at all, she's so smug and cold. Seeing her partner with Tiffany tonight and being able to compare their styles reminded me of how much I can't stand Maggie. Please more Tiffany less Maggie.

Is it Maggie (the character) or Missy (the actor) that you don't like?

[mommalib]

7 hours ago, preeya said:

Is it Maggie (the character) or Missy (the actor) that you don't like?

Probably a combination of both. I think the actress is where the smugness comes from I don't Maggie is supposed to come across that way. 

[hifihifi]

On 1/5/2022 at 10:14 AM, MountaineerBro10 said:

I’m pretty sure it was by Jamal’s three stepbrothers and/or his stepdad, the mastermind. They had a thing for robbing jewelry stores & shops. Used Jamal as their cover. Poor guy.

Usually the FBI is very well written and original as opposed to most Dick Wolf's shows but this episode was terrible. So we're suppose to feel bad about characters who murdered 3 people? What Jeweler unless on contrived TV is going to shoot people who robbed his insured jewels? For someone who was supposidly smart the kid was an idiot

[WendyCR72]

Here is the description for S04.E11, "Grief", airing January 11, 2022:

Quote

As the team searches for an abducted college co-ed, Jubal becomes intent on obtaining lifesaving leads from the father of the abductor’s previous victim. Also, Jubal continues to grapple with the aftermath of Rina’s condition, leading to a tense encounter with her mother.

 

[gatopretoNYC]

Wow. Poor Jubal. That's how he has to find out?? Rina's mother is a cold, cold bitch.

[mythoughtis]

6 minutes ago, gatopretoNYC said:

Wow. Poor Jubal. That's how he has to find out?? Rina's mother is a cold, cold bitch.

What was the point of Rina being on this show at all?  Just to rub people the wrong way?  To give Jubal even more of a tragic love life story? 

So the mother blamed Jubal for her death.  It was Rina’s choice to be in the FBI.  She took risks every day. It was Rina’s choice to transfer to this office.  Not Jubal’s. 

 

[shapeshifter]

Every viewer was no doubt immediately cued to the accomplice when Maggie addressed her as "Miss Paige" and she responded with "Call me Beth." 

[MerBearHou]

53 minutes ago, mythoughtis said:

What was the point of Rina being on this show at all?  Just to rub people the wrong way?  To give Jubal even more of a tragic love life story? 

My gut reaction is that the writers THOUGHT we’d enjoy a powerful additional female leader, Jubal love interest, foil to Connie Rubirosa (what’s her name on the show?) and learned really quickly how poorly Rina (and frankly, the actress) was received.  So the write-out process began and they made it a love tragedy for Jubal. 

Good case tonight, but for sure, it was no big shock that theater manager was involved.  

I’m really loving the Tiff/Scola partnership.  I also liked that Maggie and OA were background — they were useful and involved, but not front and center.

[preeya]

The guy that runs the computer for Jubal is like a HUMAN GOOGLE ON STEROIDS.

He gets answers before he completes his input.

Do the show-runners envision the viewers as naive idiots and think we buy into this obvious bullshit (i.e. never a typo, never a delay, never an error). GMAFB!!!  

Edited January 12, 2022 by preeya

[Xeliou66]

This was an excellent episode - maybe my favorite of the season, it was really well done all around.

The case was great, really intense with good detective work from everyone and good suspense. Everyone got a nice role. I love a Jubal centric episode and he was great tonight, and I liked how everyone got to play a good role in the case, and the intensity was good from start to finish. Like others, I called the accomplice’s involvement from her first scene, but it didn’t really detract from the show and I liked watching them put the pieces together. Everyone, from Jubal and Isobel to Maggie/OA and Scola/Tiffany and the background people, got a strong role tonight. 

I won’t miss Rina and I’m glad she’s gone, but I liked that they used her story to give Jubal some meaty stuff and he was really good tonight.

I liked seeing the ME again, it’s been a while since he’s been on, Tiffany called him Neil, I think that’s the first time we’ve heard his name.

Overall this was really compelling, I’ve enjoyed the season and this was one of the show’s best episodes I feel like. 

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, mythoughtis said:

What was the point of Rina being on this show at all?  Just to rub people the wrong way?  To give Jubal even more of a tragic love life story? 

39 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

My gut reaction is that the writers THOUGHT we’d enjoy a powerful additional female leader, Jubal love interest, foil to Connie Rubirosa (what’s her name on the show?)

And/or they always planned to write out Rina permanently after she served the purpose of making Isobel realize she missed the boat with Jubal and now has a second chance?

[Netfoot]

A host of agents scour the park for Mr. Baddie. Whaddya know? Out of the host, Scola/Tiffany just happen to be the ones to find him. 

He runs! Whaddya know? Out of the host, OA & Maggie just happen to be the ones to bring him down.

Quick! Clone the guy's keys, so the host of agents can walk up and down going click, click, click. Whaddya know? Out of the host, Scola is the one to hear the beep.

1 hour ago, preeya said:

He gets answers before he completes his input.

What, you don't think the desk-jockey can do a facial recognition scan from a blurry, low-rez image of a guy in a darkened night club and get results in less than a second?

C'mon, man! Trust the science!

[jabRI]

I thought there were 2 pretty glaring plot misses in the show that would not have happened in real life:

1) If 2 agents are 2 cars behind a suspect's car stopped in traffic, I don't think BOTH would get out of the car.   The driver would stay in case suspect tried to flee, which he did.

2) Jubal would not have mentioned the hospital name to the grieving father, who earlier told Jubal he'd be the type to personally deal with anyone hurting his daughter.

[shrewd.buddha]

I get what they were trying to do with Jubal and the victim's father - but it was so heavy-handed and obvious.  It was far fetched that Jubal, who was leading the investigation, would have the time for so many side-trips to the father's house. 

[morriss]

Isobel tells Jubal to leave the grieving father alone, he says ok and 2 seconds later he's knocking at the father's door.  Seems to happen quite often in this show- ignore your boss and do whatever you want.

[Bobbin]

13 hours ago, mythoughtis said:

What was the point of Rina being on this show at all?  Just to rub people the wrong way?  To give Jubal even more of a tragic love life story? 

So the mother blamed Jubal for her death.  It was Rina’s choice to be in the FBI.  She took risks every day. It was Rina’s choice to transfer to this office.  Not Jubal’s. 

 

Character flaws aside, it's a common reaction to the death of a child to have to find someone to blame. Anyone, including police, doctors, paramedics, or oneself. It's a matter of looking for a convenient hook on which to hang your anger and grief. It's not rational, but it is common. 

[Jackie14]

Wonder if Isobel picked up a nice bottle of wine on the way home for a little private celebration now that Rina is gone?

[12catcrazy]

Well, I did the seated Happy Dance upon learning of Rina's demise.  

Jubal just bugged the hell out of me when he kept at the dead girl's father.  I was yelling at the tv - LEAVE THE GUY ALONE!    And the entire story happened in like the span of a day?? 

And as a person who lives on Long Island (Syosset got a shout out) I just roll my eyes how Isobel is directing agents in NYC to run to Long Island City and they're there in 20 seconds.  One has to watch this show as taking place in an alternate universe where there is no traffic and probably teleportation devices because in real life, you can't get there from here - not in under 2 hours anyway.  

[Hedgehog2022]

This an hour long TV show...things move quickly (and unrealistically) because it is an hour long TV show! I live in a neighborhood with a lot of FBI and Secret Service employees and agents...they like the FBI shows...in particular the "war room" where the cases are discussed and investigated is pretty realistic...the agents that work the computers are an integral part of investigative work now. Some stuff is drama driven and the speed with which an investigation is resolved is unrealistic but it is a network show with advertising that has to be slotted into the time frame. All in all, the people I know that work in these agencies seem to be OK with most of the episodes. If HBO or a streaming service were to do this show and the other FBI shows I think they might have less time restraints and more realistic case resolutions.

Edited January 12, 2022 by Hedgehog2022

[LisaM]

I liked that we barely saw the perp but instead focused on the victims' families. 

Glad that Rina is done. I never saw the point of having Rina and Isobel and much prefer the latter. 

[Broderbits]

6 hours ago, Hedgehog2022 said:

All in all, the people I know that work in these agencies seem to be OK with most of the episodes.

Also, they're probably relieved that this is one of the few shows that doesn't portray the FBI as "Feebs"- incompetent, arrogant assholes. Original L&O used to do that all the time, so maybe this is Dick Wolf's mea culpa.

[TimetoShine]

On 1/11/2022 at 6:24 PM, mythoughtis said:

What was the point of Rina being on this show at all?  Just to rub people the wrong way?  To give Jubal even more of a tragic love life story? 

So the mother blamed Jubal for her death.  It was Rina’s choice to be in the FBI.  She took risks every day. It was Rina’s choice to transfer to this office.  Not Jubal’s. 

 

 

On 1/11/2022 at 7:22 PM, MerBearHou said:

My gut reaction is that the writers THOUGHT we’d enjoy a powerful additional female leader, Jubal love interest, foil to Connie Rubirosa (what’s her name on the show?) and learned really quickly how poorly Rina (and frankly, the actress) was received.  So the write-out process began and they made it a love tragedy for Jubal. 

Good case tonight, but for sure, it was no big shock that theater manager was involved.  

I’m really loving the Tiff/Scola partnership.  I also liked that Maggie and OA were background — they were useful and involved, but not front and center.

No kidding. I was like: "who is Rina?" I never bothered to learn her name. 

 

@Hedgehog2022. Agreed, it's only 40 min long. Some stuff has to get cut. It has never bothered me on any show. 

Edited January 13, 2022 by TimetoShine