FBI - General Discussion

[Dowel Jones]

I hope Kelly muted that phone all round, because mine has a rather loud text alert that can be heard across the room.  And pray that he didn't get some random telemarketer call, either.

[shapeshifter]

29 minutes ago, illdoc said:

these days, with burner phones, why didn't the van keep driving around until the call came through.

And it would've been so easy to toss in a pair of throwaway lines like:

• Why are we parkin'?
• Gas prices! 

[Snazzy Daisy]

S05•E11 - Heroes

And just like that Kelly will never want to leave JOC again.

Locksmith Jubal is funny. I’ve never seen him so clueless! 😆

 

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Locksmith Jubal is funny. I’ve never seen him so clueless! 😆

Clueless Jubal was just damn lucky the bank robbers were equally clueless! 

[Maren]

Kelly, if you hear shouting and cries from inside a bank, you don't just walk in blindly!!! You check it out through the window and call for backup!! Ugh. Why do they make their characters stupid???

[Xantar]

Jubal: “They’ve taken hostages including one of our own. Every move we make has to be precise and thought out!”

Also Jubal: *fails to press hyphen when entering an override code*

Edited January 14, 2023 by Xantar

[Hedgehog2022]

Frankly I found this episode to be quite good and entertaining. I don't watch many mainstream TV shows but I do find the FBI franchises pretty good. So glad Maggie's temporary replacement is gone...never warmed up to her. Too Hollywood for me...I don't think you'd find any FBI agents that actually look like her. 

[CheshireCat]

On 1/12/2023 at 1:42 AM, Maren said:

Kelly, if you hear shouting and cries from inside a bank, you don't just walk in blindly!!! You check it out through the window and call for backup!! Ugh. Why do they make their characters stupid???

This was the only thing that bothered me about the episode. Otherwise, I really liked it. I did figure that the dad was dead when the FBI found out that the safety deposit box belonged to the dad and I did figure that the daughter was kidnapped when they realized there was a daughter involved. But none of it was obvious from the start and I really liked those plot twists. I also liked that Jubal didn't just swoop in and safe the day and that Kelly wasn't found out but revealed himself.
The only thing I don't understand is why he didn't call someone to establish an audio connection. Sending text messages seemed very risky.

But I think they did a great job in taking the traditional procedural "hostages in a bank" episode and turn it into something new and unpredictable.

I think this was a really good and enjoyable episode. Probably my favorite of the season and one of my favorites in general.

[WendyCR72]

Description for S05.E12: Breakdown, airing January 24, 2023:

Quote

After a mysterious bioweapon leaves two MTA workers dead and one injured, the team rushes to determine who is behind the attack and the location of their next target. Also, Jubal's past demons begin to surface when the high-pressure case coincides with Tyler's latest health scare.

 

[WendyCR72]

Apparently, FBI now has older episodes shown on both Pop and ION.

[psychfan]

Jubal is really freaking annoying me with his nonstop promises that things are fine. I have no idea why his kid and ex aren’t blasting him back on that. (I’d be annoyed at this anyway, but even more so from the start when he didn’t even offer to meet them at the dr. Esp since that was *before* he got the urgent get here now message.

[Crashcourse]

So Maggie gets busted in the head with a rock but she's just fine immediately afterwards.  🙄

[WendyCR72]

Maybe because I have been watching Dick Wolf shows since I just graduated high school (Class of '90 - same year Original Law & Order debuted!), but I have a feeling the end with Jubal, while hopeful, will not be the end of this.

I still remember the fallout when Lennie Briscoe "slipped", although he didn't cause it...

[LisaM]

1 hour ago, Crashcourse said:

So Maggie gets busted in the head with a rock but she's just fine immediately afterwards.  🙄

This cracked me up. No trip to the ER for a CT... No concussion check... Instead she crawls on a high parapet to disable a bio weapon without any dizziness or other head injury signs.

[Xeliou66]

This was a strong episode - the show has rebounded after a rocky start to this season and has given us some solid episodes. Good case with good intensity from start to finish - I liked seeing every character play a major role in the case, and there was good investigative work from everyone. I liked seeing Jubal out in the field, I always enjoy a Jubal centric storyline and this was interesting, and I’m hopeful that Jubal won’t have another slip, he’s my favorite character and I would hate to see him ruined. I think this was just a one episode storyline. I liked that they mentioned Jubal’s daughter again, she’s been absent for a long time and I thought they had forgotten her existence.   
I also wondered about Maggie being up high on that platform after just suffering a blow to the head and how she kept her balance.   
Good use of each character and we got to see a variety of different pairings. 
So overall I enjoyed this episode and I’ve enjoyed the last few more than the episodes at the start of the season. 

[Dowel Jones]

I loved that line of Jubal's:  "Who's all there?"  "FBI, NYPD, DHS, CDC..."

(Jubal): "That's a lot of windbreakers."

[shapeshifter]

9 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

I also wondered about Maggie being up high on that platform after just suffering a blow to the head and how she kept her balance

I was thinking Maggie would be having PTSD flashbacks/panic attacks from her sarin gassing.

But, yeah, was that a Chekhovian head bonk she got? As in: Fatal aneurysm in the 3rd act? 😳

   
I hated the alcoholism plot, but thought it was well-written and ended well——nicely choreographed with him walking past the bar and into the AA meeting in the church. 

I especially liked the way they showed rather than lectured about how Jubal's drinking effected his reactions to Tyler's lump rather than just having the lump discovery causing the drinking.

Edited January 25, 2023 by shapeshifter

[shrewd.buddha]

13 hours ago, psychfan said:

Jubal is really freaking annoying me with his nonstop promises that things are fine. I have no idea why his kid and ex aren’t blasting him back on that.

Why can't Jubal use that power of denial when dealing with work?:
"I'm sure she wasn't kidnapped. It is probably all a big misunderstanding. She'll be fine."
"I'm sure that was the only bomb they made. Nothing to worry about.."
"The power of positive thinking, people! Let's go!"

[Maverick]

 Maggie definitely should have been having PTSD.   OA even pointed out earlier in the episode this toxin has the same impact as what she was exposed in that lab.   I also thought it was rich that Maggie was getting pushy with Jubal when she was (and maybe still is) taking unauthorized medication because she really wasn't ready to return to work.  

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, shrewd.buddha said:

Why can't Jubal use that power of denial when dealing with work?:
"I'm sure she wasn't kidnapped. It is probably all a big misunderstanding. She'll be fine."
"I'm sure that was the only bomb they made. Nothing to worry about.."
"The power of positive thinking, people! Let's go!"

Heh. Yeah. 

I was so annoyed at the writers having Jubal tell Tyler seemingly eleventy million times that a walnut size lump was nothing to worry about instead of asking Tyler how he felt and then accepting Tyler's feelings. 
But I guess that is one of the ways substance abusers interact inappropriately with their family members? My ex of 30 years ago used to regularly say: "All I want is no bad vibes," which I guess is similar.

I guess if Jubal didn't climb back on the wagon, he would have been spouting stuff at work like @shrewd.buddha posted above, i.e., "The power of positive thinking, people! Let's go!"🤪

[MerBearHou]

4 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

I love Jubal's type of wry humor -- little one-liners he just tosses out there very infrequently and you have to listen for them.  He is my favorite character in this great cast.

As we all are, I'm rooting for him and this fight he wages against drinking -- when he said "I slipped", it just broke my heart a little for him.  I truly hope this does not become a recurring storyline though...

Agreed -- he should not continue to make these promises that there's no sure way to know can be kept.  

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by MerBearHou
fixing my own posting

[Rambler]

So we got a terrorist armed with a WMD who may or may not be in this house here. You know what would be an absolutely great idea? To stand on the sidewalk in front of the house shooting the breeze with FBI printed in big yellow letters all over our jackets. I'm sure nothing could go wrong

[tvfanatic13]

What does JOC stand for? 

[MerBearHou]

8 minutes ago, tvfanatic13 said:

What does JOC stand for? 

Joint Operations Center

[Netfoot]

I like the new wardrobe. A shirt emblazoned with the letters FBI, over which is a jacket with the letters FBI emblazoned on it four times, on breast, both sleeves and (extra large) across the back. And to top it off, a cap, emblazoned with the letters FBI. Just in case they need to nonchalantly creep on a suspect without alarming them and triggering flight...

[Xantar]

So there is a WMD that can potentially kill thousands of people in seconds, the FBI knows that there are two perpetrators who are willing to open fire in a crowd and they send in…five agents?

[shapeshifter]

9 minutes ago, Xantar said:

So there is a WMD that can potentially kill thousands of people in seconds, the FBI knows that there are two perpetrators who are willing to open fire in a crowd and they send in…five agents?

…without any protective gear
…again   
…including one of the agents who went in without protective gear the last time and wound up spending months in the hospital and is secretly self medicating for anxiety
… 

[b4pjoe]

Decent episode but would have been a lot better without the Jubal personal life nonsense. First off, who is so important they can't take off work to go to the doctor with his son that has already had cancer treatments and now has a walnut sized lump? And then decided to drink on that job? No one else in the whole FBI can stand in the JOC and order people around. And then Isobel finds out about the sons condition and how it is affecting him and says "I want you in the field". I sure hope the real FBI doesn't operate like this.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, b4pjoe said:

And then Isobel finds out about the sons condition and how it is affecting him and says "I want you in the field".

That was a head scratcher of a line.

[Maren]

I agree. Jubal rarely goes in the field but somehow when his kid is sick and he's drinking, he urgently needs to go in the field 🙄

[Dowel Jones]

The JOC-offs need a break from his shouting once in awhile.

[Snazzy Daisy]

A three-part crossover airing Tuesday, April 4.

 

[Johannah]

On 1/25/2023 at 3:04 AM, Dowel Jones said:

I loved that line of Jubal's:  "Who's all there?"  "FBI, NYPD, DHS, CDC..."

(Jubal): "That's a lot of windbreakers."

Loved that.  But, why, if Jubal is in charge of the techies, does he even go out in the field?  Not that they need someone to say, "Eyes up here, everyone", but still...

 

On 1/29/2023 at 11:08 PM, Maren said:

I agree. Jubal rarely goes in the field but somehow when his kid is sick and he's drinking, he urgently needs to go in the field 🙄

So, after I type that, I see others are questioning the same thing.  Just add me to the puzzled.

[VegetasMom]

Yes, Jubal, you're acting like a lunatic in the JOC, let's give you a hot weapon and send you out on the street instead.  That makes much more sense than sending you off to go tend to your kid.  

[illdoc]

10 hours ago, VegetasMom said:

That makes much more sense than sending you off to go tend to your kid. 

Did he tell anyone at the JOC about the current medical situation about his kid????

[b4pjoe]

35 minutes ago, illdoc said:

Did he tell anyone at the JOC about the current medical situation about his kid????

Yes he told Isobel. That is when she decided she "wanted him in the field".

[KeithJ]

Would someone please tell the FBI writers / producers / directors that Jubal looks stupid with that black earpiece in all the time, even when he's not working.

[GiandujaPie]

On 1/22/2023 at 9:38 PM, CheshireCat said:

This was the only thing that bothered me about the episode. Otherwise, I really liked it. I did figure that the dad was dead when the FBI found out that the safety deposit box belonged to the dad and I did figure that the daughter was kidnapped when they realized there was a daughter involved. But none of it was obvious from the start and I really liked those plot twists. I also liked that Jubal didn't just swoop in and safe the day and that Kelly wasn't found out but revealed himself.
The only thing I don't understand is why he didn't call someone to establish an audio connection. Sending text messages seemed very risky.

But I think they did a great job in taking the traditional procedural "hostages in a bank" episode and turn it into something new and unpredictable.

I think this was a really good and enjoyable episode. Probably my favorite of the season and one of my favorites in general.

I thought this was a weak episode. The husband/wife criminal pair were clearly not hardened criminals, only had 1 gun each and were vastly outnumbered by the hostages. I think the group of hostages could have and should have rushed the pair and been able to incapacitate them enough to stop them. Or at least Kelly had a chance to grab the gun from the woman and hold the gun to her to try to get leverage on her husband to give up. 

Also, once the wife shot the bank manager, why did Isabel not give the order to go in? Again, they were not hardened criminals and likely would have given up right away. They seemed to already believe that it was hopeless. Just frustrating all around. I had zero sympathy for them and they were lucky the kidnappers were so incompetent. 

On 1/25/2023 at 5:26 AM, shapeshifter said:

I was thinking Maggie would be having PTSD flashbacks/panic attacks from her sarin gassing.

But, yeah, was that a Chekhovian head bonk she got? As in: Fatal aneurysm in the 3rd act? 😳

   
I hated the alcoholism plot, but thought it was well-written and ended well——nicely choreographed with him walking past the bar and into the AA meeting in the church. 

I especially liked the way they showed rather than lectured about how Jubal's drinking effected his reactions to Tyler's lump rather than just having the lump discovery causing the drinking.

I'm glad that Jubal walked past the bar and went to the AA meeting instead. I thought it was pretty rich of Maggie to accuse Jubal of sidestepping her questions when she did the same thing to OA a few weeks ago regarding her meds. 

[Dowel Jones]

3 hours ago, GiandujaPie said:

I think the group of hostages could have and should have rushed the pair and been able to incapacitate them enough to stop them.

Works in theory, but someone has to be willing to die by gunshot for the others to get to the bad guy.  No one wants to sacrifice themselves to save someone else's money.

[WendyCR72]

Here is the description for S05.E13: Protégé, airing February 14, 2023:

Quote

The team investigates the murder of a professional informant after he's found dead outside an abandoned factory in Red Hook. Also, Maggie reconnects with an old colleague and mentor.

 

[Xeliou66]

So there’s news that a 3 hour FBI crossover will air the first week of April, I for one am looking forward to it since I watch all 3 FBI shows. Apparently International will be the first hour, and I’m not sure what order original FBI and MW will air in. I’m curious to see if any of the International people come to America or if any of the others go to Europe, regardless I look forward to the crossover, I liked the first 3 hour crossover they did as last season’s premiere.

[illdoc]

15 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

I’m curious to see if any of the International people come to America or if any of the others go to Europe,

My guess...that the only one "crossing over" will be the criminal.

[CheshireCat]

On 2/7/2023 at 11:11 AM, GiandujaPie said:

Also, once the wife shot the bank manager, why did Isabel not give the order to go in? Again, they were not hardened criminals and likely would have given up right away. They seemed to already believe that it was hopeless. Just frustrating all around. I had zero sympathy for them and they were lucky the kidnappers were so incompetent. 

I thought it made sense how they addressed it. They said that they were unpredictable and on edge and at the verge of losing it.

I think someone like them is much harder to deal with than career criminals. Career criminals are usually rational when they do something. They have a clear goal and probably a Plan B. Husband and wife weren't rational and didn't have a Plan B because failure of Plan A was not an option.

On 1/29/2023 at 11:33 AM, shapeshifter said:

That was a head scratcher of a line.

At first, I thought it made sense: I was like okay, he's losing his temper, she's sending him to work off some of that energy/distract him. Then I thought, yeah, sending him in the field is probably not such a smart idea because you need rational people in the field. She should have sent him home.

I really like Isobel but I wish they would stop letting her make personnel decisions that make her look incompetent. That wasn't the first time that she's made such a (stupid) decision and given all the decisions she's made in that regard, I doubt that she'd still be in the position she's in in real life.

On 1/25/2023 at 11:15 AM, Maverick said:

 Maggie definitely should have been having PTSD.  

I think it could have been either. Not everyone has PTSD, everyone deals with trauma differently and as far as I know, it doesn't have the be the same situation that triggers PTSD but could be a sound or smell etc (at a later date).

I do think she should have been affected a bit more though. After all, she didn't really have a lot of room up there and could easily have fallen. So, maybe she could have been lightheaded, very shaky or something like that afterwards.

[Xeliou66]

Good episode tonight - while they do do a lot of bomb plots on this show, this episode had a good investigation and good mystery, lots of good work from each character. I was glad there was no carryover about Jubal’s drinking plot and that Jubal was back to normal in this episode, there were a lot of nice scenes of Jubal and the command room of agents which is the best part of the show IMO. I knew something would be up with Maggie’s mentor but I’m glad it turned out she wasn’t corrupt or a bad agent.  
I liked the investigative work from each character and I found the case compelling. Solid outing. 

[Dowel Jones]

Who wouldn't want to be in the field when you have a case of MS, which directly affects the way your body functions?  Jeez.

Honestly, as soon as OA said "Do you have eyes in the sky?", I was really hoping that Rex was flying the bomb in by balloon.

Things to remember about bomb disposal:  cutting the electrical wire from the timer to the detonator stops the timer.  All the time.

How exactly did all those agents at the scene of the hotel manage to not catch Rex coming down from the roof of the building next door?

I do notice that the show is now taking pains to explain and justify the FBI presence at a crime scene, as opposed them showing up at a local jurisdiction.

Edited February 15, 2023 by Dowel Jones

[meira.hand]

4 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Things to remember about bomb disposal:  cutting the electrical wire from the timer to the detonator stops the timer.  All the time.

But this one had four wires connecting the timer to the detonator, so making sure all four were cut exactly together may be tricky.

[Netfoot]

10 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Things to remember about bomb disposal:  cutting the electrical wire from the timer to the detonator stops the timer.  All the time.

 

And bombs and similar devices designed to remain inconspicuous always go Beep! Beep!  Beep!  Always.

[shapeshifter]

S5.E13 "Protégé" aired Feb 14, 2023

Quote

The team investigates the murder of a professional informant after he's found dead outside an abandoned factory.

 

21 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

Good episode tonight - while they do do a lot of bomb plots on this show, this episode had a good investigation and good mystery, lots of good work from each character. I was glad there was no carryover about Jubal’s drinking plot and that Jubal was back to normal in this episode, there were a lot of nice scenes of Jubal and the command room of agents which is the best part of the show IMO. I knew something would be up with Maggie’s mentor but I’m glad it turned out she wasn’t corrupt or a bad agent.  
I liked the investigative work from each character and I found the case compelling. Solid outing. 

Yes, this is good as a stand alone episode, meaning we do not need to know about OA confronting Maggie about her non-prescription meds, or Maggie confronting Jubal about drinking.
Or, I guess it also works if we do recall. 

 

Would the Black witness who looked out her kitchen window in time to catch a glimpse of 2 people fleeing the house across the street (in the dark?) after hearing gunshots really describe them as "Asian"???
Oh well. I guess they didn't want to take time for her to describe them as "white" or "brown" or "white or brown," and then have a discussion back at the JOC about cross-racial identification, or just an awkward discussion of "I guess they could be Asian," possibly even more awkward than this post.

[preeya]

It was nice seeing Joelle Carter (Ava Crowder) once again. However, she is not aging well. I wonder if she is sick in real life.

Edited February 16, 2023 by preeya

[WendyCR72]

Synopsis for S05E14: Money For Nothing, airing February 21, 2023:

Quote

After a string of armed robberies target various businesses, the team investigates a suspect who leads them to something much bigger. Also, OA worries about his future when his investments begin to go south.