FBI Episode 11
Episode 11: Identity Crisis
Our episode begins as a mother-daughter pairing exit a court house. The mother says she’s hungry and the daughter finds amusement in this. The mother, a federal judge, has just put a 24-year-old man away for life. She explains, “I sentenced a 24-year-old hitman to life in prison. He killed a rival gangster and his 10-year-old daughter” and asks if she wants Chinese food. The conversation shifts to something that happened the night previous, but we never find out what. The mother and daughter are gunned down just a block from the restaurant.
My immediate thought is that someone linked to the hitman took them down. However, that would be the obvious answer and in the TV world, the obvious answer is never the right one. The ominous conversation and weird quotes from the mother “sometimes bad things happen to good people” (for example) makes me think this may be linked to the daughter. But, we’re only a few minutes in, so there’s plenty of episode left to figure it out!
This is Personal
As we cut back into our episode, Agents Bell and Zidan are on the scene. They look over the bodies and notice nothing was taken; the Gucci purse is still on the mother’s arm; the Rolex watch still on the daughter’s wrist. This was not about money.
In the JOC, Mosier and Valentine discuss the murder of Leslie Chapman and her daughter. Mosier makes it clear: this is personal for her. She and Leslie have been friends for a long time and she wants to make sure whoever did this pays. The urgency is clear. The acting, not so much. More on that later.
Bell, Zidan and Mosier go and speak to Chapman’s husband. They are worried he might be next. He doesn’t seem afraid and tells them he’d like to see the coward try. Then, Bell and Zidan start to ask questions. Were there any threats? He says nothing he can remember but threats didn’t bother her. The daughter? She quit her job at Goldman Sachs a few months back to switch to a career more fulfilling.
Coming up empty, Bell and Zidan go to speak with Leslie’s secretary who admits she and Mrs. Chapman weren’t that close. The only thing she can remember of any suspicion was a phone call she received yesterday afternoon, to which she got up and left the office. Maggie reaches out to Kristen to pull phone and rideshare records.
What Happens in the Club…
This leads them to a club. The people inside are less than helpful, the two employees claiming they don’t know either woman. There isn’t video for them to look at because this is a high-end club where celebrities frequent. At least that is their excuse. These guys are shady. With a capital S. OA questions a waitress and she doesn’t even look at the pictures. He reaches out to touch her for a second look and she flips around and dumps water into his face. Shocked, he arrests her.
Maggie and OA escort her to the car, where Maggie uncuffs her. She asks her how she’s been. OA seems confused and Maggie reveals that the waitress, Gina, is one of them. She’s with the FBI and undercover. Maggie and Gina worked an undercover case together years ago and were in the same class at Quantico.
Undercover
Gina reveals she’s working undercover at the club and investigating the owners: Jack Rossi and Ray Acosta; they are some of the biggest cocaine traffickers in the Northeast. They let Gina go back to the club, so her cover isn’t blown. Meanwhile, back at the JOC, Valentine discusses motives now that we know that one of the owners has relation to the Sinaloa cartel. However, Kristen is not able to find any connection to the Judge’s cases.
Ballistics and the lab give them better leads. Another tech reveals cryptic texts sent to a burner phone from the daughter and the lab finds trace amounts of DNA on her body. Aha! So, this is connected to the daughter somehow. Maybe? Let it also be known: the police can track everything. Better watch what you’re texting, folks.
The DNA belongs to one of the club owners, Jack Rossi. He claims they had sex the day previous and says that he was at the club all day, so he couldn’t have done it but then asks for a lawyer when questioned.
Mother’s Instinct
Kristen uses surveillance footage from outside the club to confirm the Judge was there. She goes inside for about 10 minutes and then exits, which at first gives them nothing. Then, Valentine notices the SUV parked behind her who was there the entire time. They can get a license plate and decide to pay the person a visit. He’s the doorman to the club and reveals that Samantha, the daughter was there a few nights ago. He says she was crying and her clothes were torn.
Wait. Jack Rossi says they had sex the night previous. Samantha told the doorman to call the police… did he rape her? His alibi is airtight, which means if he did, he wasn’t the one to kill her. Except, he has a partner, does he not? Where was Acosta?
Mosier tells them to keep an eye on the club. It is their best lead; she wants them to work with Gina. Gina isn’t too happy with this new update. The plan is to accelerate the drug case and see if they can flip Rossi to get his help with their murder case. Gina says they are in luck, she is to “double date” with Rossi and Acosta that night. She tells Maggie to find her a cute friend to go with her. In reality, it’s the movement of cocaine.
Can we trust Gina?
And Kristen Chazal escapes the JOC to go undercover as “Sasha”! Things just got more interesting. She and Gina get into a silver SUV with our suspects. When they pull up, Gina nearly gives away OA and Maggie’s location. Shocked, Maggie and OA don’t understand what she just did. What the heck? Is Gina a dirty cop? Kristen, in the car, also seems concerned.
The next day Gina explains that she thought Acosta was making Bell and Zidan. She explains the coke was not in the car and it would be a hard bust. Maggie doesn’t say anything, but OA asks Kristen if that is what she saw as well. It seems that Zidan is suspicious of Gina. Maggie attempts to smooth things over and get them both to move on.
There are some disagreements on how Gina has run her undercover operation. Egos clash between her and OA. Gina agrees to set up another buy with Maggie’s team. Maggie asks for OA to trust her and let her give them another shot.
Slow and Swagger wins the race.
So, this time they send Valentine in. He’s posing as a potential buyer and seems well on his way to making the deal when in comes someone with a polygraph. For them to sell anything to him, they want him to pass a lie detector test. Maggie and OA want to pull him, but Jubal seems confident. He passes, and they tell him they’ll be in touch. Valentine’s showing some swagger as he leaves the meet and heads back to the team.
Maggie and OA meet with Gina at their usual spot under the bridge in Central Park. She tells them that “Jack” liked Jubal. And that “Jack” wants to move forward. While this satisfies Maggie, OA is still staring at her after she leaves. Maggie questions it, and he states, “In my experience, when the undercover starts referring to the target by his first name, it’s a problem.” For the first time, we see the hesitation in her eyes. She knows OA is correct. This leads her to Gina’s Supervisor who tells her that Gina is solid. The only worrying part of the conversation is he only sees her in person once a week. While she might be solid to him, how can someone say that unless they are around all the time?
Gives new meaning to: Into Bad Boys
At the JOC, Kristen confirms this. She has surveillance video of the suspect, Jack Rossi and Gina kissing. When Maggie confronts Gina about it, she plays it off as it was nothing. She was able to get closer to Jack because they shared some personal details about their upbringing. Both Gina and Rossi were raised by single mothers. Emotions were sparking. She took advantage. Maggie wants to pull her; she refuses. She leaves, and Maggie tells OA she’s solid enough to work the case.
I’m thinking Maggie is too invested in trusting her friend at this point. It is always easier to see clearly when you’re not involved.
Regardless, they set up the drug meet and Valentine waits outside while Bell and Zidan wait in a car hidden. Gina and Rossi are over an hour late. Maggie tries to defend her, but then realizes she’s lying. The GPS says she’s heading to New Jersey. Their meet is off and our agents head to cut Agent Gina Pratt off before she can get away.
Or What?
Once cornered, Maggie reaches out to Gina. She’s more than hesitant to cooperate even with Maggie’s gun trained on her. There’s a weird level of trust and distrust her. Maggie doesn’t want to use the weapon, Gina doesn’t seem to care. With Maggie’s coaxing, Gina reveals where the two suspects are. They take Gina in and then we pursue our drug traffickers, eventually cutting them off in the woods.
Soon, everything is clear. Rossi tells them everything—how the Judge’s daughter fell in love with a drug dealer and how they killed them both for being threatened. Mosier tells Maggie that the Judge’s husband finds peace that his wife died protecting their daughter. It isn’t much, but it is something. Maggie also asks about Gina. She wants to know what they decided to do. Sadly, Maggie goes to visit with her former friend and tell her that the US Attorney’s Office is going to file charges against her despite Maggie’s best attempts otherwise. Both women are teary as they realize this is the end of her career.
As Maggie goes to leave for the day, OA asks if she’s okay. She tells him no and he tells her he’s a great listener. There’s some gentle banter and the two enter the elevator together as our episode comes to a close.
Thoughts:
I called the daughter being the reason for the killing from the beginning. As an avid fan of anything crime and mystery related, sometimes it’s not always the most obvious person. Red Herrings are super popular in today’s TV scene as it makes for a more interesting story. For those like me, who watch shows like this religiously, they become obvious. Maybe now they should go for the obvious person just to throw people like me off! Still, how does a girl like the Judge’s daughter end up with a drug dealer? A late rebellious phase, maybe? Sad, regardless.
Recognize Your Bias
It is also interesting how easily both OA and Maggie can be blinded by their own biases. We see it with OA several episodes previous with the Army veteran and Maggie now with her former classmate. They’re both relatively new agents (compared to others), so this isn’t surprising. We as humans are trained to trust those who are like us, both in our careers and our lives. OA wanted to believe that the Army veteran would do the right thing because that’s what he would do; the same goes for Maggie. That said, the two of them could use a little more trust in each other. Objectivity is something so important in their line of work and they both should be more aware of when their objectivity is compromised. Makes for great TV, but not so great agents.
Forced
Oddly, one of the least believable performances for me tonight was Sela Ward as Mosier. I feel as if her supposed connection to our victim was forced and I had a hard time really connecting with what she felt. The scenes where she discussed her involvement with our victim and then her husband were not the best. This is also surprising considering Ward is the actor with the most experience on this show. Interestingly, this was the first time I didn’t see her as believable, so my opinion might be short lived.
For the Future
Discussion continues social media about Agents Bell and Zidan. Do you see a romantic connection between the two of them? I just don’t see it. I still stand firm on my belief they are better off platonic. For some reason, people love to toss together law enforcement partners. Is it valid sometimes? Of course. There are some pairings on TV that you just can’t imagine NOT together. Bell and Zidan are not one of them. For the love of all things sacred, PLEASE, writers of FBI, let’s keep them the way they are!
Another question comes to mind. We see Kristen head out undercover this episode. Valentine as well. Will our team always be our core five: Mosier, Valentine, Kristen, Bell, and Zidan? I feel as if they will need more people eventually. You can’t have the same few folks going undercover all the time. Most shows in this scenario have a team of five or six. Does this benefit FBI or hinder it? We can get to know our core five faster, but it might make storylines become stale. It is something that is worth keeping an eye on as the season progresses.
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