FBI Episode 19
The assassination of an American diplomat garners the attention of Agents Bell and Zidan. Ryan Parker’s murder brings the team to talk to his coworkers from the State Department. They reveal he just got back from China; he was negotiating a new deal for apple juice concentrate. Overall, a “boring” trip.
At the JOC, the team reviews video footage of Parker’s airport scuffle that led to scrapes on his hand. Michelle, his translator, and coworker, originally tells them she had no idea how it happened. The man who tries to hit him is wearing a baseball cap, hiding his identity from the camera, but Parker lands a punch… while Michelle watches from a distance. Ruh oh.
They believe she is now a person of interest. Does this mean that “apple juice concentrate” is a lie for something much bigger? I would think if there were negotiations between America and China that were more serious, even classified, apple juice seems like a great cover story.
Shady Handoffs
Interestingly, the diplomat’s job is legit. It’s Michelle who isn’t. She was approached by a man in China asking if she’d like to make quick money. All she had to do was swap her coworker’s suitcase with the one he had (it had a false bottom) and put a package in it each time he asked. She did it five times. She was to then hand the package off to a man at JFK once they landed.
At the JOC, Kristen and her superpowers are able to track down which JFK employee it is, but unfortunately, he was in an accident the day before. They believe he may be involved with a drug cartel called White Horses but are unable to confirm. Mosier, who knows Jubal has ties still to narcotics asks if he has a contact. He says yes but hesitates.
Jubal goes to speak to his contact while Agents Zidan and Bell go speak to Okoro (the JFK employee) in the hospital. His contact isn’t someone of the NYPD but someone he sponsors through AA and was prior involved with the drug world. He is able to confirm Okoro is with the White Horses. Once the agents arrive at the hospital, they are shocked to find out someone just murdered him. He was suffocated.
Talk About a Bad Hit…
The team had forensics look through the suitcase to see if they can see what was inside. The lab found traces of carfentanil, a drug one hundred more times deadly than fentanyl and ten thousand more times toxic than morphine. As a pharmacy tech, put it this way: that drug is BAD news. It has worth over 10 million in the US by how much they were carrying.
The team gets a hit on a BOLO they put out regarding the van involved in the shooting.
As OA and Maggie head there, he brings up his buddy Juan. OA and Juan started the episode off playing cards together; the two served and did a tour in Iraq. He is having a lot of problems readjusting to civilian life. Maggie suggests that OA should talk to Jubal, but he is hesitant. Why would he? He isn’t an addict, he believes.
The cop they meet there tells them the guy driving the van left it there and then drove away in a yellow taxi.
Judgment Call
Meanwhile, OA gets a text from Juan. He has to go check on him, he tells Maggie. At his friend’s apartment, he tells OA that his mother is sick again. She’s lost her job and can’t afford the medication as she has no insurance. Juan is ragged looking as if he hadn’t slept all night or was partying like OA told Maggie only an hour before. He asks OA for money ($2000 no less) and he agrees.
I know we as fans are on the outside of this and can see the flashing warning signals, but come on, OA. You’re a trained field agent. And I know his friend is struggling and he wants to help him… but funneling him money? No. He isn’t giving that to his mother, he’s probably using it for drugs. Listen to Maggie, OA. Talk to Jubal, get your friend some real help. You’re giving him a crutch that is going to snap eventually. Poor judgment from our agent, but in retrospect, most people would be blinded by the loyalty, I suppose.
Whoa. Next scene? Insane. Kristen gets a hit on the cab, as it was parked in front of the hospital after Okoro was killed. She couldn’t get his face in the video, but she’s able to grab the license plate. They pull up the driver’s license from it and Jubal is shocked to find… his AA buddy. Morris Kalu is the driver of the cab. That has to be killer to Valentine. You can tell he trusted him.
And then…
As suspected, Valentine talks to Mosier about his past with Morris Kalu. He’s shocked, seemingly hurt and has no idea if he’s back in the drug world. He tells her that he’ll speak to him, as a suspect, but the look on both of their faces says he might be in a little deeper than he ever expected.
He meets up with Morris and notices he’s carrying a gun. It is the same type of gun used by the person who killed Parker. Valentine is forced to bring him in and question him further. Under the interrogation, he explains to his sponsor that while the cab is his and he owns that gun, the person in the video is not him. It is someone who he rents his cab to sometimes: Trevor Jabari.
His financials lead them to a cocktail bar and club. The waitress he spends time with tells them that he’s in the VIP room. They approach him, but he tries to run. He pulls a gun and almost shoots OA, but Maggie fires two shots first. He doesn’t make it.
They bring the waitress in to question her, but OA has to leave, again. He rushes to Juan’s apartment to find out he OD’d on the very drug that they were looking into in the investigation. They don’t know if he’s going to make it.
Going Undercover…
At the JOC, the team realizes that Jabari was taking orders from a higher power. They are holding the drugs in a warehouse. Run by emotion and guilt, OA wants to raid it now, but they don’t have probable cause. He says a few things out of line to Valentine, including suggesting they use his friend and Valentine doesn’t appreciate it. Mosier tells him that he’s being harsh but agrees to use Morris.
At the warehouse, Morris starts off great. He gets inside, he speaks to Tayo… but Tayo realizes something is up when Morris won’t use the drugs he offers him. The bust is ruined and while they’re able to save Morris in time, a lot of damage is done. Tayo is killed by a bullet. Back at the JOC, Valentine tells OA he’s sorry about his friend. Damn, he died.
More in Common…
OA, visibly shaken up tells him he didn’t even know he was an addict. Valentine says it can be hard to spot. He then goes to Morris’s house, where Morris has seemingly slipped. Jubal tells him he wishes he were a better sponsor, but then says they will attend a meeting together. The episode ends with them leaving the apartment.
Great episode, overall. A lot of heart in this one and many things people can relate with. Drugs in any form are something that is universal and usually goes past social class. You can feel both OA and Valentine’s pain throughout this episode to be good friends to both men. How terrible it must be for OA to have to live with knowing he is the reason his friend obtained the drugs that eventually killed him. A poor judgment that obviously went much deeper than he ever could’ve thought. Probably one of my favorite episodes of the second half of the season thus far.
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