FBI Episode 4: Crossfire
Crossfire opens with an attorney speaking on the phone, it seems like an argument. Within seconds, he’s shot dead. More bodies begin to fall around him, a total of three as pandemonium ensues. It looks to be a sniper. The bodies are random—different races and genders. No clear targets.
Cut to FBI title screen.
We fade into Agents Zidan and Bell appearing on the scene. Another officer describes the original scene as chaos, as to be expected after a sniper shooting in Manhattan outside an attorney’s office during rush hour. Details are shared, Bell seems to be thinking. The shooter’s type is discussed. OA states, “He’s damn good at what he does.” This makes me think military immediately. Maybe it is my fascination with military shows or the background on the type of profile this usually leads to, but it makes sense.
OA spots an area where a bullet missed its target and has gone through the location sign. He is able to use a forensic pointer to get the trajectory. This leads them to a roof. Bell states, “I’d say he’s better than damn good.” She suggests military. OA agrees and states he could be a former Army Ranger or Navy SEAL. Clearly highly trained and can disappear. This means, per Agent Zidan, that he probably has a plan.
I’m hoping at this point there is some sort of mistake. I’m never a fan of the storyline of former military members going rogue and becoming murderers. This makes it seem like all military members are violent and simply killers. Hoping the nature of the episode changes.
There is always a trigger.
We cut to the bullpen where Assistant Agent in Charge Jubal Valentine (and his trusty pencil) are discussing details on the murdered attorney, Analyst Chazal in tow. Mosier walks up to add, “There is always a trigger” when discussing motives. The profiler returns! I love me a profile. I think when you start to understand what makes someone do what they do, it adds a layer to anyone’s characterization. It is easy to state someone is a cold-blooded killer, but if you start to humanize them, you can make it a much grittier episode.
Mosier continues to discuss profile aspects, including the shooter’s need to demonstrate power and scare people which usually happens after a loss of the former mentioned. Perhaps a disgruntled employee of the law firm where the first shooting happened? There aren’t enough details.
OA and Bell enter the ballistics office where Sammy is using digital reconstruction software to reconstruct the very small sample of bullet fragment. It is a six-point five-millimeter Grendel bullet, which highlights the ability for our shooter to be produce a weapon and risk that is lighter, cheaper and has less recoil. This means that they can be faster and deadlier if need be. Time is clearly of the essence.
There is also a point in this scene where Sammy and OA are discussing ballistics and Maggie clearly feels outnumbered. She makes a joke for OA’s rebuttal but is met with silence. He seems amused. I love the teasing that goes on between them.
They go talk to the dead attorney’s wife to see if they can get more information out of her. There isn’t much for them to go on, but she’s annoyed they must treat her as a possible suspect. As they are speaking, there is a second shooting.
From Commercial to Residential
This shooting seems to be in a more residential area. The shooting is at an apartment complex in Staten Island, New York. There are six shot and killed, but there is one survivor who is only grazed in the arm. He is a retired security guard named Walter who fired back. The shooter adjusts his weapon from the witness statement, but they can’t figure out why.
I’m thinking Walter is shady in this moment, but I guess we’ll find out. He tells them that a black SUV sped away from the scene following the shooting. Maggie wants to release this detail to the public, everyone else is hesitant because it could cause more chaos. They eventually decide to release the detail to the police, and Mosier asks, “What are we missing?”
As they discuss the profiler further, which has another awesome moment of mentor and student, Maggie states there must be a connection. She wonders if it’s the location. Mosier tells her to go with that for now.
A Breakthrough
As Analyst Kristen is trying to narrow down a list of eighty-eight names, she discovers that a gun store in Rockland County recently sold six boxes of the exact bullets that were used in the shooting. They are able to identify the shooter this way. He is Army Ranger veteran Cole Cooper, not dishonorably discharged and in fact has two Medals of Valor. This is disheartening to me. I am hoping something changes.
Kristen discovers that Cooper lived in the apartment complex that was the second location.
Sammy calls them back to ballistics. The video footage accompanied by different grooves in the bullet fragments extracted from a victim and Walter prove there were two different shooters, as the weapons fired had to be different and Cooper would not have had enough time to reload.
Mosier suggests a dominant and submissive partnership. Meanwhile, Valentine and Kristen show the team a video of Cole Cooper surprising a woman in a Facebook video from three years ago. The video is his last social media post, but it gives them a lead. The woman’s name is Emily. They want to find out more about her.
How does an honorable and distinguished veteran become a murderer?
How did this happen?
The duo goes to speak to the landlord of the apartment complex who says that Cole has become weird and secluded since Emily died. Emily was his girlfriend and she died several years ago from cancer. He has been in bad shape since the death and while the landlord tried to work with him, her parents stopped paying the rent and he couldn’t keep giving him a break. He evicted him. This leads them to her parents who state that Cole was not able to get himself together following her death. He worked at a gas station in Long Island, West Babylon to be exact.
This was exciting to me! Suffolk County is my home, so it was fun to hear something so close to my own location. The gas station also let him go, stating he missed too much time while recovering. The idea that he traveled from Staten Island every day to work at a gas station on Long Island is odd to me. Seems like a strange idea. That is at least an hour commute each way. Just as Bell states this might be his next location, they get a call that a Suffolk PD officer is following a black SUV that is near the gas station location.
Meanwhile in Long Island…
They race there, but they are too late. He kills the cop and takes off. I’m annoyed by the location. Looking at the background, this is clearly still near the city or even part of Nassau County. I look up the location based off the gas station and auto company in the background and it is close to Nassau! There is a big difference between Western Nassau county and Suffolk. Poor choice of the locations department to pick this location, does not fit whatsoever, considering they state in the episode the location is on Sunrise Highway. As a local person, it doesn’t work but I’m the minority here. Not many others would notice this.
I also am intrigued by the design of the Suffolk County PD cars. They are not the actual cars (which doesn’t surprise me) but the overall design is nothing like the current one. I am curious to how this gets decided. I’m sure that budget comes into the equation and there might be legalities involved for shooting, but how does this get designed? Is it an old design and old cars, or is something made just for the show? We need a Dean Georgaris type for FBI. I have many questions. 🙂
They’re like brothers.
Video surveillance shows that the second shooter is a kid, a teenage black male to be exact. Cooper left him at the gas station and the kid flees on foot, which starts a manhunt for the child. They find him hiding in a RV on Long Island and bring him in. His name is Kofi Seifu, a Somalian immigrant who was placed into foster care after losing his father several years ago because of documentation issues.
They question Kofi in the office where OA and Bell use different techniques to try to get him to speak about Cole. Mosier, watching from the outside notices that he is hungry, suggests using this. They bring in food and when he doesn’t touch it, OA tries to take it for himself as a pull. He states, “Cole didn’t feed you?”
Kofi speaks for the first time, “Of course he did. We’re like brothers.” This helps give a little of background on how they met. Cole saved him; he was living behind a church and he brought him food and talked to him.
OA seems to be going harder on Kofi. He tries to use the Koran to make him tell them more. Kofi declares it’s all garbage and asks OA what did Allah ever do for you? Bell was being soft with him, Mosier suggests they try to use Kofi’s clear love for Cole to get him to open up. This leverage works and OA makes a promise to keep Cole safe to Kofi. This gets him a hard stare from Bell. She doesn’t seem convinced. Is OA hoping his military bond will help him help Cole?
A Final Showdown…
Just as they’re finishing up, Kofi explains that Cole feels betrayed by God because Emily died despite his praying. This leads them to believe the church is the next target. They shut down the church, Saint Xavier Church in Queens and wait. They’re scoping out the location, trying to figure out where Cole might show up, when he appears in the church’s bell tower. They try to use a crisis negotiator to speak to Cole, but he doesn’t budge. Bell has an idea and they end up in the top of the building next to the church and try to engage with Cole.
They attempt to use Kofi being safe as leverage. Cole is angry and doesn’t seem to take this. Bell is scrambling to try and make a connection with him. You can see her obvious frustration here. This as an overall scene is very enjoyable. OA states that they made a promise to Kofi that they’d keep Cole safe. Bell replies that is what he promised him. Ooh, I knew that would come back to bite OA.
Maggie’s Choice
The next scene gives me chills. We don’t get a lot from Maggie, but she tries to use her own loss to connect with Cole as a last-ditch effort. She understands. She knows his frustration and explains this. He seems to be considering her comments when a civilian who they must’ve missed appears below. Cole seems to engage in still shooting. Maggie forcing to make a decision per Mosier who declares she trusts her judgement. Bell tells them to take him out. Hard stare from Bell as she leaves the rooftop, clearly depressed and gutted by her decision.
A Win isn’t always a Win
Back at the bullpen, Valentine is declaring their victory. “Savor the win. Drinks on me.” This does not seem like a win to me and might be my least favorite scene of the episode. It feels like a very cold comment from him and you can feel the same thought from Bell and Zidan. Yes, the threat was neutralized, but to what cost? This episode is bugging me. I still hate the idea of using veterans for this sort of storyline.
The Power of Empathy
Mosier seems to sense Maggie’s clear distain for the end of the case. She says, “Empathy’s a powerful thing. And painful.” So gutting and true. This episode proves that and is something that the two of them seem to struggle with from time to time. How will this come into play in future episodes? Will the emotional toll continue to tear them apart?
OA and Bell share a quiet, tense moment at their desks before we cut to Maggie meeting with the killed attorney’s wife where she tries to explain why they had to suspect her. The scene bleeds empathy.
We then cut to OA who is sitting with Kofi and explains how much he hated praying and the Koran as a teenager and only reconsidered after losing his father who was the person who made him do it when he didn’t want to. He offers to help Kofi and promises to be there for him for the sentencing. When Kofi asks why, OA quietly respond, “God only knows.”
What I liked:
- I like the small but building tension you can see between Maggie and OA. This will probably lead somewhere later between the two of them. But, I also like the tiny team bonding moments we’ve been introduced to. Their chemistry is amazing.
- Very exciting to see the Suffolk references, even if they weren’t perfect.
- I think the mentoring aspect between Mosier and Bell proves interesting.
- The theme of empathy is both important and personal to me. Empathy is huge in my career field and one of the biggest burn out reasons is because of the toll of what empathizing with your clients can do to you personally. I’m hoping this is something revisited in the show later because they keep hinting on it.
What I didn’t like:
- I hate the idea of using a veteran for the storyline. I understand what led him to his actions, but other than his experience as a Ranger sniper, nothing fit for the characterization in my opinion. It simply paints our veteran community as the type to ‘snap’ and do something like this when this is truly the minority in situations like this. I get where it came from, but I think it’s a poor choice of storyline. There were other ways around it.
Questions I have:
- Will there be eventual jealousy between Maggie and OA? It’s clear that Mosier clearly favors Maggie. I’m hoping this doesn’t become a negative focal point for more than an episode or two.
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