Every show has an episode that isn’t that great but isn’t so bad either. For FBI: International, episode seven, Andiamo!, was that episode.
Andiamo! had the potential of being good and the premise made it sound like it would be. What was that premise? The Fly Team heads to the Tuscan countryside after an American couple’s son is kidnapped outside their new home; concerns are heightened as fingers begin to point to the mafia.
Now, don’t get me wrong, we know that the mafia exists. We know that there are a lot of things that we don’t know about other countries. We know that children are used as leverage.
When this American family moves to the Tuscan countryside, they do so to be part of a revitalization project for the small town they move to. They get the house. They have the excitement. They think that this is going to be the best place for their son.
Until he’s kidnapped.
It turns out that the land that they bought had a bunker on it where the most powerful mob family in all of Europe hid their people or their drugs or whatever it was that they wanted to hide. No one wanted to say anything, because no one messed with the mob and also people like breathing.
Can’t blame them there.
Yet, if we know anything about the Fly Team, it’s that they aren’t going to give up at all. Especially where a child is involved. Now, this is one of those times where Forrester picks up on every clue, and it leads him to the neighbor who he’s able to convince to help him.
The mafia took the boy because they believed that the parents had taken five million dollars of their money. It turns out though, that it was the real estate agent. She is gross – the worst kind of gross – not only because she stole, but because she didn’t step up when a child was kidnapped. Instead, she kept her mouth shut until the team was there to get the money.
While I would have loved to have known what happened to her after the ransom was paid, it let it rest upon the father looking as though he was guilty of taking the money. The mafia doesn’t let the child go and instead doubles down on wanting more.
The Italian detective that is investigating the mafia, decides that they are going to take the head of the mafia’s grandson. An eye for an eye. Turns out that he’s once lost a child to the mafia – a girl who he couldn’t bring back. It was a girl who he couldn’t keep safe and she was returned to the family in a vat of acid.
The Fly Team isn’t about to let a child get kidnapped and they manage to create a deep fake profile that will make it seem as though the child has been. This gets the release of the American child, but it also infuriates the mafia. Yes, two soldiers were taken down. It was a great thing to see.
And it was also a great thing to see the team appreciating Tates abilities. But it was also heartbreaking to see how much this case destroyed her inside. I had forgotten that she was a parent and seeing how much this case affected her made me break inside.
It’s crazy sometimes when you think about how fictional characters can affect you, but they do. They make you feel and yes, it could be hate, but they make you feel. I think sometimes we forget that. But what this episode did – it made me feel for Tate.
And it also left me with more questions than answers.
Yes, I am sure that is the purpose. More questions than answers. It keeps you watching. However, sometimes it can just turn you off from a story. This episode walked a fine line.
OTHER THOUGHTS
- OK, did the family stay in Tuscany? Did they move back to the US? They were broke, did they figure out what to do next?
- What happened to the real estate agent? Did she get prosecuted? Did she get turned over to the mafia? If you’ve lived in this area the whole time, why would you be dumb enough to mess with the mafia?
- Ummm, I felt like the dinner ending, we could have gone without. I feel like we could have had more scenes telling the story. That being said, I don’t mind their lives when it is in Budapest, so we’re feeling like there is a balance.
- Raines is there for the kid. 10/10 – he’s a hero
- Who the hell are all these people in Budapest? Did I miss their names? I would like to figure out who they are.
- Vo, I feel like she coulda stepped up more.
- Any episode without Smitty driving like a bat out of hell is a missed opportunity.
- Are we ever gonna hear about Forrester’s Mama again?
- If you didn’t cry at Tate hugging her daughter, I don’t understand you as a person.
FBI: International airs Tuesdays on CBS.