FBI: International Season 4, Episode 2 Review: ‘The Other Hard Part’

There aren’t many times that I don’t know what to say, but this episode left me unable to form a sentence. So, I took time to really think about what I wanted to say about this episode of FBI: International. Writing the same word a thousand times didn’t see like an option.

As a person that has watching FBI: International since the beginning (and yes, I know, I am going to harp for a second) and I wasn’t sure what an FBI: International without Luke Kleintank would be like. I wasn’t sure that it was anything that could be sustainable. To me, Scott Forrester was the heart of the show.

What I had failed to recognize was that Scott Forrester was the heart of that part of the show, but it didn’t mean that things couldn’t or wouldn’t change. And they’ve changed.

As a person who doesn’t like change, I thought that change was a bad thing. But what the addition of Jesse Lee Soffer and this season of FBI: International has taught me (yes, after two episodes) is that change isn’t always a bad thing.

Look, when I am wrong, I say I am wrong.

HE SAID YES

We left off the first episode with Wes deciding on what he was going to do. While we knew that he was going to say yes, it was nice to see the team in a social setting, with him actually telling them that it was official and he was going to lead them.

Maybe I was tired and maybe there was a mention that I didn’t get – but how long of a time jump are we looking at? I would love to know. Did he go back to LA to get his stuff? Did his ex pack them up and the FBI move them? These are the things that my overactive mind thinks of.

But I was thankful for the moment that they all sat down, he gave his speech and welcomed Tank back into the fold. For me it was important because it set him apart as a different kind of leader, but also set a different tone for the series.

Yes, Scott would spend time with the team, but this set Mitchell apart as a different leader. He was nervous about picking up this space within the team and learning from them, but was also looking forward to the chance to make the team better, as well as make himself better.

THE TEAM HEADS TO THE NETHERLANDS

One thing that any of the FBI’s on CBS have taught me is that there are too many agencies with three letters. So as the team heads to the Netherlands, forgive me as I lost track of all the agencies on the scene.

The Ambassador of the USA is in the Netherlands for an appearance on television – one that he doesn’t seem to be too happy about. And well, I have to hand it to him that he didn’t want to do it, because his gut was telling him something. It’s a testament that your guy speaks.

Because when he’s in the middle of the interview he and the gun men burst in, taking the audience hostage. They demand $40 million euros and a helicopter, and they don’t cut the feed of the studio. Something seems really off. Like really, really off.

Of course (I say like I knew what was happening, but I didn’t) they don’t care about the 40MM euros – they wanted the Ambassador for a reason.

When Wes comes up with the idea for the Fly Team to breach and if anything goes wrong, they can blame it on the Americans. Well, as much as I would like to say that it is a bad idea, it’s not. It’s a smart move.

BE A LEADER

What I loved was as the team was going to breach, Vo has a talk with Wes that most people wouldn’t have the courage to do.

Wes is an adrenaline junkie, but he also wants to do any job to the best of his ability. He wants to catch the bad guy and he’s good at it. The team though, they need a leader and someone that they can trust at this moment. So Vo telling him that he needs to stay behind and guide them – I was shocked that she did.

I would never have the courage.

Vo does though and thats the thing that I think that we all need to love about Cameron Vo. She’s courageous. She’s fearless. She learned a lot from Wes and that means that she’s going to be able to throw his teachings right back at him (respectfully of course).

Wes staying on the ground was important because as we find out the reason that the Ambassador was taken hostage, we’re also going to learn about the type of agent and person that Wes is.

WHERE IS SHE

When Vo, Smitty and Raines breach the studio, it all seems off. The hostage takers are no where to be found. When they do find them, they give up easily.

Very easily.

The team had already figured out that the ringleader was the right hand of the Netherlands biggest drug smuggler. He was in jail for killing his girlfriend and awaiting extradition to the USA. He, of course, isn’t willing to help without a deal.

What few knew though, was there was a witness to the murder. The group had taken the ambassador hostage, because he was one of the few people who knew where the witness was. The ambassador gives up the location of the girl in order to save his own behind.

So yes, Wes on the ground was important, because he’s able to leave immediately to go to where this girl is (after fighting for her location) and make it in the nic of time to save her.

TBH, Wes Mitchell, I am not sure of what to expect from him, but he’s pleasantly surprising me this episode. He’s showing that he doesn’t just expect his team to change and grow, he’s going to do that too.

WAIT, SHE’S A KID

When Wes makes it to the girls safe house, I think I can speak for most of us when I say that I was shocked to see that she was a teenager. A kid. She was just minding her own business, and there were assassins after her.

The assassins gets there and there was an all out gun fight. Wes was a part of that, but all the time, making sure that Mila (the witness) was protected at all costs. He didn’t worry about himself, he just wanted to make sure that no matter what, this little girl survived.

I have to admit something I am not good at admitting. I didn’t think of the FBI: International of old at any point during this episode. Watching this episode I found myself excited over all of the moments that were happening – as if I was watching a brand new show. I was screaming, jumping, and even a point crying during this episode. But I didn’t miss the old show, or the characters I was invested in. I loved the characters that I was seeing now.

And I didn’t hate it for me.

This episode was about the team bonding, but more than anything is gave us a chance to get to know Wes Mitchell. We got to see the type of man that he is, the lengths that he’s willing to go to, and the love that he has for his job. We learned about his past and how he was a foster kid, but he was adopted and his father had never given up on him.

I have to admit that I think it’s somewhat genius the way that the series managed to make us love and adore the new leader of the Fly Team in a moment. They did it without making us think about how Wes Mitchell is played by an actor we love, but instead by showing us the man that they were building this character to be.

TAKING OUT THE ASSASSIN

What type of character is Wes Mitchell? Well, he’s the type that is going to put others before himself. He’s the type that is willing to listen to his team. He’s the type that is willing to break into a house, hide the fact that he was stabbed, and then let a teenage girl stitch him up.

Wes didn’t hesitate to take out the assassin. It didn’t matter the situation that he was in, because people matter to Wes.

You could see that the politics of the situation didn’t phase Wes. When the Ambassador wants to make it into a photo opp and interviews, Wes is willing to – as long as he can tell them that he’s willing to so he can tell them that he was willing to give up a teenage girl to save himself.

That’s an interview I would watch.

For now though, I will just be thankful for this all new Fly Team. I love them.

FBI: International airs Tuesdays on CBS.