There’s something special about a television show that you can become invested in, no matter the cast, story, or setting. You just know that the characters are people that you are rooting for, no matter what it is. FBI: International is one of those shows.
I wasn’t sure where the FBI: International Season 4, Episode 9 ‘The Kill Floor’ would pick up, but I was happy that it picked up right where it left off. There wasn’t a beat to miss. FBI: International’s winter premiere wasn’t perfect, but it was a captivating hour that left you with a reminder that these characters are family.
And there is no limit to what they will do for each other.
PARIS
I am always for anything that is in Paris because I love the city.
The team is at the hospital and Vo is not doing well. They are all waiting and Mitchell reminds the team that Vo would not want them waiting. She would want them to get Csonka.
What I do love is that the show is starting to utilize the part of the team that is in the office. I do believe that is a strength that the show has this season and that it gives more range in storylines. It allows the team to have more of a foothold in Hungary besides Amanda.
I believe that this team is growing and they’ve got a dynamic that makes them unique versus any other procedural (well, that I watch).
Heading to Paris, the team is dealing with police that does not seem to want to help. The French police keep saying that it is not their problem, but hey sir, it is your problem.
I also do understand that there are rules when they go to any country. But if anyone’s shocked Mitchell and Booth are willing to break them, we aren’t watching the same show.
Csonka is in Paris and he takes out a French mobster. He’s got that man’s team helping him to escape Paris in due time. The man is a psychopath and he’s out of his mind. He’s a master manipulator and that’s what has kept him alive.
But Csonka has outplayed his hand over and over again.
BREAK THE RULES
When I think of the first two seasons of this show, I realize that I became complacent with what was. However, Booth and Mitchell are what this show needed. FBI: International needed a shakeup and I can admit that I didn’t see it before.
However, I do see it now.
In any job, everyone performs their duties differently. Forrester – I do not think that he would have gone after Greg Csonka the way that this team did. I am going to need Booth to stay on the fly team. No temporary assignment – I am going to need these two to work together.
Yet, in the same breath, I am going to need them to pay more attention to the rules. I am going to need them to respect the way that Smitty has to conduct herself and the way she tries to keep them safe.
Booth and Mitchell meant it when they said that the badge had to come off. They see the team as family and I do believe that Mitchell is afraid of losing anyone else. He’s gone through a lot. But when it comes to Vo, it’s a stronger connection. Not talking a ship here, I am talking because he trained Vo back in the day.
She’s the reason that he stayed – she believed in him to tell him to stay.
Do I agree with them going into that one apartment and scaring the crap out of people? No. But we also have to look at the ending and see that Mitchell has grown, and hey, maybe a bottle of wine can solve anything.
Well, at least a peace offering.
WAIT WHAT – NOT RAINES!
I have said it before and I will say it again – you don’t mess with Raines. Messing with Raines is something that makes me so mad because he’s the best and he’s been through a lot.
So when he got kidnapped, I screamed at the television. Do I get the plot point? Yes, I do. However, it doesn’t mean that I have to like this at all.
The thing about Raines though, he’s observant. As he gets kidnapped, he observes everything in the room. He observes the people, the objects, and what he can get his hands on.
I do think that what Raines has always excelled at is his compassion and at the same time his focus. Raines has a special connection with Vo (yes, I do ship these two) and the two have a connection that other members of the team do not have. I love their friendship.
Seeing him kidnapped and then seeing his escape – I do believe that Raines was motivated by his job to get Csonka. However, I also believe there was an extra layer there because of what happened to Vo.
I was thankful that they didn’t have Raines getting beat up – my heart couldn’t take that as I was already distressed over Vo.
That doesn’t mean though that I didn’t stand up on my bed and scream “shoot him” when Raines broke free in the car. I didn’t care it was late and I wasn’t going to be upset that my neighbor pounded on the wall.
AMANDA IS A G
I don’t think that anything has ever made me cry the way I did when Amanda picked up her phone and called Vo’s family on FBI: International Season 4, Episode 9 ‘The Kill Floor.’
Delivering bad news isn’t something I like doing. I hate it. But I do respect those who dare to do just that. When Raines told Amanda that he and Vo had lists in their drawer for notifications, my heart sank. There was a moment where I felt as though they were setting it up for someone to die and I admit that I was not prepared for that.
Watching Amanda make that call, tears rising in her eyes, I choked on the air around me. Over and over again, Amanda has proven that she is an important part of this team and indispensable. Making that call took so much courage and strength to, especially after Raines was kidnapped.
I have been pretty vocal about the fact that I didn’t like the casting changes that keep happening on this show. However, when I am wrong, I can say that I am wrong. FBI: International has done what I sometimes deem impossible – it’s improved with the casting changes. It’s not a show that declines season after season. Instead, it is a show that takes its cast and gives them storylines that make every episode feel like a miniature action movie.
That is something special. This cast is something special.
FOR THE WIN
I am trying to not just recap FBI: International Season 4, Episode 9 ‘The Kill Floor’ because I do believe that this is an episode that you need to watch. Well, the whole show is something that should be appointment television for you.
When Raines can get a phone to call Smitty (impressed that he’s got phone numbers memorized), I cried. Don’t judge me. I think that Smitty was the perfect person to call because she’s Smitty. Now, if you’re asking what I mean by that – well – you need to be watching this show. Smitty is the glue – she holds all sides together. Smitty is the person that makes everything okay.
With Raines being able to tell them where he is and where Csonka is, I cheered. Just like I cheered when they showed up and Smitty ran to Raines. Look, in this show, Raines, Amanda, Smitty, and Vo have been through a lot together. They have experienced the worst and best of circumstances.
While I think that this entire situation bonds those four with Mitchell and Booth in a different way, I am thankful for that. I do believe that this team is great together. While Mitchell can be a little bit of a loose cannon, I think that it’s one of those things that the team needs.
I can’t believe I said that. I am a stickler for the rules (I admit it). What has made for good television this season is that Mitchell and Booth aren’t the same cookie-cutter characters that we see in procedurals. What we see with them are the agents that have been through different things than the ones that we know and they are always processing that. The two characters are avenging their past, but also staying away from that and trying to build a different life and a different team.
That being said, I have issues with that because I know that Booth’s assignment is supposedly temporary. It makes it a little hard because I keep asking myself why I should be invested.
And yet I am.
MAN, THIS AIN’T GOOD
I feel like the last two episodes are setting up a different team and doing that well. What I don’t like is the ending of this episode, even though I do get it.
When Mitchell catches up with Csonka in FBI: International Season 4, Episode 9 ‘The Kill Floor,’ the two have words. Csonka basically wants suicide by FBI agent and he gets it. Mitchell had to defend himself when Csonka reached for a gun. I get that in a way maybe closure for him after all that Csonka has done to him.
All that has been taken from him.
I just have to wonder though, how will this change him? Because I do feel like it will change him. It will change them all.
With Raines being found, Czonka being dead, and Vo is going to be okay, we’ve closed a chapter and it allows the team to move forward. While I am looking forward to this entire dynamic changing a bit, I am also interested to see how it doesn’t. I think that the worst moments and cases stick with people. This will stay with all of them.
It will also stay with the viewer.
And I am personally looking forward to how it does stay with me and how I find it in the characters as the season moves forward.
OTHER THOUGHTS
- Please make Booth a permanent character
- I am glad that Vo is going to be okay.
- Amanda Tate is the best and she continuously proves that
- I really love how the show is utilizing more and more of the characters we see each week
FBI: International airs Tuesdays on CBS.
