There is something that is to be said for finales. They can either tie things up beautifully or they can make us struggle to understand what the writers were thinking. We can find joy or confusion in some moments – the way that a show changed us or made us think about storytelling.
Storytelling isn’t easy. It’s opening yourself, the writer, to whatever the general public wants to say. And so while it is my job to say what I think, I always feel bad doing just that. I feel that some people will get what the writer is saying or trying to say. Others will love the stories that are being communicated and see themselves in them.
When it comes to the series finale of FBI: International, I am not surprised that it is in two parts. There is a lot of the story with these characters that needs to be wrapped up. The other part of it is – none of these stories can ever truly be wrapped up. These are people’s (characters) live,s and unless they have passed, their story is never truly done.
There is always the possibility for more.
But finales, here we are with this one, and there is no sense of closure coming. It feels abrupt. It feels like there are a lot of possibilities that could happen, but the reality is that we won’t get it here.
The first part of the season finale sets things up for what we’re hoping is a great finale. But what it feels like to this writer is that no matter what they give me, I won’t be okay.
And why won’t I be okay?
Because no matter what FBI: International gives us, all of its fans will be left with the knowledge that it’s gone too soon.
THE SMARTEST THING THEY DID
This season of FBI: International did the smartest thing by giving us Jesse Lee Soffer as the new lead of the Fly Team. He’s added a dynamic that was needed. Now, last year, I would have told you I don’t know why they got rid of Scott Forrester. This season, having Soffer take on the role of Wes Mitchell.
Wes Mitchell is not Superman. He’s a man. But what he is is a lot less controlling than Scott Forrester ever was. Mitchell wants to have all those under him succeed and grow. He wants to make sure that the entire team puts themselves first and that he lets them know that they are able to move forward.
That the Fly Team isn’t the end for all of them.
My trepidation over change is always evident. Scott Forrester was a good leader, but West Mitchell is an exceptional one.
The only shortcoming he has is in his own life. He doesn’t know how to take himself out of his own trauma. And that’s not specific to him – it’s just what it is.
I do hope that he finds a way to know his own strength. The strength he brings to The Fly Team is the same kind of strength I hope he brings to his own soul. I do believe that Forrester wanted the best for them all, but for me, he just wouldn’t be the leader who would make me feel it openly.
THE SLEEZEBAG
Bachelor parties are notoriously sleezy and gross. The waitress, Naomi, was left murdered in a hotel room, and for a bit, they make you think that it was because of a group from a bachelor party. She has had a lot of pressure on her – bills at home, her father lost her job, and trying to graduate from college with her nursing degree.
With her murder, the Fly Team is called in.
Booth is there, and Mitchell meets him there. One of the joys of this season is seeing these two work together. They even each other out and push each other to be better people. I do also feel, though, that it can be a bad thing, because sometimes a sense of comfort stops you. Mitchell may like to live life on the edge, but he does it when there is limited emotional risk for himself involved.
These two solve cases for different reasons – I think. For Mitchell, it feels like it is about getting the justice that he never got for himself. For Booth, it feels like it’s making the world a better place for his daughter.
These two are going to do everything that it takes to make sure that this girl gets her justice.
One of the most heartbreaking things to see was the notification to the father that his little girl had passed away. Just the look on the face of the father that had lost his little girl and the look on Booth’s face – it was a lot.
Coming to terms with the reason that your child may have died – I don’t think that any parent could ever come to terms with that. There will always be blame and guilt. Blame that someone puts on themself, guilt that a person has for surviving. I can’t even imagine.
But what I can see from the characters on this show is that pain manifests its way to the surface in different ways. For each of them, every case has changed them. They have made them grow and sometimes stuck with them. This is one of those cases that will stay with them.
JAPAN SHOWS UP
When it comes to solving the case, the team finds out that someone has been trying to read their reports. Turns out it is a team from Japan, which a detective from the team ironically shows up at the team’s offices.
She’s there because a case is exactly like the one that the Fly Team is working on. At least that is what it seems like. But the truth we find out is that she and her boss are there to try and stop the team from really figuring out what is going on.
Japan has a serial killer.
They are trying to sell the Fly Team on the killer being from Hungary. Only the team is smarter than that. They know how to follow the clues. They know common sense. And I do think that Mitchell is one of those people who isn’t about to let anyone get away with anything.
But when he goes to confront her, and sees that it is her boss who is making her try to direct them towards the Hungary angle, he stops. He knows that something is going on and being hidden from the team.
Mitchell is observant. He’s not one to ever back down – as I have said – but when he sees a woman being treated wrongly or not valued, he ain’t gonna make them suffer. He’s going to take the clues and he’s going to react.
You can tell that she’s being forced to do something that she doesn’t want to do. And that is hard for her. For Mitchell, it may be an in – but I do think that for all he’s going through and has been through – he’s trying. He may be failing at some things in life, but it’s not from a lack of trying.
THE BEGINNING OF GOODBYE
As this is the second to the end episode, I know that they are setting things up to close a series. Wes is heading to Japan to try to help find the serial killer. Japan didn’t want anyone to know that they had a serial killer, but that didn’t matter to Wes. He wasn’t about to let someone who didn’t do it go to jail for it.
But his going to Japan feels weird. His going without the team seems weird.
Just like Booth saying goodbye and leaving, it feels weird. It’s never been a secret that he’s going to leave. However, there has always been a desire for him to stay. Then again, there has always been a want for the show to continue.
And we all know how that went.
OTHER THOUGHTS
- Vo and Raines, and their talk about GS-14 – whoever gets it, I want them to remain friends.
- Amanda and her team are some of the most genius people
- While I get that Mitchell is going to Japan, I really am gonna be upset if this show doesn’t end where it started
- I’m still pissed it was even cancelled
- I kinda really hope that Mitchell ends up on CIA and it’s him and whoever Tom Ellis’ character is. I would watch the hell out of that.
