SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for FBI Season 8, Episode 4.
For the second consecutive week, FBI benefits immensely from its guest stars. FBI Season 8, Episode 4, “Manifest” is a solid enough hour, but it’s elevated significantly because of three alumni from the FOX thriller 24—two in front of the camera and one behind it. Without Sarah Clarke, Rudolf Martin and Jon Cassar, this episode wouldn’t be nearly as appealing.
Clarke (who portrayed CTU agent slash ruthless killer Nina Myers on 24, and more recently Eleanor Wish on Bosch) plays Senator Charlotte Hirsch, who is targeted for assassination because she’s the swing vote on a budget amendment to provide veterans housing and health care. She narrowly escapes one attempt on her life, which unfortunately kills her husband, before being murdered via neurotoxin on the airplane when Maggie Bell, OA Zidan and a Capitol Police officer are escorting her to Washington.
The casting of Clarke makes the character of Senator Hirsch more interesting. In different hands, she could be another generic stubborn political figure causing headaches for the main characters. But Clarke gives her a quiet strength, and the script provides some memorable discussion between the Senator and military veteran OA Zidan that deserves to be longer. Also helping the cause is the casting of fellow 24 veteran Rudolf Martin (who portrayed the villainous Belkin) as Hirsch’s killer, known only as “Oslo.” The ruthless international assassin type is not new; FBI: International alone had plenty of those. But Martin has done this before, and so he knows how to play it without overdoing the part.
One also has to call out the contributions of director Jon Cassar, who won an Emmy Award for his work on 24 and was a huge creative force in the first seven seasons of the FOX show (as both director and executive producer). Cassar also helmed 24: Redemption, half of 24: Live Another Day and part of the spinoff 24: Legacy before making his FBI debut in 2022. His directorial style means that “Manifest” looks great, especially during the airplane segments, when there’s such limited space to work with. It’s fun that he’s helming the episode that has two 24 actors in it, but really, viewers couldn’t ask for anyone better to wrangle this story visually.
The plot of “Manifest,” however, falls apart in its fourth act. Part of the issue is actually with CBS advertising; the sneak peek for this episode that aired Friday revealed the Senator’s death, which is supposed to be one of the big plot twists. But in addition, savvy viewers will likely shake their heads when the team is surprised that Oslo is wearing prosthetics and posing as the seemingly harmless elderly passenger. The person whom they initially believe is Oslo is a little too obvious, plus because this is TV, the real perpetrator is almost always the last person viewers are supposed to suspect.
Also, new arrival Eva Ramos talking about her anxiety when she and Stuart Scola are tasked with escorting Oslo is a hint that something is going to happen to the convoy. Eva and Scola subsequently losing their suspect in a short-lived foot chase through a park is just anticlimactic. The shootout beforehand creates some action and suspense, but then the chase is over so quickly that all that dissipates. It appears that FBI is trying to set up another one of its recurring villains, like it did with ForeFront and Antonio Vargas—especially since the final line in the episode is OA vowing to catch Oslo whenever he resurfaces.
“Manifest” is certainly an entertaining episode, and fans get a very good shock from OA narrowly escaping death. It’s a change of pace to see that, given that viewers are almost used to Maggie being the one in harm’s way. But if anything, that moment (and his whole performance in this episode) is another reminder of how much Zeeko Zaki brings to the show. In fact, he’s probably the most underrated actor in any procedural on the air right now. And here’s a trivia tidbit: he had a recurring role in 24: Legacy. This FBI episode is great for 24 enthusiasts, solid for FBI fans, but just misses out on being fantastic because of how the script stumbles toward the end.
FBI airs Mondays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Photo Credit: Courtesy of CBS.
Both actors were in NCIS! The badass Ari is still a badass lol
That’s right! I remember being very bummed when the rumor was Sarah Clarke would be a new series regular on NCIS (along with Duane Henry), and then they didn’t go that route. She’s such a great actress.