SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for FBI Season 8, Episode 16.
FBI Season 8, Episode 16 won’t surprise anyone who’s watched enough procedurals. “3 Up, 3 Down” follows a pretty familiar storyline: a foreign terrorist blames America for the deaths of his innocent family members, and is determined to exact revenge. The CBS show hits all of the story beats required, but the subplot is what holds viewers’ interest.
The episode has an awkward title—the phrase is more commonly utilized in baseball—but it has all the components that viewers watch FBI for. The story has a foot chase (albeit briefer than usual), a shootout, and an obvious suspect who turns out not to be the real perpetrator. The characters of the week are only fleshed out as much as they need to be for the plot to keep moving. And the actual antagonist called “the Falconer” is pretty standard as far as fictional terrorists go. The one logistical quirk is that he wants to blow up a warship, so that gives FBI‘s final act a different backdrop, but this is generally business as usual for the JOC.
That includes the crossover cameo from Necar Zadegan, reprising her role as Nikki Reynard from CIA. She appears for expository purposes, to tell the agents (and thus the audience) everything they need to know about the Falconer. It’s a disappointment that she doesn’t get to actually impact the story, since CIA has shown how much Nikki is capable of, and because Zadegan is right at home here. CBS viewers will remember her years on NCIS: New Orleans. But she’s underused on FBI.
What fans are more likely to remember this episode for is that it marks the return of Maggie Bell, after Missy Peregrym’s character was absent from the previous episode “Crusader” in order to mourn her murdered sister. The subplot is whether or not Maggie is okay to return to work after Erin’s death, with “okay” being a relative term. As Isobel Castille points out, this kind of feels like retreading Maggie’s original character arc in which she struggled with the loss of her husband Jason. But it would be strange if the series didn’t acknowledge Maggie’s situation, and Peregrym plays it well; this is a reminder of how great she is in this role. Partly because “3 Up, 3 Down” misses an opportunity to let her stretch her acting talents even further.
In the fourth act, there’s a moment in which Maggie gets hold of a bad guy’s radio and tries to speak directly to the Falconer. This semi-gets followed up on by what’s supposed to be an emotional beat several minutes later: after the Falconer’s arrest, Maggie gives him a mini-speech about how she knows grief. But both scenes feel awkward and stunted, with even the line delivery feeling flat in moments that could have been incredibly poignant. There’s an alternate conclusion here in which the story ends with Maggie having to negotiate with the Falconer, and either talking him down through their shared experience or at least being more pointed when they come face to face. Maybe that would’ve been a little corny, but it would have been a lot more interesting and would have provided this episode with an effective one-two punch.
That’s because the best scene happens at the end, when Maggie returns to Isobel’s office and admits that she’s not okay after all. She’s emotional and she’s doubting her ability to protect her teammates if she couldn’t protect her sister. It’s so well acted by Peregrym, and the scene doesn’t quite go on long enough. Isobel’s response—to tell Maggie the team has her—is sweet but it feels like there ought to be more than that. Particularly after Isobel expressed concern about Maggie going back into the field at the top of the episode, the scene could’ve gone on with Isobel explaining how the team will help her or what else might happen next. Maybe that’s something that is being left for the next episode? But within this specific hour, this major development feels unfinished.
“3 Up, 3 Down” is like “Crusader” in that the case of the week is built around the personal story that FBI wants to tell for the featured character. But this episode is more effective, because audiences are obviously more invested in Maggie’s personal life, and Peregrym is so good at creating the emotion that the story needs to work. She gives the episode its heft, along with a few small bits that remind FBI viewers how great the partnership between Maggie and OA Zidan is (like the mention that he checked in on her when she was away). Audiences won’t remember this case by the time FBI returns, but they will be glad to have Maggie Bell back.
FBI airs Mondays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Photo Credit: Courtesy of CBS.
