SPOILER ALERT AND WARNING: The following contains spoilers for FBI Season 8, Episode 18. It also contains discussion of violence involving children.
FBI Season 8, Episode 18 tries to do for Maggie Bell what Episode 17 did for her partner OA Zidan. “Behavior” is less successful, though, because the CBS show goes down pathways the audience has seen before. Both the case of the week and Maggie’s individual journey are relatively predictable.
If CBS wasn’t already doing Criminal Minds, “Behavior” would feel like a setup for Missy Peregrym and Zach Grenier to lead an FBI spinoff about profilers. The episode feels very much like Criminal Minds-light, starting off with a mother and young son being trapped in cages, and later revealing that the victims are forced to choose which one of them is stabbed to death. This is one of FBI‘s darker episodes, both in terms of plot and also literally.
There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that on its own, but the story also feels rote—like it’s just going through the motions to further the Maggie as profiler arc that’s been unfolding for awhile now. Audiences will be able to predict that the new serial killer is the only surviving victim from the old South Shore Ripper case. They’ll know that the plot will come down to Maggie interrogating the serial killer on her own, so that FBI can show that she’s now stepped fully into her talents as a profiler. And there will be a nice scene at the end with her and her mentor Peter Olsen to reaffirm that, both for her and for the fans.
In contrast, “Shahadah” taught audiences more about OA Zidan (who’s not in this episode), but it did so within a case of the week that was legitimately compelling on its own merits. “Behavior” feels like a Maggie episode in which the case of the week comes second. The other characters besides Peter are mostly just moving the plot along; there’s only one other suspect introduced, and he’s ruled out pretty quickly. A scene where that person tries to sneak up on Eva Ramos turns out to be short-lived, as Eva susses out what’s going on before he can attack her.
The good news is that Peregrym and Grenier are once again in good form across what’s essentially a two-hander. They’ve had a couple of episodes now to build Maggie and Peter’s dynamic, and it’s really nice for Maggie to have another good friend who hasn’t been killed tragically (although FBI did certainly try). “Behavior” also seems to button the subplot about Maggie’s grief over the death of her sister, as she tells Peter that she’s using that as “an edge” in her work. On one hand, it’s a shame that FBI didn’t do further exploration into how this affected Maggie, with some of that development taking place off-screen. On the other hand, this probably means she won’t get asked about her sister’s death anymore, which is good for her.
“Behavior” establishes Maggie Bell as a profiler, for whatever FBI wants to use that for in the future. But beyond that, there’s not a lot of rewatch value here. The case of the week is both uncomfortable and predictable, which is a bad combination, as there’s no reason for viewers to go back. Neither is there any significant character development for anyone outside of Maggie. This is an episode that is probably going to pay off later on, maybe even next season, now that Maggie’s got this developed set of skills. Or if CBS wants to greenlight another FBI spinoff about Dick Wolf’s version of the BAU. But on its own, it’s relatively forgettable.
FBI airs Mondays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Photo Credit: Courtesy of CBS.
