SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for FBI Season 8, Episode 21.
There’s so much about FBI Season 8, Episode 21 that either feels awkward or far too obvious. “Long Shot” has a shaky premise, character development that doesn’t really work, and the return of a guest character viewers didn’t need to see again. The end result is feeling like the CBS show is just filling a space until the Season 8 finale.
“Long Shot” begins with the public murder of a senior vice president at a fictional Fortune 100 company. It initially seems like another Dick Wolf show is utilizing the Luigi Mangione case for plot fodder; Law & Order previously did an episode inspired by that situation. But instead, FBI pivots to a story about a revived domestic terror group, and then semi-moves away from that to a convoluted idea about weaponizing “predictive markets” like Kalshi and Polymarket. None of this ever comes believably together. If anyone wants to see a better story about people gambling on crime, NBC had a TV series called The Player that utilized the idea much better—with the caveat that it had the whole show to develop the concept.
This is one of those times when FBI would’ve been better off delivering a straightforward plot. Especially so close to the season finale, the premise of a revived terror group is on its own big enough to generate tension as well as viewer interest. The predictive market angle doesn’t make this episode timely or any more interesting. It not only is a weak plot, but it also brings back the character of Simon Ford, whom audiences will remember as the tech bro who provided those headsets to the Bureau not so long ago. He’s only in one scene, and it’s not clear why that scene has to involve him and not just a generic CEO-type character. He didn’t need to make a comeback, but if FBI is going to go that route, at least have a substantive reason to revisit the character. Just because fans already know him is not enough of a reason.
The other half of the episode is clearly setting up certain interpersonal dynamics for the future. While it does get integrated into the plot, FBI is not subtle in what it’s trying to accomplish. It’s frustrating that after the new ADIC got a pretty solid introduction in Episode 20, now Green is written as simply another bureaucratic antagonist. His wanting to immediately report OA to the Office of Professional Responsibility just makes him look like a guy who can’t take criticism—as opposed to the more open-minded boss that it seemed like he was going to be. What happens at the end of the hour only reinforces that. But “butting heads with the boss’s boss” is a mainstay on the procedural genre bingo card; it’s not that interesting either.
Having Zara Ushruf as OA’s temporary partner is predictable, and several of their interactions in “Long Shot” are the corny kind of moments that occur when a TV show is trying to get people interested in a pairing. The problem is that FBI is relying heavily on what happened off-screen. After their first sort of date in Zara’s previous episode, apparently OA “ghosted” her. Fans are being asked to care about what happens between them when they’ve not seen half of it. “Long Shot” ends with Zara taking the fall for OA, which leaves it open-ended as to whether or not FBI will ever use her again, but it’s hard to care because the chemistry hasn’t had enough time to build on-screen between the two characters. If she comes back, and if this is still the route that FBI wants to go, the pairing has to be given space to breathe and a less obvious setup for that development wouldn’t hurt.
In fact, the best moment in an episode that involves two bombs, one big explosion, and the aforementioned internal strife is when Maggie Bell saves OA by shooting the suspect who’s about to stab him. The two barely speak, but just the shot of Maggie showing up for her partner in the biggest way, and OA’s reaction, has a quiet emotional impact. Of course the team is able to stop the terrorists and save the day, and there’s plenty of action across the whole hour, but there’s not enough that actually makes the viewer feel anything meaningful. This is one of the season’s weaker episodes, but here’s hoping the finale makes up for it.
FBI airs Mondays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Photo Credit: Courtesy of CBS.
