SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for FBI Season 9, Episode 2.
After a strong character-driven premiere, FBI Season 9 switches gears to more of a case of the week whodunit. “Omissions” is stacked with plenty of plot twists, some more successful than others. But what it’s building to is a scene regarding the CBS show’s ongoing plot—which should’ve been so much bigger.
The fake-outs start from the top, as victim Clint Mathis is made to look and sound exactly like a criminal, only for him to be revealed as an NYPD officer working undercover to infiltrate white supremacists. From that point on, the audience gets to sort through more than enough red herrings. There are a total of five murder suspects in this episode, which is a lot for one storyline, even if some of them are easy to dismiss. It obviously won’t be the person that Clint was investigating; that would be too simple. And later on, there’s a drug trafficker who feels like FBI is doing its version of Lemond Bishop from The Good Wife. There are enough turns in the story to keep viewers interested, even if it ultimately ends with a predictable answer: the bad guy’s frustrated little brother, wanting his recognition. And of course they’re going to turn on each other.
There’s a small subplot underneath in which Jubal Valentine butts heads with Clint’s commanding officer from the NYPD. This is one of the oldest subplots in the book. Whenever someone from a rival agency comes in, they always believe they’re right and the heroes are wrong. It honestly gets a bit tiring listening to Lieutenant Marcus Warren repeat the expected phrases about how his cops couldn’t possibly be dirty. What makes this old dynamic palatable is two things: the fact that Jubal asserts his authority (politely, even) and the episode doesn’t turn into a turf war, and that Warren ends up holding a piece of FBI‘s bigger picture. When he admits that he didn’t know what was going on in his team, that’s a catalyst for Jubal to jump into the Anna Vorpe of it all. But here’s the problem: the audience already knows that.
FBI Season 9, Episode 2 falls victim to the biggest frustration in the TV universe: a promo spot and/or media report spoiling a significant plot twist. “Omissions” ends with Isobel Castille and OA Zidan having another secret meeting, only to discover that Jubal has also turned up. But the promo for this episode includes the scene of Isobel and OA pulling their guns on Jubal. While it doesn’t show that they’re aiming at him, that puts the setup in the viewer’s head—and then the script for “Omissions” tips its hand too early.
Jubal’s suspicions are played out in two previous scenes: he sees Isobel talking to Ian Lim, after which she insists nothing is going on, and then he also notices Ian handing OA’s surveillance bug to Isobel. It’s very, very clear (literally as Isobel’s office has that glass wall) that Jubal is going to become curious. These two interactions are too obvious for him not to ask; if he didn’t, the show would be making him look pretty naive. And then Warren making that comment directly to Jubal is clear foreshadowing, that Jubal now has motivation to ask. So while Isobel and OA may not be expecting Jubal to be standing there, the audience can already reasonably infer that it’s him. FBI would’ve been better to at least cut that part of the promo; yes, it’s exciting, but then at least the whole gun-pulling moment would’ve been a surprise, and thus a little more startling.
Now FBI has what can best be described as the Suits conundrum. Once a big secret—like an undercover operation or a fake law degree—gets out to one main character, it will inevitably spread to others. How long until Scola or Eva find out? And in this case, one can throw in Isaiah Green, he’s not a series regular, but since he’s related to ADIC Green and he already thinks he heard something, it seems like it’s only a matter of time until that happens. And once the whole team knows, then the undercover part of the season is less effective, because part of what makes it interesting is the tension that gets created by keeping the secret.
“Omissions” has enough entertainment value to carry it through to the end, whether it’s Eva fighting a white supremacist in an MMA gym or waiting for the two Harkes brothers to turn on each other. In terms of rewatch value, though, it doesn’t have much. It’s a fun case of the week, but the biggest piece of the episode is the Jubal reveal, and that gets spoiled. FBI Season 2, Episode 9 means more to the characters than it does to the audience. It’s a good way to fill 42 minutes, but lacks the emotional weight of the season premiere.
FBI airs Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Photo Credit: Courtesy of CBS.
