SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for FBI Season 9, Episode 4.
FBI Season 9, Episode 4 is functionally a reset button for the show. With the Anna Vorpe plotline over, the CBS drama has to get OA Zidan back on the team and thus write out his temporary replacement, Isaiah Green. But what could’ve not even been an episode turns out to be a very complicated hour, typical of the added layers FBI brings to its storytelling.
In theory, the creative team didn’t have to give Isaiah an exit. They could have simply had him leave off-screen, throw in a line from Maggie about where he went, and focus all of “Reticence” on OA reacclimating to his job. That even makes a certain degree of sense, since there’s obviously a broader emotional storyline ahead for OA, and the writers know how much the fans are invested in OA and Maggie. But instead, Episode 4 is a pretty interesting outing for both characters—even if it has some noticeable flaws, too.
The biggest one is the show’s use of first-person camera in two scenes, including the pre-credits; first-person perspective will never not look like watching a video game. It’s clunky and it’s literally jarring. FBI does this to conceal the fact that Isaiah is the suspect of the week, but it honestly would’ve been better to just come out with that right in the pre-credits. The real value isn’t the shock of finding out that Isaiah is a potential killer; it’s in the emotional response the viewer has afterward.
That includes from Maggie. The way FBI handles Isaiah’s case is better than the typical crime drama approach to the “good guy accused of a crime” plot. The audience knows that there will be someone certain of Isaiah’s innocence, and somebody else convinced he’s guilty, because that’s how these storylines typically play out. To have Maggie and OA be those two opposites is also a way to reflect on their relationship. And given how long Maggie has known OA and how briefly she worked with Isaiah, it’s nice to see her stick up in Isaiah’s defense. On another show, she could have just admitted she doesn’t know Isaiah that well, or sided with the partner she loves and trusts because it’s OA. Instead, FBI respects Maggie’s brief partnership with Isaiah by having her advocate for him—and continue to support him at the end of the episode.
This is the most screen time actor Roland Buck III has gotten all season, and it’s ironic that viewers finally get to know Isaiah in the episode in which he’s clearly leaving. To reveal that the character is bipolar is an interesting way to write him out; it’s more complicated than having him killed, transferred or that period where it looked like he was going to be a mole for his uncle. It also enables a brief discussion about mental health, and the pressure that Isaiah put on himself as ADIC Green’s nephew. That little fact seemed like it was just thrown in as a quirk at first, but four episodes later, it becomes the biggest component of his character. And Buck has an awful lot to do, both in terms of acting and action sequences.
The best scene in the whole hour isn’t with any of FBI‘s series regulars; it’s between Buck and Curtiss Cook. Isaiah is distraught over thinking he lost the baby who was in the back of the van he stole. His uncle helps him remember a neighborhood day care, and it’s revealed that even at his lowest point, Isaiah took the time to drop the baby off there so the child would be safe. The characterization of ADIC Green is also wonderful here; instead of just showing up and complaining to Isobel and Jubal, Green gets to be part of the solution. He’s written like an uncle would be, instead of just a bureaucratic speed bump. And all of this leads to the long-term subplot set up for OA and Maggie.
Again, FBI is under no obligation to probe OA’s mental health. The show could’ve simply gone back to business as usual, maybe with a long enough time skip or a quick scene about OA’s residual angst. Instead, it looks like that angst is going to stick around for a while. After said quick scene with OA and his new girlfriend Zara (which, that pairing doesn’t feel any more compelling than it did in Season 8; hopefully it’ll be better developed in Season 9), “Reticence” continues down that road with Maggie noticing a marked change in OA’s behavior. He bluntly tells the missing baby’s mom that they can’t promise they’ll find her kid—true but exactly what an officer should never say to an upset parent. He quotes Anna’s right-hand man Devon. OA claims he’s fine and that he won’t leave Maggie in the dark like she was with Isaiah, but she (and FBI viewers) know better. The final scene, in which Zara starts to tell Maggie about OA not being okay, is an obvious hint that this is going to play out over at least a few episodes.
That’s a very smart move. For the Anna Vorpe of it all to be as much of a challenge to OA’s morals as “White Rock” made it out to be, then there ought to be some aftereffects. These things just don’t often get explored on crime shows, for the logistical reasons mentioned above. It’s easier for storytelling (and syndication) to keep things relatively self-contained. But whenever a show digs into a character’s mental health, it’s usually compelling. In this case it’s a chance to throw a new wrench into Maggie and OA’s friendship, and see how that friendship evolves as a result of overcoming this latest hurdle. They’re such a good match together—Zara asking OA what Maggie has to say about his return feels like an acknowledgement of Maggie being important in OA’s life—but their relationship deserves to keep growing. And after everything Maggie went through with the death of her sister and OA supporting her in that, now it’s his turn to be the one on the hot seat.
The actual case of the week isn’t hard to figure out at all. FBI Season 9, Episode 4 makes it relatively easy to deduce that Isaiah isn’t the actual culprit, if one pays close attention to the details at each crime scene. From that point on, it doesn’t take much effort to see that this is yet another case of corporate greed. But that’s okay, because the suspence in “Reticence” is not meant to come from the whodunit. The case of the week is really the backdrop to explore Isaiah’s character, as well as the dynamics between OA and Maggie, and Isaiah and Maggie. This episode is a giant compare-contrast, and that’s what makes it rewarding.
The best thing about FBI is that added depth it provides to its characters. The individual cases may not always be that complex or even necessarily that interesting. But the writers put character first, and “Reticence” is a very strong episode character-wise. They give a full-episode sendoff to a guest character who could’ve disappeared into history without anyone complaining. And the fact that they put in the effort to do that, and to not just give OA the easy way out, says a lot about the quality of this show even nine seasons later.
FBI airs Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Photo Credit: Courtesy of CBS.
