SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers from FBI Season 8, Episode 15.
FBI Season 8, Episode 15 is an episode that’s more functional than it is entertaining. With a full network TV season to fill out, not every episode of the CBS show can be a big deal; some just have a job to do. And the job of “Crusader” is to reveal more about new recruit Eva Ramos.
The episode, penned by showrunner Mike Weiss, revisits Eva’s history as a federal prosecutor before she was an FBI agent—an idea that may make some viewers skeptical. It evokes memories of the overhaul of Law & Order: Los Angeles, when Alfred Molina’s character Ricardo Morales went from being Deputy District Attorney to senior detective; it just doesn’t quite fit. But putting that aside, viewers are introduced to the bad guy from Eva’s past: Hector Vega, played by Noel Guglielmi (aka Noel G) from the Fast & Furious movie franchise. From that point on, the audience has an idea of where this story is going.
Eva reluctantly teams up with Vega in order to capture an even more dangerous drug dealer, but the story beats are easy to follow: Eva doesn’t trust Vega, the two of them butt heads, Vega inevitably slips away for him to live “rent-free” in Eva’s head some more. It’s not a terrible story, but it’s also nothing that grabs the audience’s attention. Especially not when it comes right after “Forgiven,” which saw the villain from Maggie Bell’s past return to haunt her. (At least this provides an explanation for Missy Peregrym getting this episode off, as Maggie is taking bereavement leave following the murder of her sister. Jeremy Sisto is also absent, with Isobel taking Jubal’s place calling the shots.)
What’s interesting about “Crusader” is that the best scenes of the episode don’t necessarily belong to Eva. John Boyd gets a big moment when Stuart Scola chastizes his partner for not coming clean about her history with Vega, and along those lines, Zeeko Zaki has a good beat when OA Zidan tells Eva to not put Scola through the pain of potentially losing another partner. In fact, Zaki gets the biggest stunt piece of the episode, when OA has to jump from a moving truck onto the hood of another vehicle driven by his colleagues, after dispatching a henchman. FBI seems to like to put OA through the wringer the same way that Chicago Fire routinely tries to kill Kelly Severide.
Guglielmi is a capable guest star, bringing all the necessary bluster and stubborness to the role of Hector Vega. But aside from that one truck stop robbery-turned shootout-turned chase sequence, “Crusader” is also kind of slow paced; it’s not until the final few minutes that the real bad guy appears on screen. Could it be that this is another FBI episode setting up a plot that’ll come around again? The show likes to do that, and for the most part it’s able to pay those teases off.
Regardless, “Crusader” puts the focus on Eva Ramos, but it doesn’t necessarily make the audience look at her any differently. The episode provides a few facts that fans didn’t have before—and then it’s on to the next case. When Scola walks away after his pep talk to Ava, the audience can walk away without regret, too.
FBI airs Mondays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Photo Credit: Bennett Raglin/Courtesy of CBS.
