I wasn’t sure what to expect after FBI Season 8 Episode 7 was so messy and violent.
Fortunately, FBI Season 8 Episode 8 got back on track with one of the season’s most compelling stories, though it felt resolved almost immediately after finding their adversary’s weak spot.
As usual with FBI, though, the case was bookended with a more emotional development: a significant change for OA.
FBI Season 8 Episode 8’s Intense Case Was Almost Perfect
I love stories about people risking everything to expose the truth, so this case about a journalist who was killed for her efforts and the cameraman who almost met the same fate was instantly compelling for me.
While Holly’s death seemed to be quickly brushed aside in favor of the kidnapping plot, that was almost a necessary evil — the story was centered on Quinn’s disappearance, so it had to move forward quickly.
Quinn’s abduction was as high-stakes as they come, with the threat that he would be smuggled to a Chinese labor camp despite being a US citizen if the team didn’t find him, and that made the story as disturbing as it was exciting.
The Chinese anti-dissident forces were as violent as the prisoners last week, but this time the violence was a necessary part of the story and didn’t dominate it.
It was unsettling to think that a foreign government could take someone off the streets in the US and send them to China simply for voicing an opinion, and that was a good thing.
There were parallels to what has happened in other authoritarian regimes, and, just as importantly, to the current political climate in the United States.
At first, I wasn’t sure that I liked the idea of showing China as the bully that wants to deport US citizens for having the “wrong” opinions, considering what has happened to countless numbers of citizens caught up in ICE raids over the past year.
But sometimes it’s more effective to make a point with a parallel story than by being too on-the-nose about current events, even for shows like FBI that love to rip stories from the headlines.
And it’s not like China hasn’t cracked down on dissidents before, so this wasn’t totally out of the realm of possibility, regardless of political parallels to US-based problems.
I’m Not Sure How I Feel About the Resolution of This Case
The investigation proceeded the way it usually does on FBI, with the team making steady progress while running up against a ticking clock.
However, I felt like the end suddenly accelerated to light speed.
The team discovered that the deputy attaché to China was involved in the abduction, found that she had been kidnapped too, got her to tell them where Quinn was, and rescued him… all in the space of 10 to 15 minutes.
.Of course, there was one final twist: the criminal was taken into custody by Chinese authorities, who planned to “follow protocol for dissidents” to punish her.
Look, the woman kidnapped actual dissidents and killed a bunch of them, all while serving as a liaison between China and the US.
She needs to answer for that, but being tortured by China because they see her as just like the people she killed doesn’t seem like justice.
It was the kind of twist that’s worthy of FBI, though.
It gets people talking about big questions like what justice looks like in a case like this.
FBI Season 8 hasn’t had many of those types of endings, and I’m thrilled to finally have one now.
Meanwhile, OA’s Personal Life Took A Strange Turn
When Gemma was shot during FBI Season 7, OA realized how much she meant to him, and they seemed more solid than ever.
But apparently that wasn’t the plan after all.
I can’t say I’m sad about that.
I’ve never bought the idea of OA and Gemma as a couple. Gemma often didn’t understand the nature of OA’s job as an FBI agent, and OA usually confided in Maggie before her, unless Maggie happened to be out of town.
That wasn’t exactly a rootable dynamic.
However, that doesn’t mean that Maggie and OA need to be more than friends.
Zeeko Zaki (OA) has said in numerous interviews that he would prefer it if OA and Maggie defied the usual trope of work partners becoming romantic partners, and I agree.
But right now, Maggie and OA are both single, so it’s hard to tell what the writers have planned, especially considering how sudden OA and Gemma’s breakup was.
OA’s secretiveness was typical OA, though Scola was right that not telling your partner you nearly died and spent time in the hospital doesn’t work.
But Gemma’s declaration that she met someone else was as shocking for those of us playing along at home as it was for OA, so it felt like it was a quick decision by the writers to get rid of her and go in a different direction with OA.
I dislike sudden story changes like that, but how about you?
Hit the comments with your thoughts about this development, the case, or anything else about the episode, and if you have friends who love FBI, share this article with them so they can chime in, too.
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