The first few minutes of FBI Season 8 Episode 13 excited me more than most recent episodes of the procedural.
The FBI’s setup to help trace a kidnapper’s ransom call, while Jubal tried to keep the father calm and get information out of him, promised an emotional and intellectual challenge, and the villain’s demand was interesting.
Unfortunately, FBI ditched that plot pretty quickly in favor of the type of shootout and hostage situation the series has depicted thousands of times.
A More Drawn-Out Kidnapping for Ransom Story Would Have Been Refreshing
FBI Season 8 has relied far too much on gun violence and chases.
Yes, those aspects are part of the show, but it needs to stop sacrificing the investigative piece. As written, these stories often feel like characters are being moved around for the sake of getting to the next high-stakes, violent incident.
That’s been a problem for a while, but it was worse on FBI Season 8 Episode 13 because the opening scenes had so much potential to be something different.
The skills needed to keep an angry kidnapper talking long enough to trace a call and locate a victim are different than what we usually get, and the stakes involved are also different.
Instead of mindless violence, we got a missing kid, an anxious father who wasn’t sticking to the cops’ script, and a tech-dependent investigation.
The victim wasn’t a Boy Scout either, which meant that there were plenty of reasons someone might take him, and it also complicated the situation.
The father could have been afraid to be open with the police because he didn’t want his son arrested for drugs once he was found, or he could have been struggling with guilt because he did something that provoked the kidnapper into violence.
All of that would have made for compelling drama as the FBI raced against the clock to find this kid before it was too late.
I wouldn’t have even minded a stereotypical NYPD captain who felt this was their case and didn’t want Jubal’s team involved.
The “Wrong Kid” Twist Would Have Been Okay If It Didn’t End So Quickly
The fact that the kidnappers stole the wrong boy could have worked had it remained a story about saving the kid who was taken.
In fact, that could have added a compelling ticking-clock element —the FBI had to act fast before the kidnappers realized their mistake.
Instead, as soon as Sean Lewis realized he had the wrong kid, he left him abandoned and tied up in a car trunk so he could prepare to cause trouble elsewhere.
How incredibly disappointing!
It also seemed pointless.
Ricky couldn’t identify his kidnappers.
The only thing he knew was that he’d been grabbed while waiting for Landon outside his home.
So why keep him tied up in the trunk rather than letting him go?
That decision also contradicted everyone’s fear that Ricky would be killed once the kidnappers realized the mistake, lowering the tension for no good reason.
FBI Season 8 Episode 13 was full of things that happened “just because,” and this was one of them.
The Hostage Situation That Followed Relied Too Much on Brute Force
Did it bother anyone else that there was virtually no security in the locker room of a major sports team, especially after kidnappers had already targeted the owner through his son?
It was great that the FBI tried to secure the area, but that was a major flaw that should have been addressed before the sports team entered the building, especially given what had already happened.
Anyway, once the hostage situation began, it could have been interesting — if it had focused on hostage negotiations instead of brute force.
Negotiations are always the most interesting part of any hostage storyline.
Police negotiators use many of the same skills that psychotherapists use in order to convince the hostage-taker that they are on the same side and that continuing to threaten people’s freedom and lives won’t accomplish anything.
When done well, it becomes a kind of psychological chess game in which the negotiator has to work hard to gain trust and get the hostage-taker to surrender.
There was some of that in the final confrontation between Jubal and Sean, but it was too little too late. After Jubal had spent most of the hour trying to force a resolution, it’s unsurprising that Sean was skeptical of his ability to understand.
Additionally, it seemed weird that Ramos took so long to get to the point of asking Eric to talk to Sean. That was more important than getting him to confess to putting Sean up to the whole scheme.
We Also Need to Talk About That Ending
Once all was said and done, Jubal’s decision to ask Stan to visit Sean in jail was disturbing.
I’m all for restorative justice, but that’s not the same as demanding forgiveness and support toward the perpetrator of a violent crime from the victim.
At most, Stan should have been asked if he wanted to make a victim impact statement. Forgiving or emotionally supporting Sean is not his responsibility, and he should not have been burdened with it.
I think the writers were going for moral ambiguity as the credits rolled, but it came off as weird and inconsiderate of Stan’s trauma.
Over to you, FBI fanatics.
What did you think of this kidnapping-turned-violent-hostage-situation?
Did FBI Season 8 Episode 13 meet your expectations?
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