I didn’t expect FBI Season 8 Episode 20 to turn into outdoing SVU in the fight against wealthy, well-connected sexual predators.
The first half of the episode was not only standard FBI fare, but somewhat hard to believe.
Once we got an unnecessary hostage situation out of the way, the real case took shape — and it was one of the most important ones FBI has worked on in a while.
FBI Season 8 Episode 19’s Opening Included a Shocking Lack of Security
The first half of the episode involved violent and seemingly senseless murders, most of which were predictable.
Worse still, the first scene left me wondering why the heck the FBI’s evidence locker had such scant security.
Two guys riding in on bikes with guns shouldn’t be enough to kill one agent and scare the other into giving up a code that allows them to steal a ton of evidence.
This crime was necessary in order to kick off the investigation that would lead to the pedophile ring, but come on!
It’s understandable that after the other agent was shot dead in front of her, the woman who worked at the evidence locker would give out the code, but it never should have come to that in the first place.
The fake code she gave the first time should have done more than set off alarms — it should have ensured backup arrived immediately. And there should have been more people present in the first place, and a better security system so that the guys couldn’t get in there.
FBI Season 8 Episode 19 offered some explanation of how the bikers got in, which supposedly showed they were clever and knew how to game the system, but it was so unimpressive that I can’t remember what it was.
It was a minor point, really, because that crime only led to other crimes, and the real point of it seemed to be to get the first victim’s widow to ask to join the case.
That said, the discovery of a dead body 10 or 15 minutes in and the video in which one of the killers took off his mask for the camera left something to be desired.
First of all, it’s annoying that almost every episode involves finding a dead suspect or witness. It’s almost predictable — the only part that was surprising here was that it happened so early, as it more often happens around the halfway point.
But the issue of the killer removing his mask seemed awfully convenient, as if the writers decided they needed to identify him quickly and couldn’t think of another way to get the job done.
Jared was young and acting on pure emotion, but it still didn’t make sense that he would do that.
He had the presence of mind to run with the evidence he wanted as soon as Tate got shot and to force pills down Joe’s throat, but not to keep his mask on for an extra 30 seconds after he killed Joe? Come on.
There had to have been a better way to identify him than that.
The Second Half Of The Case Was Far More Interesting
I stopped struggling to pay attention once the pedophile ring stuff came into the case.
Yes, it was rather obvious that it was a takeoff on the Epstein files — Jubal even called the ring the Epstein files of New York, or some such thing.
However, cases about sexual assault survivors vs. powerful people who keep getting away with it interest me. In fact, the second half of this story is everything that Law & Order: SVU often is and aspires to be.
Isobel was giving off real Olivia Benson vibes when she spoke with Grayson on FBI Season 8 Episode 19, and again when she refused to keep the case quiet to make the people upstairs more comfortable.
Unlike on SVU, the ADIC here was secretly on Isobel’s side — should Benson retire from SVU and join the FBI?
Incidentally, what on Earth possessed the writers to give the head of the pedophile ring the same last name as the cop most famous for undoing these types of sex-abuse rings? That name was a huge distraction!
That said, Isobel’s scene where she got Grayson to open up was the best of the hour, even if we had to sit through yet another chase scene to get there.
Isobel rarely gets scenes like this — it was a nice treat for her to be able to show. her softer side, and once Grayson identified the traffickers, the case could finally move forward.
Were you satisfied with how FBI Season 8 Episode 19 moved from a murder spree to a pedophile ring?
And what did you think about the first half of the episode?
Was it too predictable, or did you enjoy it?
Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to share this article with your friends so they can join in the conversation.
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