FBI Season 7, Episode 8, "Riptide" has all the hallmarks of a midseason finale. It offers up plenty of action sequences, has an emotional subplot for one of the main characters, and concludes on a note meant to shock the audience. But the most interesting part of the hour is actually its casting choices, because the episode brings back someone from perhaps the most underrated TV crime drama ever.
"Riptide" starts out focusing on an international robbery crew, but pivots away from that into a story about police corruption. It has enough plot twists and turns to keep the audience on the edge of their seats and the acting is solid throughout. There are some aspects that the audience will have cause to debate and disagree with, but ultimately it pauses the Dick Wolf drama on a high note.
FBI Season 7, Episode 8 Goes Back Into OA's Past
Clay Voss Returns for One More Case
"Riptide" brings back OA Zidan's old friend Clay Voss (played by Guy Lockard), who was introduced in FBI Season 7, Episode 2, "Trusted" and later became OA's informant. Once that happened, audiences knew that Clay would resurface again, and not in a good way. The character had already caused trouble in his two earlier appearances — and in TV crime dramas, when someone from a hero's past pops back up, it usually is not good. FBI follows that trend by forcing OA to shoot and kill his former colleague.
The plot involves $25 million in gold bullion being imported by a hedge fund when it's stolen by a well-known group of Haitian thieves. The show quickly shifts away from this idea (which is probably good, since there was a story about international robbers in the FBI: International season premiere). The Haitians are murdered by a group of police officers, while Clay's employer Pyramid Security is hired by the hedge fund to try and find the inside man. This presents an opportunity for OA to put Clay into the field, and it's not a huge shock that he decides to take the bullion for himself and gets into a physical fight with OA. That "friend to enemy" twist isn't uncommon in this genre.
What makes this matter is the toll that it takes on OA, and not just in those last moments. OA reveals to Maggie Bell the full story of why he's been so loyal to Clay, and for viewers, it's less about that loyalty and more about the 22 days of torment that OA went through at the hands of the Taliban. Audiences know he has a painful history but it's another thing to hear it spelled out, especially as Zeeko Zaki is so great at saying the lines with palpable emotion. Audiences can hear his voice crack later on when OA begs Clay not to do what the viewer knows he will. It's disappointing that FBI chose the bad ending for OA, but Zaki delivers once again.
FBI Welcomes Cold Case's Jeremy Ratchford
The Genre Favorite Makes a Great Villain
Where FBI Season 7, Episode 8 really gets interesting is when it introduces Detective John Lettieri. Not only does that throw a wrench into the plot, but eagle-eyed TV crime drama fans will recognize that Lettieri is portrayed by actor Jeremy Ratchford. Ratchford is best known for playing another detective, Nick Vera, in the cult hit CBS series Cold Case. Seeing Ratchford on FBI is the next best thing to a Cold Case revival. He's not immediately recognizable and it's strange to see him playing an antagonist — but he still has the same screen presence he did as Vera. And because of that, the underlying story about police officers trying to get revenge works.
The reveal that Lettieri and his colleagues murdered the robbers is the big plot twist in "Riptide," and there's supposed to be some conflict for both the characters and the audience, because the motive is that they're trying to get even with the hedge fund after a bad investment resulted in money being lost from the county pension fund. Lettieri and his team believe the hedge fund folks are the real villains, and FBI wants viewers to at least consider that idea. Ratchford is great playing the tough guy when Lettieri confronts Clay, but he's also wonderful under interrogation as the character shows his more frustrated, desperate side. He keeps the show from being just another corrupt cop story.
FBI Reveals What Happened to Ella
Fans Have a Reason to Be Upset About It
The biggest problem in "Riptide" is that it perpetuates the problematic idea from FBI Season 7, Episode 6, "Perfect" about Maggie Bell being unable to be both an FBI agent and a guardian for Ella. "Riptide" begins with Maggie informing OA that she has legally transferred guardianship of Ella to Kevin. Later on, she also uses Ella as a cautionary example to OA, saying that she took in Ella for the wrong reasons and categorizing that choice as a "mistake." This exchange makes an already terrible plot idea feel even worse.
That line makes it sound like Maggie regrets becoming Ella's guardian. And having Ella move in with her uncle comes across as FBI just having decided it's no longer interested in that storyline, so it's finding a quick way to get rid of it. It's not the first time that a Dick Wolf show has quickly wrapped up a plotline once it's served its apparent purpose; one only needs to look at Guy Lockard's stint on Chicago Med, where his character Dr. Dylan Scott barely lasted a full season. While it's not clear if that's what happened on FBI, there's no doubt that this subplot could have been handled much better.
Between that and the continued awkwardness of Sydney Ortiz, FBI Season 7, Episode 8 stumbles in a couple of places. But those missteps aren't enough to drag down an episode that crosses off everything viewers typically look for in a finale. From OA's emotional roller coaster to going through multiple antagonists, "Riptide" has a lot going on. It also makes the smart decision not to end on a cliffhanger, instead allowing the audience to sit with OA's grief and self-doubt. So many TV shows are always looking ahead, but it's the emotion that leaves the strongest impression in FBI, and that image of a brooding OA is a powerful way to end the first part of Season 7.
FBI airs Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. on CBS.
