Ready or Not

Episode 7 of FBI season 5 starts with a woman and a man being shot in the streets late at night. The next morning, the team welcomes Maggie and Isobel gives them their new case. OA is concerned that Maggie’s return is happening too quickly but Maggie assures him that she is ready to go but a tad bit nervous.

Maggie and OA head to the crime scene while Isobel briefs Jubal on the victims. She is worried that the community is angry about what happened and that the female victim, Marisol was planning to be an FBI agent.  The male victim, Kiko was a troubled youth trying to get his life together. The media has already got a whiff of the shooting and they are following the story closely.

Footage from the scene shows the shooter fleeing and they can visibly see a mark on his arm which they believe is a tattoo. The ballistics reports reveal that the gun used in the shooting is also linked to three other shootings. The cases are linked to a local gang group led by a man named José and the gang is on the DEA’s radar.

Tiffany and Schola interrogate Kiko’s girlfriend to see if he had any connections to the gang. The girlfriend is hesitant to tell them anything as she is well aware that snitches get stitches in that hood. Tiffany convinces her to trust them and she tells them that Kiko was selling dope on the gang’s territory and she thinks they killed him for it. She also tells them about a fight that took place two days ago between another man and Kiko.

The police trace street cameras and find the footage of the fight. They use the footage to identify the assailant who turns out to be a man named Matteo.

Meanwhile, OA sees Maggie is carrying around anxiety medicine and he questions her about them. She says that she got them prescribed by a therapist outside the Bureau but she is yet to take them. OA reminds her that using medication that the FBI doesn’t know about can get her fired but she insists she only brought them as she felt nervous about being back. OA tells her that he is there for her if she needs anything.

They head over to Matteo’s place and Maggie starts having flashbacks of what happened to her during the sarin gas attack that left her recovering for almost seven months. They successfully arrest Matteo and find a gun on him. OA asks Maggie if she is okay after freezing up in Matteo’s apartment. She insists she is okay but it is understandable that she is traumatized and is having a hard time back on the job.

Matteo denies killing Kiko and Marisol and the ballistics on his gun prove that is not the gun used in the shooting. They are still sure he is lying about his alibi but they don’t know why. Further investigations lead them to Sloane who is Matteo’s boyfriend. Sloane begs them not to reveal that Matteo is gay as the gang will kill him for that. He also gives them evidence that proves Matteo is not the murderer they are looking for.

Matteo offers to help with the case if he and Sloane can get lighter sentences. Maggie offers to go undercover but OA thinks she is taking it too fast.  The stint gets approved by Isobel and Maggie goes in as a club owner. The stint goes off plan and OA pulls the alarm trying to save Maggie but the situation escalates leading to one person being shot.

José gets wind of what went down at this alleged sale and insists on meeting Matteo and Maggie. OA worries if Maggie is ready but they have no choice but to forge ahead with the plan and get José to confess to the murders.

The second stint proves to be more dangerous as José is unpredictable. Maggie does her best to control the situation and once she says the safe word, the team moves in. José uses that chance to try and escape but he is unsuccessful.

OA confronts Maggie about the shooting and her medication and she is offended that he doesn’t trust her. Maggie leaves the bottle of medication with him and angrily walks away.

The Episode Review

Maggie’s return was highly anticipated and the writers and cast didn’t let us down. It is expected that Maggie would be nervous and traumatized. She nearly died the last time she was on the job. It is, however, surprising that OA is riding her this hard. He is constantly double-checking her and questioning her every move. It can be overwhelming even though he is coming from a good place.

He has been there before and Maggie didn’t question him half as much as he is questioning her. He is worried and it is a fact that Maggie is not 100% back but his approach is taxing. It would be better if he stepped back a bit and just be ready to be there for her when she needs it. All in all though, this is another good episode. Do you guys agree?