FBI: International – Season 2 Episode 12 “Glimmers and Ghosts” Recap & Review

Glimmers and Ghosts

Episode 12 of FBI: International Season 2 starts with an old man getting home and finding an intruder. The intruder asks the man if his family knows the things he did and mentions a code name, Indigo. He tells the man that he is simply the first person on his list. He gives the old man two options, to tell the press the truth or hang himself. The old man chooses to hang himself.

In Budapest, Jaeger calls the team and asks for their help to solve the case. The old man is Tobias, a German national. She tells the team that the killer left no evidence other than a recording.

The team flies to Berlin and is welcomed by Jaeger and Detective Kai Draxler. Forrester asks to see the recording of the murder. Jaeger shows him the recording by a vintage recorder. Their theory is Tobias turned on the recorder when he realized he is in trouble. Smitty points out that the vintage recorder is proof of old-school tradecraft.

Further investigations into Tobias reveal he was a Stazi during the cold war. He was a sleeper agent who was in an elite spy unit of the Stazi called Indigo. The group operated in the West, torturing and assassinating their opponents.

Raines analyzes the recording but he doesn’t find anything to identify the culprit. He asks for more time and help from Vo. Forrester asks Jaeger to get them files on Indigo. Jaeger introduces Vo to a man named Simon. Simon worked in intelligence for West Germany before reunification and he was a spy hunter and Jaeger’s mentor.

Simon is startled to hear the name Indigo. He tells them that Indigo was a Stazi sleeper unit operating in the West.  A five-man team compartmentalized,  each member reported only to their immediate superior which meant that only one person knew the identity of the unit’s director. Indigo majored in psychological warfare to destabilize people’s lives. According to Simon, Indigo was the worst. They were ruthless and efficient.

Kellet and Jaeger tell Simon that they found one member of Indigo. Simon is curious to hear how and whether the man in question has admitted it. They tell him the man was killed by an American and ask for all the files and records he has on Indigo. Simon is initially hesitant but Jaeger begs him until he gives in.

Raines uses new technology to analyze the audio and get a possible reconstruction of the suspect’s face.  They narrow down the search using priors and they get a possible lead, a man named Paul. He is a German man who was adopted by an American couple but he applied to regain his German nationality two weeks ago.

Raines and Smitty head to his last known address and it is registered to a woman named Anna.  The landlord tells them that Anna has not paid rent for months and she has never seen th suspect. They check the apartment and Raines finds a letter of apology. Smitty spots Anna and tries to approach her but Anna runs upon hearing that they are looking for  Paul. Smith runs after her and manages to arrest her.

They bring her in for questioning and she refuses to talk. They decide to get some leverage on her phone to get her to talk. Raines discovers that Paul and Anna are siblings who got separated.  They both have turbulent childhoods and the team wonders how Paul got the elusive names of the  Indigo members and if Anna is helping him. Smitty gets  CCTV near Esteban’s house and sees Anna was nearby a few minutes before the attack. Forrester decides to use this information as his leverage against Anna.

Anna is not remorseful and tells them that she was trying to stop Paul but failed. She doesn’t divulge much and Jaeger gives her the letter her brother left in the house. She implores her to save Paul and she reveals Paul’s motive. It turns out Paul is revenging his dad who was falsely accused and his wife killed by  Indigo. This forced Paul’s dad to commit suicide by hanging and a young Paul discovered his body.

As the investigation deepens, Jaeger finds herself having a hard time as the case brings up painful memories. She shares with Forrester some of these memories and what happened to her family.

In the meantime, Raines and Kellet visit Dr Alina to get more information on Indigo. She is the woman who accused Paul’s dad of professional misconduct and set the ball rolling. Dr Alina admits that she was threatened by an anonymous man to accuse Paul’s dad or have her sister killed. She blames herself for what happened to the family. She remembers the man’s face and identifies him as Michael Berkhoff.

Raines and Kellet quickly trace Michael Berkhoff and arrive to find his house broken into. They find him crying over his dead wife’s body but there is no sign of Paul. Michael Berkhoff is remorseful after hearing why Paul came after him. He confirms that Paul’s dad was killed and it was staged as suicide. They also killed his wife. Michael Berkhoff has nothing left so he gladly tells the agents that he used to report to Tobias. He is shocked to learn that Tobias is already dead. He tells them about the diligent recordings they kept and tells them they can get the name of the director in them.

Forrester confronts Anna about the Indigo files but she is worried about Paul. They tell her that Paul killed an innocent woman and ask her to help them.  Paul’s father had left them a safe deposit and there was a lot of information on Indigo. Before Paul left, he gave Anna the files to safeguard. She gives them the files but they have to go through the files manually. They pour themselves into the files and try to find the name of the director.

Anna gets a text on her phone and Forrester asks her to call him and convince him to surrender. They try to trace the call and listen in as Paul informs Anna that he has found the director. Anna begs him to stop and Paul apologizes but refuses to give up. Anna slips and talks about the FBI and warns her brother to run. The phone call is too short to trace Paul’s location and Forrester is disappointed in her.

Paul has his final target so they need to go through the files quickly. The stress gets to Jaeger and she confides in Forrester how she was abandoned by her dad to escape.  Soon after, her mom was arrested and that was the end of her family. She thinks Indigo broke her father and that is why he ran.  She wants to reveal everything Indigo did in the past.

Vo decides to change course and discovers something within the files. The name of the director is shockingly, Simon. Jaeger is perplexed more than anyone and they immediately head over to take Simon down. They find him holding a gun to Paul’s head. He tries to make it look like he was defending himself but Jaeger asks him to cut the crap. Simon realizes that the ruse is over and tries to kill himself but the gun malfunctions. The team arrests them and Paul takes responsibility for everything.

Forrester informs Anna that Paul was arrested and encourages her to hold on to Paul. He even allows the two to see each other and say goodbye.  Unfortunately, the team feels bummed by the whole situation. They feel like Paul was a victim too and they have no choice but to bring charges against Anna too.  There is even more bad news, Paul’s and Anna’s parents were initially Stavi spies and then they betrayed the Indigo. Forrester questions if they should tell the siblings the truth.

Arresting Simon, her role model is emotionally taxing for Jaeger. She refuses to accept Simon’s apology and the episode ends with her talking to Forrester and coming to terms with the betrayal.

The Episode Review

This was certainly an extremely personal case for Jaeger. It was also a reminder that many are still suffering from the pain and loss brought by war. The effects of war can be long-lasting and too painful. As Jaeger said, it is not easy to move on especially when those who caused the pain continue to live their life as if everything is fine.

It is also unfortunate that Simon might get off scot-free even after all the war crimes he committed. What a sad reality that keeps happening even in this era.