FBI: International – Season 4 Episode 4 Recap & Review

The Unwinnable War

Episode 4 of FBI: International Season 4 takes us to Barrio De Las Letras, Madrid. Here, we find Agent Lopez and his partner making an arrest, but something about how they are talking to the suspect seems off. 

Meanwhile, in Budapest, Amanda asks Vo to watch her daughter as she has been summoned to the office. Someone from the Inspector General wants to personally speak to Amanda. She is worried she might be in trouble, but Vo assures her it is nothing. Upon getting to the office, Amanda learns that they want her to go on an undercover mission. Based on her skills, she is the only one who can handle this sensitive mission. They tell her that they need someone to investigate Lopez.

The FBI got a tip from a fellow agent, Christina, but she was killed by the cartel before she filed a formal report. The FBI believes Lopez is working with the cartel and set Christina up. They are launching a honey-trap operation and Amanda is the honey. She agrees to the operation and the Fly team heads to Madrid. 

In Madrid, Lopez welcomes them and takes note of how the team is treating Amanda. He thinks the Fly team is there to help them wrap a drug case and Amanda is not close with her team. This is part of the Fly team’s plan to get Lopez to trust Amanda and feel he can use her. Working with Lopez, Wes interrogates the suspect Lopez arrested, but the man refuses to talk. Lopez acts like he is deeply interested in arresting the cartel and getting justice for Christina. He asks to speak to a source privately to avoid spooking him. During all these, the other members place bugs in the office to listen in on Lopez. They also bug his phone.  

As they investigate, they realise that Lopez is tipping the cartel about their movements. However, they need proof, and this is where Amanda comes in. She gets close to Lopez by telling him about the lack of trust she suffers in her team. She makes it look like she is eager to prove herself and Lopez buys her act. He invites her to a restaurant to meet with a source. Before heading there, Amanda wears a wire, and Wes informs her how far she can go for the operation. They decide on a distress word and send Amanda in.  

On the ride with Lopez, he receives a call from an unknown number, which he ignores. Amanda sends the number to her team. Lopez claims that his high-end lifestyle is part of a plan to lure the cartel and make his sources feel like he is one of them. He subtly mentions that he feels the FBI is watching him and Amanda says that Wes has been acting weird.

At the restaurant, the source claims that the cartel has been changing their plans because of heavy police scrutiny. He doesn’t offer much before leaving. Later, Lopez starts flirting with Amanda and invites her to his house. He even offers to get her a new position on his team. Vo sneakily saves Amanda and Lopez thinks Amanda left because she was jealous another girl is flirting with him. On the other hand, Amanda worries that she is not doing enough. 

In the meantime, Raines follows up on the number Amanda sent. The number leads them to a cartel source, Jose Ramos. Surprisingly, Lopez went through a lot of trouble to constantly meet with Ramos, even though he said in his report he is not helpful. Raines and Wes track and arrest Ramos without Lopez’s knowledge.

Once they have Ramos, they keep Lopez from interrogating him. They turn Ramos and he agrees to flip on Lopez. However, the team needs to catch Lopez red-handed, so they make it look like Ramos has been telling them everything about the cartel. They trick Lopez and his partner into thinking they are going after a cartel’s next shipment. 

In the meantime, they come up with a new plan to get into Lopez’s house. Lopez is paranoid and rarely lets anyone into his house. He also checks them to make sure they don’t have a wire. Amanda finds a clever way to get past this and drops by Lopez’s house to place a bug. She claims she is there to trade some information she recently found out.

Outside, the team waits and watches in case things go south. They already know that Lopez called the cartel’s lawyer, and he is tripping. He is supposed to meet with the lawyer at his house and Amanda needs to be gone before then. However, Lopez asks Amanda to stay in his bedroom while he talks to the lawyer. 

Lopez is hoping that he can find a way to get the FBI off his back. He tells the cartel lawyer about the upcoming bust and asks him to kill Wes. The lawyer immediately realises it is a trap. The cartel has no shipments or houses in the area that Lopez mentioned. He tells Lopez that he messed up and quickly leaves. Lopez returns to his room to confront Amanda.

A fight ensues as Raines and Wes rush to get to Amanda. Inside the room, Amanda fights back, but Lopez pins her to the wall and starts choking her. Fortunately, Wes barges in and Lopez is distracted enough for Amanda to grab the nearest bottle and hit him. 

After the arrest, Amanda worries she broke the rules because she kissed Lopez. On the other hand, Wes is concerned because the recording was not working. To get Lopez, they offer his partner a reduced sentence if he tells them about Christina. The partner betrays Lopez and sings like a canary.

Amanda later tells Lopez that his gig is up and she is looking forward to his trial. The episode ends with the team returning home. Wes informs Amanda that Lopez took a plea deal, so there will be no trial. He offers to get her more fieldwork, but she turns him down. Amanda is happy she proved herself, but her daughter is her main priority. 

The Episode Review

It was a nice change of pace to see Amanda in the field. She did a great job. The scene where she tells Vo her fears was the highlight of the episode. It proves that Amanda knows her priority and is a good mom. All in all, Amanda would make a great undercover agent if she changes her mind about getting into fieldwork.

The war on drugs can sometimes feel like a lost cause, but Lopez had a duty to protect his city. He failed to uphold his promise and even got a fellow officer killed. He deserves to pay for his crimes and it is nice that agents like Amanda risk their lives to get justice for victims like Christina. Thanks to Amanda, Lopez didn’t get away with betraying his badge.