Mixing business and pleasure can have exciting results.
Just after tracking down a fugitive using social media against them, the FBI: International Fly Team began a hunt for another interesting pair of crooks.
Meanwhile, Kellett and Forrester came to an unexpected head over their issues on Forrester’s fugitive mother (Elizabeth Mitchell) in the episode titled Snakes.
Fleeing the States for Europe
Surprisingly, the episode opened in Glendale, California, as Amelia and Gabriel Delvina (Georgia T. Willow and Christopher Convery) were surprised to see their parents, Fiona (Lou Jurgens) and James (Rob Evors), cut off the ankle bracelets they were wearing, bid them goodbye, and then take off running to a van. Seconds later, cops burst in looking for the pair.
Forrester and Kellett were professional as she brought up his calling counterintelligence on his mother, and Forrester was silent on what happened.
He reminded Kellet of the promise they’d made that if they ever broke up, they’d try to be professional on the job. With their local liaison gone, Kellett volunteered to stay in Budapest to cover for her.
Forrester explained that James and Fiona had been convicted for stealing $30 million in COVID-19 relief funds. They managed to get to Albania, and the team speculated they had some of the stolen money squirreled away.
Jaeger met the team in Albania, introducing them to Lieutenant Agnes Nika (Nada Sharp), who explained Fiona had been Fiona Abazi, whose father, Lorik (Alain Blazevic), was a high-ranking mobster. She pointed out that the locals were unlikely to break “besa,” their code of honor until the team offered a big reward.
Lorik was watching his granddaughter practice her horseriding and denied knowing where Fiona and James were. He suggested they try James’ family as “here, family comes before all.”
Lorik had written off Fiona years before, not for the scam, but for marrying “below her.” He admitted he was willing to help Amelia and Gabriel get to Albania.
Naturally, the gang didn’t believe him as they found a dead animal on their car hood as a warning to stop. Nika warned that if the couple made it to the mountains, they’d be impossible to find.
Kellett contacted them on no word, but Forrester suggested they allow the kids to fly to Albania in hopes it would flush Fiona and James out. When Raines noted the risk, Forrester summed up that if you weren’t willing to take those, “get another job.”
Posing as State Department officials, Raines and Vo saw the kids unite with their mom’s family.
Raines admitted he wasn’t happy about using them as it reminded him too much of taking care of his sister when they were kids. Lorik offered a bribe and then warned the pair not to show their faces again.
Is it right to use the kids?
As the team checked on the kids’ trackers, they got a tip about their location. They met Lendina Abazi (Cristina Catalina), who was willing to sell info on where Lorik was meeting them.
When asked why she was betraying the family, Lendina scoffed that she’d always been dismissed for her age and being alone and was treated like a servant. She wanted the money to help her injured boyfriend in Greece.
Ledina’s story seemed to check out with Jaeger chuckling at a crime family turning on each other. They met her with the money, half on the spot and the rest when the family was caught.
They followed the tracker to a local mall only to find the kids’ belongings left behind and realized they’d just been scammed for a small fortune.
Lendina was at a house, letting the family know their scam worked, only to realize too late she’d been bugged with Jaeger following her. James arrived as Ledina tried to attack Jaeger, who beat her down and took off after James.
Jaeger chased James across a park, finally forcing him off the road to arrest him. Forrester passed a van he realized carried the kids and chased it to a street. The driver ran off with the terrified Amelia and Gabriel left behind.
Forrester pressed Raines and Vo to talk to the kids, with Raines not happy about this, while Lendina was dragged off. Amelia could tell Vo was lying about having their mother in custody as Vo laid out just how much trouble they were all in, and James had to turn Fiona in.
Amelia was more worried about her brother as Raines assured them they’d be safe. Jaeger pressed James that it was best to get Fiona to turn herself in, but James refused. Forrester showed James his kids with the implication the kids would go to foster care if he didn’t cooperate.
Tensions rise to a boiling point
Raines got in Forrester’s face about using the kids like this, with Forrester still willing to go “as far as it needs.” Raines wondered if this was all because of Forrester’s own mother issues.
The kids overheard Forrester’s threats to separate them in foster care, freaking them out. James saw them through the interrogation room window and agreed to give up Fiona. Vo told Amelia this was all her parents’ actions, not her own fault.
James claimed the pair were planning to “distribute” the Covid money, but they cut off his lies and were ready to leave their kids. Fiona called, knowing the feds were listening in.
When James brought up how they’d split up their kids, Fiona agreed to come to the police station with a private meeting to say goodbye before her arrest. Forrester warned about any funny business with James stating Fiona wouldn’t risk the kids like that.
After waiting, the team got a text from Fiona saying she couldn’t go through with it. Amelia suddenly spoke up that she could give them her mother if she and her brother stayed together.
Forrester talked to Kellett, who noted Amelia was “willing to give up her own mom,” with Forrester admitting he couldn’t do the same. He assured Amelia he wouldn’t separate her and Gabriel as she didn’t need to betray her mother. She broke down crying in relief and hugged him.
Raines and Gabriel played a game naming countries with Nika saying they’d keep searching but couldn’t promise to find Fiona. Forrester let James have a few minutes with his kids before sending him back to California.
As the rest of the team headed home in Budapest, Kellett talked to Forrester about bringing the job home with him. She led him to another room that was a blind spot for cameras to kiss him. Even as he noted the “mixed messages,” Forrester gave in to their passion “just for tonight.”
While the chase for the fugitives ended differently than expected, the reunion of Kellett and Forrester brought true drama to this episode.
FBI: INternational returns with new episodes Tuesday March 22 at 9/8c on CBS.