There may be a big hole to fill on FBI: International.
Just as Forrester was handling Tank having a health crisis, a deadly past case put Kellett’s own position in jeopardy and could shift the team’s dynamic and its leaders forever.
Kellett gets a call for help
Close To the Sun began with Forrester leading Tank back to headquarters, with the dog doing much better after his surgery.
And Vo was in training in Paris while Kellett was talking to Agent Harold Porter (Jay Paulson) about the case in Prague where the team had investigated a father accused of killing the head of an adult video ring that had driven the man’s daughter to kill herself.
Porter pressed Kellett on how she and the victim’s sister, Ella, had been close while leaving the crime scene, with Kellett coolly answering. Porter clearly knew Ella had killed the website owner and that her father confessed to spare her.
He also brought up how Kellett’s own sister had committed suicide eight years earlier and threatened to have her bounced from the FBI if she didn’t tell the truth.
In Belfast, Northern Ireland, a man (Ryan Watkinson) was arrested running from the scene of a police officer and a crook shot while stating he’d only talk to Kellett. Kellett confirmed the man, Liam Walsh, was one of her informants and a good one too with inside info on crimes in Northern Ireland. That included that the weapon used was part of a theft of U.S. guns.
Due to political red tape between the U.K. and Europol, Jaeger couldn’t participate in the investigation. In Belfast, Chief Burke (Simon Delaney) warned the team they were walking into a tense situation. Proving him right, the murdered officer’s partner, Inspector Sean Henry (Kevin O’Grady), was irate at Liam being let go just because he worked with the FBI.
Liam claimed he’d been giving his friend Danny a ride home after he got drunk. When they pulled off, Danny just shot the cop and Liam was panicked to run. He hinted that Danny was part of a larger smuggling operation running stolen weapons into Europe, and he’d give up more in exchange for immunity.
Kellett told Forrester that Liam had given her good intel before, and he needed to trust her. Liam talked of having a daughter and how he couldn’t go to jail, so he agreed to help. Forrester was ready to floor Henry for insulting Kellett, and Henry was not happy about cutting Liam any breaks.
Who’s playing whom?
Using Liam’s info, the team joined the cops at the spot where the guns were being kept only to find the place in flames, and then shots fired at them. The shots actually turned out to be the remains of the ammo left behind, and the baddies were long gone.
Forrester thought maybe Liam had tipped the gang off but also conceded it was more likely a corrupt cop had listened in on the team’s phones to spread the news. Forrester was ready to let the cops have Liam, but he suggested this was tied in with Danny’s uncle, Patrick Ferrell (Diarmuid Da Faoite), a true believer in the Irish Republican Army.
The local IRA branch used Rory’s, a local pub, as a base, with Kellett volunteering to go undercover with Liam. First, she stopped to see Liam’s ex-wife Lauren (Karen Hassan) and their daughter Amelia (Sofia Cassells). Lauren claimed Liam had never worked with the IRA and would always put his daughter first.
Kellett suspected Liam was much deeper in the IRA than he claimed, was only in it for the money, and was desperate to protect his family. Forrester suggested Liam was playing a game, and even Kellett knew he was lying to her. She insisted she could handle him.
Kellett warned Liam that his FBI codename was “Icarus” after the mythological figure who flew too close to the sun and had to be careful. However, Forrester was more interested in how Henry seemed to be trying too hard to be upset about his partner’s death and told Raines to look into it.
Liam and Kellett headed to the bar, Liam having a tense showoff with Patrick. Kellett took advantage to check downstairs only to be met by owner Rory (David Pearse) and a shotgun. She claimed to be looking for a friend when Liam appeared with a timely interruption. Patrick made it obvious he wanted Liam out of his life for good.
A heartbreaking decision
Raines found some security footage showing that when the shooting happened, Henry freaked out recognizing someone, which caused his partner to react to being shot. Henry’s “outrage” was all to cover his guilt over running in fear and which passenger he’d recognized.
Burke passed a message to Kellett just before Liam asked her to cut the cops out of a meeting with the gun-runners. He pushed on how he wanted out of the game, and Kellett could help him as “we’re a team.”
Burke and Kellett appeared to be at odds with Burke finally declaring she was on her own. She and Liam drove to a farmhouse as Kellett mused on someone using former IRA safehouses to figure out the operation and that for a man so deep with them, Liam was eager to get back on the street.
She added how they got out of the bar way too easily and that it was about clearing a debt. So, in short, Liam was the real boss of this entire operation and was planning to kill Kellett.
Kellett revealed she had outplayed Liam as they’d picked up his family on their way to the airport to join them. She then gave Liam a choice: call up the cops to confess, or Kellett would drive his wife and daughter right into an ambush.
Liam got on the phone to call his gang to abort the mission, which was a blatant confession. Kellett then informed him that Henry had given Liam up, and the entire gang was arrested an hour ago, so his family was never in danger. Liam bid a sad farewell to his daughter before he was led away.
Back in Budapest, Porter showed a grainy photo of Kellett on the bridge where she had disposed of Ella’s murder weapon. Forrester chimed in that he was with Kellett at the time of the photo, although Porter didn’t seem to believe it.
Kellett was upset about Forrester lying for her, pointing out that revealing their affair could get his career in trouble. She believed she was putting the team at risk and needed a break, but whether she meant from the team or Forrester alone was unclear.
It was an insightful hour for Kellett as her past sins may be putting her future with the FBI in jeopardy.
FBI: International returns with new episodes Tuesday, February 1 at 9/8c on CBS.