FBI: Most Wanted had an awkward start for Season 4.
The anticipated Season 4 premiere featured the first meeting of Barnes and Remy Scott that came amid a dangerous case.
It brought up the troubling real-life crimes that occur as the team tried to head off another tragedy.
The storyline had major tension between Barnes and Remy as it was clear Barnes was having trouble adjusting to a new team leader.
Meanwhile, Remy also had to handle a complex family dynamic with his mentally-addled mother, which was an unwanted distraction.
It added up to Iron Pipeline being a solid opening for a new season of thrills on FBI: Most Wanted.
A brutal family shooting
At a small Georgia motel, a woman named Darlene headed to work while her sister and her husband watched their kids play in the pool. A pair of men watched them, with one (Isaiah Dodo-Williams) wondering if this was a good idea. His compatriot (Chris Mason) began following the family toward their room and pulled out a gun. He raced in, and shots were heard, his companion scared but waiting as the man ran out with their suitcases.
Remy drove up to a street where he found his mother wandering the streets in a robe. His sister came up to help as Remy told Claire it was finally time to put their mom into assisted living. Remy was interrupted by a phone call as he looked at his mother.
Showing up at work, Remy met with Barnes as he mentioned that Ortiz had transferred to Los Angeles to be closer to his ailing father.
Barnes had a good reunion with Hana and Gaines before they were affected by news of a shooting at a Delaware camp with eight dead, including some children. Scott told them to focus on the murders of Brad and Louanne Cameron and their kids, with the ATF wanting help.
In Georgia, the team met ATF agent Lucas Peele (Michael Cram), who showed them a batch of empty boxes and speculated the shooters had stolen a cache of guns. It seemed this area was “the Iron Pipeline” that ran guns from Florida and Georgia to the Northeast, where they could be sold at higher prices.
They found footage of the perp stealing the cases of guns. They checked in with Louanne’s sister, Darlene (Tess Frazer), and their distraught mother. Darlene was evasive as Scott took her aside and learned that Brad and Louanne were using this family trip to buy some guns to sell.
The family had done this a few times before, as Darlene recognized the man from the video as being at one of the gun shops. Barnes and Hana talked to a gun shop owner about the women, sharing they had touched a gun. He mentioned how shootings always meant more sales for him, with Barnes disgusted at him making money off such tragedies.
Across town, the two men had realized how much money they could make selling the guns themselves, with one called Walker defending killing the Camerons as self-defense. He talked his friend, Donte, into joining him.
A fingerprint search showed the shooter was Walker Hawley, a punk with a light criminal record. Ezekiel Colson (Carl Gilliard) identified the other man as Donte, his nephew and Walker’s former college roommate.
Ezekiel called up Donte to try and call him back home, but they were already in South Carolina, heading to Philadelphia. Walker realized what was happening and tossed out the phone.
The team split up, with Barnes and Remy sharing a car. As Donte was paying for gas, Walker became paranoid about a police car. Donte exited the station as the cop returned, with Walker gunning him down before they took off.
Hunting a deadly joyrider
The team was hunting for the pair when Remy noted that Walker seemed a hothead, complete with a motorcycle.
Donte was upset over the cop killing as he insisted on pulling over to relieve himself. Instead, he took off running with Walker firing his pistol at him. Seeing Donte go down, Walker drove off; unaware Donte was still alive.
As they talked about the case, the team flipped on the news to see Northeastern Rifle Federation spokesman Peter Cox (Larry Mitchell) putting out “thoughts and prayers” to the camp victims while blaming it on the shooter’s problems, not guns.
Barnes was thrown by Remy walking off on a phone call from Claire, asking Hana if “he’s always this rude.” Remy was happy his mother was checked in before being interrupted by Ezekiel calling that Donte had been found wounded and wanted to turn himself in.
As he was checked by an ambulance, Donte admitted he just wanted a theft and had no idea it would turn into guns and murder. He said Walker was going to find a contact named Teddy and was sorry he got involved in this.
The team checked out Walker’s garage to find a plate for a New Jersey motorcycle shop across from Philadelphia. Remy announced he was going undercover, with Barnes arguing this was a bad idea. She openly said, “Jess would never do something this reckless” as Scott snapped, “things have changed. And I ain’t Jess.”
Hitting the undercover trail
In Camden, New Jersey, Remy (in classic biker clothing) showed up at the shop to ask that only Teddy be allowed to touch his bike. After telling him to check the nearby bar, the clerk got out her phone.
Remy found Teddy (Benedict Samuel) to talk about his bike and steered the conversation toward guns. Teddy appeared interested and made a call to strike a deal.
Watching outside, Barnes and Hana warned Remy there was no sign of Walker as Remy insisted on going through the buy without wearing a wire.
Remy met Teddy, who insisted on driving to a trailer outside of town where another guy was buying a rifle. At this point, the bar clerk came out with a gun, and Remy realized this was a shakedown.
Remy kept his cool, gave up the cash, and left, slipping a tracker onto Teddy’s motorcycle. While losing the cash was bad, Remy told the team it was worth it as he’d spotted one of the suitcases Walker had stolen, proving Teddy had bought guns from him.
The team saw Teddy meeting Walker in a parking lot and quickly moved in. Teddy surrendered, but Walker fired back at them with the team gunning him down.
A father’s grief nearly leads to more tragedy
It looked wrapped up with Teddy and his accomplice arrested, but there was still one gun left sold. Remy remembered the car driven by the man at Teddy’s trailer, which Hana matched to Joshua Fogelman (Shaun Anthony) from Delaware.
It took a few moments to discover Joshua lost his daughter in the camp shooting and had been railing against guns, so buying one seemed odd. The team talked to his wife, Kim (Zoe Sophia Garcia), who said Joshua was going to a media event in Pittsburgh. Remy used his experience with his brother to help her cope.
The team realized Joshua was going to an NRF event and had been looking up how to load and arm a rifle. Kim tried to call him, but there was no answer as the team figured Joshua would “make a point.”
Peter Cox refused to cancel the event, claiming there were enough gun-toting members to defend themselves while the team wanted to avoid a shootout. They finally got Cox to back down by threatening to arrest him as the event was not called off.
Cox was trying to call a Senator when a gun-toting Joshua confronted him. Remy heard Joshua ranting about how Cox’s rhetoric led to his daughter’s death, even showing a photo of her body he wanted to be projected for everyone to see.
Remy tried to talk Joshua down, sliding Cox’s phone under the door with Joshua saying if Cox sent the photo of Joshua’s daughter to all his followers, he’d surrender. “Maybe next time they send money, they’ll think twice.”
After a few moments, Cox sent the photo, with Joshua confirming all his followers saw it. He then kept his word to let Cox go and surrendered, collapsing into tears as he was led away.
Remy checked in on his mother’s facility, telling Claire he thought he’d made a mistake only for Claire to show their mom was happy here. Claire told him it was going to be okay, and Remy agreed.
It was a rough case reminding of the dangers of weapons and rhetoric while Remy had a tough personal choice to make.
FBI: Most Wanted Season 4 airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on CBS.