The first day on the job is never routine on FBI: Most Wanted.
After the Season 4 premiere explained that Ortiz had left the team to care for his father, Taxman introduced his replacement, agent Ray Cannon (new cast regular Edwin Hodge).
He had a tough first case as the team tracked someone targeting IRS agents only to learn their perp had a very troubled history.
Cannon had to learn fast that being on the Task Force is a much different cry than his previous work as a cop, but he proved himself in the end.
Meanwhile, tensions between Barnes and Remy continued to rise, threatening the case and the team’s relationships.
While it came through in the end, it was a rough ride that showed the team still had a few hurdles to clear before Season 4 truly gets going.
The new agent has a learning curve
Barnes was on the phone at the office to her child’s school as Remy entered with bagels for the new guy. Barnes was a bit thrown that Ortiz was already being replaced as she was handling her daughter being sick at school and had to call her nanny.
In Murfreesboro, Tennessee, a man ( Dani Deetté) was seemingly listening to voices on earbuds telling him not to do something. He ignored them as he paced outside an office, imagining a man calling him a weirdo.
As the man entered the office, the first man threw a satchel inside and ran off as it exploded.
Barnes found Gaines and Hana meeting Ray Cannon, bringing them up to speed on his experience as a New Orleans cop who graduated Quantico at the top of his class and was happy to have him on the team.
Remy told them about the bombing of this IRS office that killed senior agent Marion Meeks. They wondered if it could be racially motivated or an attack on the IRS, making it a federal matter.
Barnes reentered to meet Cannon before the team began their work. Marion’s supervisor related he was a top agent who never shared if someone threatened him. However, with over 500 files in the last year, it was hard to narrow it down.
Remy and Cannon talked to Marion’s widow, Lalisa (Q. Smith), who believed this was a racist attack. Cannon was suspicious of Lalisa having Marion cremated as that was against Baptist beliefs, especially for a guy who’d been a preacher.
Hana shared that the suspect had been seen in a cab as he imagined the voices talking in his earpiece about how “he” made the man do this. He then stole a truck, running over its owner on the way.
The team had a lead on Leon Cole, who had made some threats against Marion. Cannon called in to want to talk to Marion’s son, Jayden (Donte Grey), who was tied in with some gangs which might have gotten his dad killed.
Leon’s wife, Alicia (Sara Parcesepe), said that she didn’t know of Leon threatening Marion as Leon himself (Ryan J. McCarthy) drove up. As soon as he heard “FBI,” he took off running with Gaines and Barnes in pursuit. Leon claimed he was just making talk about “bombing” Marion and had an alibi of fishing all day.
The bomber was arming himself as the voices argued about this, calling him “Darla.” Cannon offered to talk to Jayden first, pointing out that he fit in the neighborhood better than Remy and Hana did.
Posing as a maintenance man, Cannon got into Jayden’s apartment to check on a “power failure” he’d caused. His search got Jayden suspicious to try and run before Cannon caught him.
Cannon was upset Jayden was being let go while having a gun and drugs while Remy set him straight: “You’re in the manhunt business now.” Hana then revealed their bomber was actually a woman, Darla Crais, who worked for the IRS in Nashville.
A very troubled perpetrator
The supervisor was thrown to imagine Darla was part of this, relaying she was also a top agent, although she kept to herself a lot and didn’t even know Marion.
Hana told Cannon to learn from Remy’s attitude while Cannon shared with Barnes how his dad had been an FBI agent. The pair became tense on Cannon, thinking Barnes assumed his dad pulled strings for him and how he figured Barnes would be on his side due to their race.
They were interrupted by Hana finding evidence Darla had cut her hair and found men’s clothing in her closet. They found medication from Dr. Jay Safrit (Steve Routman), who revealed Darla had Dissociative Identity Disorder.
Her “alters” were Diane and Greg, who could sometimes take control of her without warning. She wore the earbuds to try and block out their voices. A new alter, David, had appeared that was more violent, and Safrit worried David was driving Darla toward brutality.
Much of Darla’s problems stemmed from being abandoned by her parents when she was seven and a lifetime in foster homes. She’d hidden it well on the job, but something had happened to create David.
Barnes felt put out by Remy seemingly not trusting her, only for Gaines to point out that it’d taken her a while to be accepted by the team and urged Barnes to give Remy more time to open up to her.
In a store, Darla heard Diane and Greg warning her not to be stalking a man but kept following him. She finally shot the man and exchanged fire with a security guard before running off.
The truth behind the alters
The victim was Bill Anson, another IRS agent from Chataoonga who had been a friend of Marion’s. Something had happened to have Anthony transferred, with Remy angry at being a step behind.
The team confronted Skip Budner (Nick Coleman), the former supervisor for Bill and Marion, who confessed that Darla had accused Anson and Marion of raping her at a conference. She withdrew the complaint as she didn’t want her bosses to know about her DID.
Cannon realized Marion’s wife knew, and that’s why she didn’t want him to get a proper burial. In a field, Darla burned the clothes she’d been wearing as Greg and Diane tried to cheer her up.
Hana and Barnes briefly talked about Cannon, with Barnes thinking he was too young for this job. Hana discovered Darla was pregnant due to sexual assault but couldn’t get an abortion thanks to new laws. This trauma created David to seek revenge on the people responsible.
The team talked to the clinic director Mary Nash (Libby Collins), but in the middle of the call, they heard gunshots and patients screaming. With Barnes left behind, they raced to Atlanta, where cops and agents surrounded the clinic as Darla held Mary hostage.
Darla was frantic, firing a shot at the team before crying that she wanted “it” out of her, and her alters refused to leave her alone. Remy did his best to talk her down, but Darla grabbed some instruments to stab herself, giving Mary a chance to escape. The team entered as Darla tried to shoot herself, but Cannon managed to stop her.
Remy congratulated Cannon on his work as Gaines asked Remy about him being tough on Barnes, and he was surprised they thought he was icing her out.
Remy and Barnes finally had it out, with Barnes upset that after ten years, she felt like a rookie again. She was angry Remy brought Cannon in without talking to her first and didn’t bring her along on the takedown.
Remy said he wanted to test Cannon as Barnes retorted she loved this job. Remy told her he respected her and needed her on the team as they finally found some common ground.
It was a troubling case for the team, but the new agent came through while Barnes and Remy finally managed to work through their problems.
FBI: Most Wanted Season 4 airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on CBS.