A powerful man with nothing to lose is a very dangerous enemy.
After handling a case of a murderous con woman, FBI: Most Wanted Season 3 ended its year in a wild chase against a ruthless figure putting the team members’ families at risk.
In the end, they won the day as A Man Without A Country ended the season in a great way.
A deadly art heist
At a fancy loft in Manhattan, a pack of agents and U.S. Marshals were packing up scores of expensive artwork and other belongings. As some transported a painting downstairs, they were shot dead by some gunmen who shot a few more guards before hustling the painting to a waiting van.
Remy and April were enjoying a morning after a nice night together just as Remy got a phone call. Arriving at the crime scene, Remy and Hana talked about Ortiz being in California to visit his father, who was recovering from a heart attack.
The agents had been confiscating art from Trofim Sarkov (Rudolf Martin), a Russian oligarch who was among the many affected by sanctions against Russia. This was clearly a professional job with six agents dead.
Dave Kim (Jeff Kim), a DOJ operative, and Brad May (Bhavesh Patel) of Art Crimes were on the scene, relating how the painting was worth $160 million. Sarkov himself had been quiet before the war in Ukraine began.
Remy wondered if maybe the Russians had stolen the painting to strike at Sarkov. Buying this would have to be on the black market, with the only other person to know being Aleksander Pavlischev (Kristof Konrad) of the Russian consulate. His leaving right after the agents seemed suspicious.
May joined the agents to talk to Pavlischev, who denied being involved and that the sanctions were illegal. He called the Americans hypocrites for welcoming Sarkov’s money and then turning on him. Ignoring the fact he was technically on Russian soil, Scott got right into Pavlischev’s face to demand answers.
Trofim’s daughter, Polina (LYanka Gryu), talked of being distant from her father as she considered herself Ukrainian and would rather walk away from her father’s dirty money. She suggested the Russian government may have done this simply because their President wanted the painting himself.
At a mansion, Trofim watched his men unpack the painting. The guns used in the robbery matched those from Russian police as May brought up a private plane owned by Druga Patel, a rich woman with plenty of connections in the art world.
At an airfield, the team saw the plane land with the gunmen pulling up in a car. They got into a gunfight, May showing his stuff by shooting one guy, only for him to bite down on a suicide pill. May was shaken but seemed okay.
The plane only contained the pilot as they found the painting in the van.
The hunt gets personal
Gaines reached out to Kevin, an old CIA contact, who shared how Sarkov used former military personnel for his agents. It turned out Sarkov had short-changed the Russian government on a huge tank order and pocketed the cash, meaning they wanted to find him more than the Americans.
Kevin suggested Sarkov needed money so badly, he stole his own painting to sell it for cash. He wasn’t happy to hear the painting was taken and two of his men dead, ordering his men to find out everything about these agents. He then told aide Yuri (Tony Naumovski) that he wanted to send a message.
That “message” was killing Jane Moore, an officer in charge of freezing Sarkov’s assets. Sarkov called Remy to demand either his painting or $300 million. When Scott naturally refused, Sarkov warned him this was only the start.
Scott realized there had to be a mole giving away this information, ranting to DOJ agent Heather Suarez (Celeste Oliva) on a full track of anyone involved. He pressed Sarkov had resources that could back up his threats.
As they got their phones, Scott and Gaines were shocked to see someone had sent them surveillance photos of their families. Within hours, Remy’s mom and sister, Hana’s brother, and Gaines’ children were brought to a safehouse.
The team put out a fake report on the families being in a different location in hopes of trapping the mole. Gaines talked to Polina about how her best friend was in the hospital for trying to escape Russian soldiers. “If she can be that brave in Ukraine, I can be that brave here.”
Gaines was impressed but also wanted Polina to be careful as she walked off. She checked with Remy at the fake safehouse site as they talked about their families.
The team got a bite on the fake site, courtesy of Mark Muldoon (Jonathan Spivey), a low-level tech. Remy had him in interrogation as Muldoon confessed his wife was being held captive in Russia and he had to work for Sarkov.
With two very irate agents facing him and the possibility of treason charges, Muldoon spilled his guts that Sarkov had figured this was a trap. Instead, he wanted blueprints for several subway stations as “what’s a New Yorker’s worst nightmare?”
A crowd was running from one station as a backpack had been found on a train. It began spraying gas with an unfortunate transient stuck inside as the doors closed. The team could only watch helplessly as the poor man choked to death in front of them.
Bringing the hunt down
Remy warned Heather that Sarkov could launch more gas attacks as evidence indicated the bomber had killed a transit cop to get the uniform. Polina was shown on TV telling the press her father was a monster but that the Russian government was more responsible for this.
Sarkov called to up the price to half a billion dollars. He called it a war, but Remy snapped he was just hunting Sarkov down like anyone else. He pointed out Sarkov was running out of time and resources. Sarkov hung up the phone to tell an underling to make an offer to the Russians.
A tip led the team to raid the mansion Sarkov was using. Inside, they found his men shot dead and mused he’d killed his own guys to clean up loose ends.
Polina was walking with a guard when Yuri walked up, shot him in the head, and abducted Polina while a passerby recorded the whole thing.
Yuri brought Polina to a nearby river, with Sarkov stating he’d lost his daughter a long time ago. He forced her at gunpoint to recant her earlier speech in hopes that it would win him back favor in Russia.
The team tracked the car, which was headed to the Russian Consulate, realizing Sarkov was using his daughter as a bargaining chip. They managed to cut the car off before the Consulate, Gaines shooting Yuri.
Polina was rescued, but Sarkov raced to the Consulate with his video, which he assumed would be enough. Instead, Pavlischev led him to the side and then shot Sarkov while Remy could only watch.
The families were happy to learn they could go home as George and Gaines’ kids had bonded. Remy was pleased his mother talked of being proud of him as he praised Hana and Gaines to their families as “the best people I know.”
Remy realized April had been calling him from a trip from Montreal, unaware of what he’d been up to. They headed off together on a date.
It was a wild way to end the season but showed the bond that made FBI: Most Wanted a fantastic ride in Season 3.
FBI: Most Wanted Season 4 premieres this fall on CBS.