'FBI: International' Episode 11 Review: Transnistria, trafficking and possible trauma
Key characters begin to deal with their respective baggage in what comes as the eleventh episode of Season 1 of 'FBI: International.' The previous episode, titled 'Close to the Sun,' saw the Fly Team head over to Ireland to deal with a hostile national police force after one of their informants is charged with the murder of an Irish police officer. It was also a little taxing as it saw Special Agent Jamie Kellett getting grilled, with some extremely personal attacks, over the way things were handled in Prague. Created by Dick Wolf and the team behind the blockbuster 'FBI' and 'Law & Order' franchises, 'FBI: International' is a procedural drama that follows the elite agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's International Fly Team as they travel the world and neutralize threats against the United States and its citizens.
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Episode 11 of 'FBI: International' comes after a lapse in schedule that upset many fans. Titled 'Chew Toy,' it starts with a man storming into a poker game taking place in a tavern in Tiraspol, Transnistria. He is quite hostile to the men in the watering hole and keeps asking for a woman named Sabina. The men turn violent and physically assault him and this, in turn, makes him pull out a gun and shoot one of them down. He is subdued eventually and left outside the local police station and we get to know that he's an NYPD officer working undercover.
The Fly Team head over to Transnistria, but is cautioned before departure about the nature of the country that they will be operating in. For the uninitiated, Transnistria is a self-declared country that technically still belongs to Moldova. Having declared itself independent in 1990, the region is yet to be recognized by the United Nations. Transnistria is unstable and the Russian military is active in the region.
On touching down, the team soon finds out that Mark Douglas, the NYPD officer, was stationed in Transnistria to monitor Taliban activity after the militant group was suspected of selling heroin in the region to fund its weapon purchase. The word on the street, however, is quite the opposite, with Douglas being projected by many (local policemen who are in the pockets of the tavern owner) as a corrupt foreign official who abuses his privileges regularly. Douglas is also accused of being a predator fixated on a woman named Sabina. Douglas proclaims his innocence and asks the Fly Team to peruse his laptop for evidence that will prove his innocence. He goes on to add that he had stumbled upon a human trafficking ring and that Sabina was a key witness in the case that he was forming.
Whether the Fly Team can make Douglas' case and how they try to do so form the rest of the episode that moves in a style that the 'FBI' franchise is known for. The writers hint at the possibility of Forrester having to deal with his baggage. This could be something big and bring about a certain amount of unpredictability to the series. Sadly, the episode solidifies the distance between Forrester and Kellett. The latter does not want to be romantically involved as it could have career-ending ramifications.
Episode 11 of 'FBI: International' Season 1 ends with a familiar face resurfacing in Forrester's life, symbolizing the need for him to deal with his past.
'FBI: International' airs Tuesdays at 9 pm ET on CBS.