Sometimes, people can’t see the truth staring them in the face.
Just after having her trust in an ally broken and a breakup with Forrester, Kellett had to handle a case of a cop getting too deep trying to save someone.
But a shocking last-minute twist made this episode, Chew Toy, one of the biggest yet of FBI: International’s first season.
Heading to a rogue nation
In Tiraspol, Transnistria, a man (Brian Letscher) broke into a club, demanding to know where Sabina was. He was swiftly beaten down by the thugs inside before pulling a gun shooting one of the men. What saved his life was the mother of mobster Florin (Nick Nevern) demanding he take this outside.
Florin dropped the man off to be picked up by the cops while noting, “you’ll wish I shot you.” The cops found him claiming to be NYPD detective Mark Douglas.
In Budapest, Forrester and Kellett were having trouble adjusting to only being work colleagues, not lovers, each claiming to be okay but obviously lying. Then, Forrester got a message from a mystery sender with a photo of himself as a kid and his old home address.
Vo brought them up to speed on how Douglas had been part of an NYPD liaison program, but the key problem was that Transnistria was an unrecognized state, which meant the team had no official contacts to use although Jaeger could call some German contacts. Forrester asked Raines to look into who sent the message to him.
In Tiraspol, Lieutenant Timur Rusu (Sasha Rios) was annoyed the FBI expected a lot from a country the U.S. wouldn’t recognize. And Florin was ticked Douglas wasn’t arrested and claimed Douglas enjoyed some of the women in the bar.
Douglas related he was investigating a possible terrorist group and had stumbled onto a human trafficking ring. He was pretending to be an ally for them in New York to get more evidence, although Forrester and Kellett were suspicious while Douglas insisted Sabina was essential to it all.
Douglas’ supervisor, Inspector Rick Savrinn (Chris Payne Gilbert), related Mark never recovered from his pregnant wife dying on 9/11 and was not happy the NYPD was being told to stay out of it.
Jaeger led Vo and Raines to a secret German spy base in the city they could use. Forrester and Kellett headed to Douglas’ apartment only to find officer Vadim Cerban (Elan Zafir) watching TV inside. He claimed to have found no files as word came the man Douglas shot had died in surgery, putting him on the hook for possible murder.
Is the cop honest or dirty?
Douglas was upset to hear about the guy dying and the missing evidence. He insisted it still existed and that there were probably some corrupt cops covering up for the traffickers. He admitted he’d made mistakes, but this was his way of atoning for it.
As Douglas explained that a local tavern was being used for the trafficking, Rusu had him arrested for the murder. Savrinn was outraged about it all before admitting Mark was his cousin, and he was trying to cut him some breaks.
The team contacted Jubal Valentine (Jeremy Sisto) for more information, confirming there was a trafficking gang, but unfortunately, it was impossible to get an agent inside because of how it was literally a family affair.
Kellett admitted she was unsure whether to believe Douglas while Raines told Forrester the e-mail was sent from Moscow and likely tracking his phone. The team found a photo of Doulgas’ late wife…who just happened to look a lot like Sabina (Olivia Oprzynska), explaining Mark’s fascination.
The team pulled a clandestine raid on the tavern the gang was using, finding evidence that Douglas was telling the truth about sending girls to New York. Forrester confronted Rusu on his involvement, saying aiding them could help U.S. relations. Rusu wasn’t sure who he could trust in his own force, but their talk was interrupted by word Douglas had been stabbed.
At the hospital, Savrinn admitted he had hoped the assignment could help Douglas close out his career and felt guilty it had put him in danger. Cerban offered to transport Douglas out of the country in secret to avoid further hassle. However, Douglas saw this as confirmation they were onto something and wanted to finish the job over Savrinn’s objections.
Forrester made Cerban believe Douglas accepted the offer and invented excuses to delay the flight while secretly bugging his phone. They heard Cerban talking to Florin about getting rid of the FBI and Douglas, Forrester bringing the tape to Rusu for help.
A pair of shocking reveals
Forrester was getting to his car when Cerban and some cops “arrested” him. Cerban complained his country had been a “chew toy” for other nations for centuries and was willing to give up Douglas’ files in exchange for the FBI ignoring him.
Forrester was cool under fire, pointing out that killing him would only bring the FBI down on Cerban, and the guy just wanted to make a deal. So he made a counteroffer of protection for Cerban and his family in exchange for his help, with Cerban agreeing.
Cerban led the team to the club to arrest Florin and his gang. They found several women in the back, ready to be sent to New York with Florin vowing revenge on Cerban.
Florin refused to give up information in lockup, even when threatened with extradition. Rusu had them step outside while he and some other officers had a “chat” with Florin.
As Forrester and Kellett talked some old times, Rusu interrupted them explaining that Florin was suddenly very cooperative to give up Sabina’s address. They found her in a nice home alongside her husband and daughter and quite clearly not a trafficking victim.
Sabina was nothing more than a classic “honey trap,” making up the whole prostitution story from stuff she’d heard to trick Douglas out of money. She had no idea his obsession with “rescuing” her would lead to this.
Douglas was happy to hear the trafficking ring was dismantled thanks to his efforts. They brought Sabina to see Douglas, the woman pretending like she’d been rescued, and he was overjoyed to see her safe.
As soon as he was gone, Sabina dropped the tears but didn’t accept the money she was offered, looking guilty as she left. It was clear Forrester and Kellett found it better Douglas never knew he’d been used but think he saved an innocent woman and retire as a hero.
Jubal congratulated the team on busting this dangerous ring. Forrester talked to Rusu about possibly having an FBI branch opened in the nation as the two shared a drink.
After Rusu left, Forrester looked at his phone when a woman (Elizabeth Mitchell) came up to say, “Hello, Scott.” Turning, Forrester whispered, “Hey, Mom.”
With that shocking twist to head into the long Olympics break, FBI: International is prepared to kick this season into high gear.
FBI: International airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on CBS.