The past can be a hard thing to escape.
After Nina Chase joined the team on the hunt for a serial killer, she had to aid OA as his personal issues were affecting the search for a terrorist.
This made the episode titled Ghost From the Past a tougher one than usual for FBI.
OA’s memories come flooding back
Just outside JFK Airport, a uniformed woman (Cameron Adams) told two men that her boss was suspicious and she had to step back. She promised to return the money they’d given her, but as she walked off, they gunned her down.
Detective Torino (Mike Keller) brought OA and Nina up to speed on the victim being Cher Wilkins, a TSA agent. Her supervisor, Bill Reynolds (Patrick Noonan), told the agents he was suspicious of Cher suddenly owning a new car and believed she was letting drug mules pass through the security line.
A check showed Cher had been visiting a restaurant several times with hints it could be connected to a drug ring. Nina picked up OA as he met some of his ex-teammates from Afghanistan. She noticed him rubbing a string on his fingers.
The pair checked out the restaurant, realizing it had a lot more security cameras than a regular place would. OA shared the string was to remember a former Army buddy on the tenth anniversary of his death.
Nina shared a toast to the man, but OA spotted someone (Fawad Siddiqui) he recognized at a nearby table. He followed him to the men’s room, but the man had already ducked out.
OA headed outside with Nina following. OA said he believed the man was Tamir Hazara, aka “The Rat,” a former target of his team, convinced this was his chance to capture him.
There was just one problem: the official records said Tamir had been killed in an airstrike three years earlier. Nina talked to Jubal about OA being distracted by his friend’s death, which could be affecting his judgment. She didn’t want to get him in trouble but was concerned about OA’s behavior.
A computer search confirmed Wilkins had been on the take and likely was killed when she tried to back out. They found footage of her waving one man through customs, Jorge Cissenros (Michael Rivera), a wanted dealer.
One of OA’s contacts backed up Tamir being dead, but OA had his doubts. He put it aside as they headed to Jorge’s home just as he was coming back. Of course, he had to lead them on a brief foot chase and, of course, was caught quickly.
A meet goes badly
OA spotted who he thought was Tamir across the street, finding a stranger with Nina more worried than ever. She and OA interrogated Jorge, who said he’d simply been paid to transport some heroin to Chicago and knew nothing of a larger operation.
He identified Jem Polat (Anthony Azizi), the restaurant owner, as the man who hired him.
They fit Jorge for a wire to get Polat to incriminate himself. OA took Nina aside to worry about Tamir being involved in this, insisting he knew his eyes. He showed a photo of Tamir to Jorge, who claimed to have never seen the guy with Nina pressing OA to back off.
Jorge met Polat, who revealed the package was actually empty and “we” needed to make sure they could trust Jorge. He tried to ask about the partner, with Polat brushing it off. He revealed they had a new TSA insider and had a real job for Jorge, who played being too nervous about getting more details.
OA pushed Jorge to meet the partner in person. Polat refused, with Jorge agreeing to come back later. While Polat didn’t say anything incriminating, Isobel figured they could find out who the new TSA agent on the take was and use him to get to Polat.
Polat gave Jorge a bag and a jacket to identify him with the TSA agent. Posing as a cab driver, Scola checked the bag to discover it was actually a bomb.
Hunting a rat down
OA pointed out the bomb was the exact same type Tamir liked to build and would have gone off when the plane was in mid-air.
The team raided the restaurant, with Polat shooting at them before OA tackled him. It turned out Polat was Abdul Al-Halil, a former Taliban fighter still wanting to attack America. He also had no connections to Tamir, who the CIA still insisted was dead.
They pressed Polat, who denied everything until they brought up his real name and evidence of his connection to Wilkins. OA flat-out accused Polat of working with Tamir, with Polat snapping on how many of his people the Americans killed.
Nina gently said OA needed to talk to someone about this “obsession” as he brushed off he didn’t have PTSD or any issues to walk off.
There was still no evidence of who shot Wilkins as they focused on the rogue TSA agent. OA found security footage of the man he believed was Tamir at the restaurant to search for him across other systems.
Scola wore the red jacket to the airport with Wilkins’ boss Reynolds about to let him through. When the agents moved to arrest him, Reynolds showed a photo on his phone of his wife and son held hostage who would be killed if he didn’t do as he was told.
As the team hunted for Reynolds’ family, OA called to say he’d found Tamir and believed he had the hostages. Jubal and Isobel were doubtful, but OA refused to come in and followed his gut to a warehouse nearby.
The team headed in only for a booby trap to take down an agent and someone to shoot at the others. Tamir held Reynolds’ wife hostage, with OA recognizing him for sure. Jubal arrived and apologized to OA for not believing him.
OA knew Tamir would lay a trap to blow up the building while he escaped. He and Nina headed in via the sewers, slipping past a few booby traps and Isobel warned Tamir was on the move.
OA and Nina made their way into the main warehouse, with Nina saving Reynolds’ family. In the sewer, OA found Tamir, and they briefly fought before OA shot Tamir in the struggle.
Jubal hoped that this would give OA some closure as Nina apologized for not believing him. She brought up how “stress hides for years and years and then one day bites you.” She assured OA she’d always be there to talk to him as he headed off.
OA went to his psychologist to admit he’d thought he was doing better but realized he needed to talk after all.
It was a tough hour for OA to show how the stress of the last several weeks has gotten to him and even the best agents need some help now and then.
FBI Season 4 airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on CBS.