Sometimes, a second chance doesn’t always end well.
After OA had to handle a case alongside a brutal personal attack, it was Wallace’s turn for a personal distraction on this week’s episode of FBI.
To handle an investigation into a sinister drug lord, Agent Tiffany Wallace reached out to an old cop friend who she thought could help.
This seemed to work at first, but Scola was right to be suspicious of the man’s eagerness to help.
It led to a dark conclusion that brought back some old scars for Wallace that marred the case.
This made the episode called Flopped Cop a tragic tale of a man’s quest for redemption turning to a dark end.
A brutal daylight assassination
On a street, a man was talking to his wife about a trip as he drove home. As he stopped at an intersection, a van pulled up in front of him, and two masked men unloaded shotguns into the guy, then made sure he was dead with a bullet to the head.
The victim was Frank Leone, from a nice neighborhood. Given he had his wallet and watch on him, this wasn’t a robbery. In addition, OA recognized the shotgun rounds as the same time he used in the army.
An excitable witness couldn’t give up many details, but he did see one shooter was left-handed, and the car was missing some details on the hubcaps. The team did find a video of the van making its getaway.
The guys also learned that Leone had been a freelance accountant who was suddenly liquidating all his assets.
Leone’s widow (Lauren Buglioli) was evasive with OA and Nina on why the family was selling their home and getting all their cash together. She said Frank had only one client, who he never talked about.
OA and Nina saw the woman was scared as she confessed she was worried her husband was working for a drug dealer. Frank had said they were close to their five-year plan ending.
OA talked about how their daughters might be affected by an investigation. That had Mrs. Leone getting out a file Frank had said to use if anything happened to him.
Leone’s file showed a maze of money laundering connected to Maria Rincon, wife of Antonio Rincon (Mike Seal), a major drug dealer known as El Feo. A grand jury had been called on him, and the team speculated Leone had been about to testify against El Feo.
Isobel met with a Justice Department contact who admitted Leone had been set to testify, but somehow, El Feo found out to kill him first. Isobel said she needed to know who else was on the grand jury and plug the leak.
One juror, Margaret Saunders, suddenly had an influx of cash, hinting she may have been bribed by El Feo. The drug dealer was a patient of the dermatologist weher she worked.
Wallace and Scola checked her home only to find Saunders and her husband dead. The woman had been tortured first.
Wallace enlists a friend
It was clear El Feo had killed Saunders after she gave up Leone’s name. Wallace said she had contact with an ex-cop who was one of El Feo’s cousins. As he needed help with a firearm charge, she figured she had a shot of turning him.
They found a video identifying one shooter, Marcus Thierre (Zach Meiser), whose landlord seemed surprised the FBI wanted him. When Wallace and Scola entered his home, Marcus fired at them, then took off running.
They chased him to a park, with Marcus firing at them to scare some civilians. OA and Nina joined the chase, but Marcus managed to give them the slip.
Wallace got a call from her friend, Ralphie (Will Dalton), who got “flopped” or let go when he was busted for a DUI while on probation. Ralphie had never been the same after his brother died of a drug overdose and now he ran a hardware store.
Ralphie was happy to see Wallace, and they spoke about their long friendship. He related he didn’t want to work for El Feo, given the man’s reputation for murdering employees.
Wallace told Ralphie that if he helped them out, they could get his charges dropped, but Ralphie ranted about how unfair it was that he was kicked off the force for drinking while El Feo was running free. He also blamed the man for selling the drugs that killed his brother. Despite this, Wallace finally talked him into helping.
Scola was unsure, thinking Ralphie was a loose cannon. Wallace replied that Ralphie was a good guy needing a second chance. Scola said he’d support it but clearly had his doubts.
Isobel was also unsure of using Ralphie, but Wallace insisted it would work. Scola backed it up as Isobel agreed to have the charges against Ralphie dropped in exchange for his help.
They outfitted him with a camera and an earpiece, with Ralphie happy to be “Back in the game.” Scola openly stated a “Failed cop hoping for his day in the sun, and we’re sending him into the dragon’s lair” could backfire.
They watched Ralphie being patted down before entering, and spotted the other shooter, Junior Ruiz (Dominic Costa), with El Feo. Ralphie was up front asking about the shooting, with El Feo brushing it off.
Ralphie planted a bug on a photo of their grandmother as he told the criminal he needed money to buy up his hardware store. He said he was tired of playing by the rules and could be an expert safe-cracker.
Scola was worried Ralphie was going too far, but Wallace insisted on letting Ralphie stay in. Ralphie played that he was ready to leave, and El Feo talked about a possible partnership.
Ralphie needed to put off El Feo’s suspicions. He managed to pick the lock to the man’s office to clone his cell phone. Wallace and Scola realized Ruiz was missing as they told Ralphie to lock the door and finish his task.
Wallace’s friend goes too far
Wallace was happy when Ralphie got back in with the man feeling sick hearing those men joke about killing people and El Feo actually asking him to go fishing. Wallace assured him it was worth it as El Feo was going to be caught. Ralphie accepted that as he left.
Wallace told Scola it was okay, but he replied they just got really lucky.
The team tracked the phone to Yonkers, where Marcus was buying diapers for his child. They arrested him as Wallace snapped, “Your kid is going to be a grandparent before you’re on the street again.”
Nina and OA used Marcus’ baby daughter and the chance of possibly seeing her again. He mused, “Blood wins every time,” as he gave up Ruiz and the location of the murder weapons. However, he claimed El Feo had only given Ruiz the orders.
OA and Nina headed to Ruiz only to find him dead of a forced overdose in his car. They figured El Feo killed him to tie up any loose ends. The team raided El Feo’s mansion, arresting his various men but didn’t find him.
It looked like, amazingly, El Feo was heading on that fishing trip he talked about right after killing an underling. Scola and Wallace found his car parked right next to Ralphie’s with blood and worried El Feo had figured out Ralphie’s game.
Heading to a spot under the bridge, they found Ralphie holding El Feo at gunpoint and forcing the man to dig his own grave. Wallace was shocked at his actions, but Ralphie wanted revenge for his brother.
Wallace insisted they had a good case, but Ralphie believed El Feo would buy his way out of it. He also admitted he was the one who killed Ruiz and there was no coming back from that.
Wallace pulled her gun as she begged Ralphie not to do this. As he got ready to shoot, she had no choice but to shoot him in the chest. El Feo went for the gun, giving Scola the excuse to shoot him. Wallace tried to help Ralphie, but it was too late.
At a bar, Scola admitted he knew what it was like to be overwhelmed by anger following a brother’s death. He said Wallace had no way of knowing this would happen, but she admitted she knew how wild Ralphie was.
She confessed that she and Ralphie had been drinking that night, both pulling a prank, and Ralphie was the one caught. He never told anyone Wallace had been involved too and Wallace was grateful he saved her career.
Wallace and Scola shared a tearful toast to Ralphie as Wallace remembered the good man he’d been.
It was a tough hour for Wallace to see an old friend fall so hard and a reminder of how her own life might have turned out.
FBI Season 5 airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on CBS.