Warning: spoilers ahead for the April 6 episode of FBI, called "Checks & Balances."
FBI's latest case got personal for the agents when an off-duty 26 Fed security guard was killed. They were chasing assailants who committed armed robberies while concealing their identities with animal masks, and the investigation resulted in suspicion being cast on local police officers. The involvement of the NYPD led to some friction between Tiffany and Scola, and in true FBI style, the case took another deadly turn that could have been much more intense.
In the course of the investigation, OA and Maggie took action with a number of geared-up agents to storm a man's house and bring him in. Their plan to enter the house went sideways, however, when OA thought he saw somebody sitting inside a gray SUV. It turned out that OA was correct, but not in the way that he thought. There wasn't a person sitting alert and waiting inside of the vehicle, but rather sitting motionless, very very dead.
And according to Wolf Entertainment via Twitter, the original plan for the discovery of the dead body was different and less intense than the finished product in "Checks & Balances."
It's hard to say for sure how the two versions would compare, but in the grand scheme of things, FBI has delivered the agents finding dead bodies inside houses no shortage of times over the three seasons so far. A dead body hunched over a steering wheel, seemingly due to suicide but with some details not entirely adding up at first glance? Definitely more intense!
The plan for the discovery of the body in the house apparently didn't get very far when it comes to production of this episode of FBI, but I for one appreciated the increased suspense of Webb being found in the car, dimly lit through windows that were grimy with blood splatter. FBI is three seasons in, so seeing that the team can find ways to raise the intensity even for relatively minor cases of the week is encouraging for the future of the series.
And FBI's future is guaranteed, at least for one more season. CBS gave early renewals to both FBI for Season 4 and FBI: Most Wanted for Season 3 back in March, along with dropping the news that spinoff FBI: International scored a series order, with a plan to launch via backdoor pilot in the 2021-2022 TV season. The second FBI spinoff means that the CBS corner of the Dick Wolf universe will continue growing, after the 2020-2021 TV season saw NBC add another Dick Wolf series to its lineup.
FBI will return with its next new episode on Tuesday, April 20 at 9 p.m. ET ahead of a new episode of FBI: Most Wanted. The next FBI episode will see Maggie trying to trust that her younger sister is staying out of trouble as a student in New York, while the case will see the team trying to capture the sender of an explosive package before he can kill again.
