Spoilers ahead for the February 1 episode of FBI Season 4, called "Under Pressure."
FBI sent Maggie back undercover in the latest explosive episode to try and thwart a group of suspected bombers before they could escalate. Normally, Maggie is as good at keeping her head in emergencies as anybody else on the CBS show, but she can lose perspective when things get too personal, like earlier in Season 4 with her sister. In “Under Pressure,” her determination to save everybody even at great personal risk led to an explosive ending and close call for her, and it turns out that it was originally planned to be even more dangerous for her.
When Maggie, OA, and the others finally tracked down the truck bomb, there were just over three minutes left before detonation and nobody who could defuse it. While the other agents decided that evacuation of the area was the best option, Maggie jumped in the truck and tried to drive to the waterfront in time to prevent civilian loss of life, even though there were six blocks to go and not enough time to guarantee that she could do it. Luckily, Maggie managed to save the day and herself, and the Twitter account for production company Wolf Entertainment revealed how it was supposed to have gone differently and more dangerously:
Originally, we planned to have Maggie jump out of the vehicle as it was moving and it would eventually turn into a rolling explosion that stopped right before it hit the water. For safety, we pivoted to having Maggie put the vehicle in park and run as fast as she could!
The explosion was big enough that it’s easy to understand why Maggie desperately wanted to get it away from any and all civilians, and also big enough to see why OA freaked out when Maggie hopped in the truck to try and drive it away without getting herself killed in the process. Maggie did take some bumps in bruises when she fled the truck, but it could have been a lot worse. And honestly, I don’t think the impact of the scene was any less with Maggie putting it in park and running as opposed to leaping out of the moving car.
And it turns out that producing the explosion involved some good old-fashioned practical effects, so it’s a good thing that the show took all the precautions necessary to protect Missy Peregrym while still delivering an awesome ending to the story. Wolf Entertainment revealed how the explosion actually went down in real life:
Our #FBICBS SPFX department had fun with this ep! The final explosion required 6 propane poppers, mortar kits, pyro materials and accelerants, dust debris, & vermiculite (a mineral which undergoes significant expansion while heated)! 💥🔥 #TheFBIs pic.twitter.com/oYewBOHFNDFebruary 2, 2022
Even though Maggie ultimately saved the day and was key to the bad guys winding up in custody, it wasn’t an easy episode for her. Her dynamic with the man who called in the tip about the suspected bombers was closer than was really advisable, and OA noticed that she seemed to be projecting her experiences during her last undercover operation onto what was happening in this one. She was emotionally affected, but it all worked out... this time. There was probably as much luck as skill in Maggie’s escape from that truck, though!
Unfortunately, this was the last episode of FBI for some time, as it (and successful spinoffs FBI: International and FBI: Most Wanted) are heading into a mini hiatus for a few weeks. The shows will return to the 2022 TV schedule in their regular Tuesday night time slots on CBS, with FBI kicking off the night of action at 8 p.m. ET.
