The episode opens in Spain, with a bloodied man running through the street. He runs to the American embassy, shows his passport and asks for asylum, and when he runs inside, he says “I didn’t kill him”.
We then flip to Jamie and Scott in Budapest. They are getting ready for work, and Scott lifts her shirt at the waist and kisses her scar. She says she is excited to get back to work as she has full clearance, and he tells her he wants her to start back at desk duty. She tells him he is being overprotective because of their relationship, but he says she took a bullet and this is what would happen with anyone who was shot. I enjoyed this scene as we again are getting to see a tender side to Scott and also seeing the established relationship of these characters, and how they are balancing their romantic relationship with their work relationship.
We then shift to the office and to Raines and Vo. They are discussing their suspicions that Scott and Jamie are involved related to how they arrive to the office as they prepare to welcome Jamie back to work. They also banter back and forth about if they would ever be involved with a colleague. Raines says it would depend on who it was and Vo says she has had bad experiences and seen things go sour before. This camaraderie and how welcoming and inclusive Raines has been with Vo has been a storyline I have been enjoying, and I am curious what the plan is with the writers when it comes to the two of them.
Scott and Jamie arrive and Raines briefs the team about the case and Scott tells them that Emma Healey (Embassy Liason) has called and the Madrid police are very angry about not having access to their suspect. Raines has already called the jet and the team heads to Madrid except for Jamie, who is on desk duty. When they arrive they meet Katrin and Emma Healey and are told that Ambassador Berger is the person they are liasing with, and the detective is Inspector Mateo Diaz. Ambassador Berger said if they could clean up this mess as quickly as possible it would be appreciated and they have a ball scheduled and would like it resolved prior to the event. It was interesting to see the team interacting with foreign politicians as this is definitely a different type of interaction compared to working with a law enforcement agency, and requires much more tactful and cautious communication.
They then interview the suspect, Drew Edmonson. He tells them that he and Raphael (the victim) met at a café six months ago. They were in a romantic relationship and Raphael had not come out to his family as they are very traditional and well connected. He tells the team that Raphael worked as a controller for a real estate company and had come out to his family a week ago and that it did not go well. He says that he went to Raphael’s apartment at 9pm, and he has a key. As he was walking up the stairs, he saw a man closing his apartment door and then he walked past him. He went in and found Raphael, who had been stabbed many times, and did chest compressions and called 911, but then became afraid and ran to the embassy in order to be sure he would be treated fairly, because he knows that Raphael’s family is well connected and he is a foreigner and gay, but he swears that he had nothing to do with the murder. Scott says he will be treated fairly but the crime will be investiagted fully so he needs to be honest with them.
Forrester meets with Inspector Diaz, who is insistent that he wants to talk to Edmonson. Forrester tells him not yet, and that he has not confessed and his story is quite the opposite. He tells Diaz that Drew saw someone leaving and Diaz tells Scott that he does not believe this and they only have one suspect. He then takes them to the scene. When they arrive, Raphael's mother and older brother are there removing items from the scene. Forrester is frustrated that the scene was not secured, and Diaz says his team examined the scene and released it. He also tells them that the body is not at the medical examiners office, and that it was examined and released to the family as their religion states he must be buried within a certain time frame. They also have Raphaels technology and are working to break the passwords. Katrin can tell Forrester is upset, and tells him to breathe. I for one love to see this dynamic between Katrin and Scott as she assist him to navigate the procedures of the forgein law enforcement practices, and seeing how some of the different countries processes can definitely create challenges to the team investigating a crime in the same manner and level of detail they are used to and would like.
They are interviewing the neighbor and she says that they heard 2 men fighting, and from the words it sounded like it was mostly about money but one yelled “I am not going to do this anymore”. Then Katrin gets a phone call, and tells Scott he is not going to like it. Apparently the Embassy says that Drew decided to surrender to the Madrid police. Scott is very upset by this as he knows that is not the case, and he was likely pressured to do this due to the impending event at the embassy, and the Madrid police seem to have already made up their mind about Edmonson. When the team arrives at the police station, Forrester finds Diaz and says he needs to see Edmonson and Diaz says they are conducting their own interrogation. He then provides the team a tiny room to work in. They begin reviewing the photos and reports, and Raines says the Medical Examiner report doesn’t even mention stab wounds. They also find that Drew has a big social media presence but few photos with Raphael and nothing that seems to show a romantic relationship except for one a few days ago.
Forrester goes to question Raphael’s brother, Thiago, about what he was removing from the crime scene. He says he took photos out of brother and Drew Edmonson. Katrin asks if he knew about any threats to brother and asked him if he had problem with brother. Thiago says that his parents are traditional, and he is upset they are not focused on Edmonson as the possible killer. He thinks the team and embassy will not accuse him because he is also American, and Forrester and Katrin tell him they are looking for the truth and they need his help in order to do that. They understand that Raphael worked for a company owned by friend of family, and they ask for his help to access Raphael’s workplace.
Raines and Vo go to Raphael’s workplace and Vo uses her translation skills and asks what they knew about Raphael. They are told he was great employee and coworker but his co-worker felt he was stuck between who he wanted to be and had to be for his family. He said that he worried Raphael was vulnerable to wrong person as he had trouble coming out. Raines begins crunching numbers from Raphael’s workplace and discovers that Raphael stole a bunch of money from employer. Raines speaks to Jamie she assists to get a financial analysis done by a team in the USA and they also confirm what Raines found. They also uncover that in looking at the shell companies that were being used, Drew had signed some of the papers and it looks like he is involved in the scam. This is a big concern as this could be considered a motive for Raphael’s murder.
Scott arrives at the police station and wants to talk to Drew but Diaz does not want Scott to talk to him. He says his names are on the accounts from the shell companies and they have fifteen minutes to speak to him and then he is being transported and arraigned as they believe he killed Raphael. When Scott speaks to Drew, he says he was asked to sign documents and they were all in Spanish and Raphael said it was to help him get a job/work VISA and so he signed them, and he did not know it was a bank account. Drew says he remembers he was at a bakery (Los Hatadas) when murder took place. He has bruise on his face and says it is from being in jail and he wants to go back to the embassy. He tells Scott he only left because he was told at the embassy that him being there made him look guilty, and Scott says that now that he surrendered they cannot bring him back. Scott demands to Inspector Diaz that he go into protective custody right away and says he will call the prime minister if needed and Diaz says he will see what he can do. This was a very tense moment in the episode as Forrester and the team believe that Drew is innocent, but it seems the Madrid police have already decided he is guilty, and clearly his life appears to be in danger in a foreign prison.
Scott see Mrs. Delgado in the police station and goes to speak to Mrs. Delgado about her sons murder. She is very upset and she says that she and Inspector Diaz know who killed Raphael, and it was the American Homosexual who was stalking him. She says that Scott and him speaking to her is an insult she will not tolerate it and she goes to speak with Diaz.
The team consults with Jamie to hear what she has found out and she says that if Edmonson did not sign the banking documents knowingly, and he did not touch any of the money in the account, there is a chance for a defense for him. Raines pulled the bakery video and it shows Edmonson inside the bakery at 8:44pm when the neighbour heard arguing. Inspector Diaz comes in to tell the team that they are no longer on the case. Katrin is there and Delgado’s mother and it looks like she pulled some strings to get rid of the team from investigating the case. This was an interesting development since we had heard from Drew that Raphael's family is very well connected, and so it certainly poses the question of whether this will make the investigation even more biased against him given how the family seems to feel about him, despite the new information the team has to provide.
Edmonson is now likely fighting for his life in jail, and Scott and Katrin banter about how yes they are guests in other countries but there should be some cooperation. Jamie then alerts the team that there was a withdrawl from one of the accounts by a man who fits the description of the man Edmonson saw outside the apartment. Scott goes to the embassy and says he will not leave until he speaks to Ambassador Berger. He says the least he can do is talk to him after drop kicking a US citizen to Madrid police. Scott tells the ambassador that he is trying to comply and make everyone happy and that he needs to stand up for Drew Edminson or he will be known as soft ambassador for the rest of his career. We then heard the quote of the week when Ambassador Berger says “I don’t know whether to help you or hit you” and Scott says “You are not the first”.
Inspector Diaz has been informed that the team wants to show Edmonson a photo array. Drew identifies the man who came out of apartment when he was going in. His name is Pedro Munoz and a former victiom of his said that calling him a parasite would be an insult to parasites. He has an extensive criminal past. They have a location and the team joins them to his apartment. Pedro heads over the balcony and onto the rooftops and the team helps in the chase. Raines pursues the man over the rooftops and the man jumps off the roof into pool. Vo gets him on the deck as he climbs out and Diaz is impressed with her and they arrest Pedro. The scene had some excellent stunt work by the actors and stunt doubles, and to be honest, the only thing I felt was missing from this chase was Tank. I definitely love how they work him into the show and was sad we saw less of him this week, but it was nice to see Vo more in action, as she is one tough agent just like Jamie.
We then see the questioning of Pedro and they ask why he killed Delgado. Pedro says you meet people who are smart and make smart decisions, and he presented Raphael with some good options. He says he could get him the money and he would leave him alone or if he didn't, he would hurt him and they would be surprised how many people want to get hurt. Pedro says it is Delgado’s own fault that he got hurt. We find out he met Delgado at a party and Munoz said would out him if he did not get him money so he did the embezzlement, and it was supposed to be a one time thing. Eventually Pedro wanted more and when he said no, and that he had nothing over him as he had already come out to his family, Pedro went after him and killed him. Scott tells Edmonson that he doesn’t think he thought anything would ever have come back to him, and Drew blames himself as he was targeted by Pedro at a party he took him to and he thinks that it is his fault he is dead.
The Team then finds out that Ambassador Berger called the FBI director and they all have to go to ball. As they are leaving the station, Raphael’s brother comes to see Edmonson. He tells him that Raphael came out and got to live an authentic life he had always wanted for him. He thanks him for helping him embrace that and knows he is hurting like the family is. They shake hands and this is a very touching scene, knowing that his brother did love him for who he was, and recognizing how Drew was hurting too.
At the ball, they see Inspector Diaz and he shakes Forrester’s hand and thanks him for his help. They then meet the Prime Minister and he thanks Scott but he says it was Inspector Diaz and team that made the difference and he thanks Scott. Scott tells the team he will be at bar and Katrin explains to the team that when working in Europe, you never take credit and you will always be invited back. Raines asks Vo to dance and she says no so he dances with Katrin. Vo watches and smiles a sly smile...the way she watches Raines had to make you wonder what the plan is for these two as the season moves forward, and will it be another ship or perhaps a one-sided attraction. All I know is that I definitely want to know more.
Scott calls Jamie, and tells her it is not the same working the case with her there. She says to come over when he gets home and her scar needs another kiss or two and he says count on it. This was a very sweet way to conclude the episode, looking back at how it started and the depth of caring these two have for one another. It will be interesting to see how they choose to reveal the relationship to the rest of the team, and if there will be any reprecussions to them from the FBI once the relationship is out in the open.
Again, we were presented with a story that contained romance, excitement, mystery, good detective work and exciting chases, all wrapped up in beautiful scenery, well executed storylines and talented performances to deliver the story to our screens. FBI: International definitely is shaping up to be an excellent addition to the FBI family of shows, and I cannot wait to tune in on Tuesday each week!
Let us know what you thought about this week’s episode in the comments below.
