FBI: International – Shouldn’t Have Left Her – Review

Well FBI fans, a long awaited Andre Raines-centric episode is finally here. Many fans have wanted to learn more about him, and we have seen him struggle in the past with his role within the team, and recently saw his protective older brother side, so this episode was a wonderful revelation about this character. We were also able to see some wonderful team comradery, and see how this team truly support each other when “the chips are down”.

We open on Andre, working out at a boxing gym. We then see his sister Jordan, her boyfriend Ethan and their other female friend Grace, getting off a train in Pristina, Kosovo. They are trying to connect with Ethan’s friend Leon and he says he just texted him and he is there waiting for them in a red car. The trio is approached by several men who want to give them a ride in their taxis, and become rather aggressive, but Ethan keeps telling them they do not need a car as he is trying to text Leon. The girls are concerned and tell Ethan they think they should get back on the train. Jordan is about to call Andre when suddenly a man punches Ethan and knocks him out and the girls are dragged into a van and taken away, while Jordan’s phone connects to Andre’s voicemail.

Raines is on the way into the office and meets up with Vo. He is calling Jordan and leaving a message again for her to call him back. He tells Cameron that his sister and her friends were on the way to Belgrave, and she called while he was working out and left a weird voicemail where all he could hear was car horns and traffic, and now he cannot reach her. Cameron says maybe it was just a “butt dial” and Andre says he is going to track her phone, which Cameron says she is sure Jordan will love, but Andre says she will never know.

Scott, Jamie and Katrin arrive with Tank (so good to see you boy, you look great). They are discussing connecting with someone in Greece, and Jamie and Katrin are telling Scott they will reach out to their contacts when Raines sees his sister’s phone is in Pristina, Kosovo. Raines tells the team what happened and about the strange voicemail and Katrin tells him that the threat is high in Pristina for Eastern Europe. Vo says she will dig for Ethan’s contact information and Jamie says she will dig into Jordan’s social media to find Grace. Katrin lets the team know that they are barely cordial with the police in Kosovo still and Scott says there are no offices but he can reach out to the lead in Sofia, but unfortunately, Pristina is a black hole.

Suddenly, Agent Porter arrives, and Scott asks what he can do for him. He asks for an office to use, and Scott says he was not aware that the Office of Professional Responsibility would be joining them today. Porter says it is because he did not alert them, and Scott asks why he is there, because this is the third time he has come in 3 months. Porter says they will know in due time and asks again for an office and Scott directs him to a room with a table off the main area.

Katrin asks Raines to play the voicemail again and she says she will get translators on what they can hear being said. Vo spoke to some girls in Ann Arbor and got the number for Ethan. Andre calls Ethan and tells the team he is sorry for getting everyone riled up and he is sure this is a big misunderstanding. He calls Ethan and he tells Andre that he was jumped and they took both the girls. Raines tells him to send him his maps location and not to move from that spot and he will come to him. Vo asks him what he said as Raines grabs his coat to head out. Scott stops him and tells him that the Fly Team cannot go to Kosovo and Raines says he is not asking them too. Katrin comes out and has a translation on the voices, which are saying they should get out of there before police arrive. Right at this moment, Agent Porter calls Kellett and Forrester in to see him, and Scott tells him to give them a minute. Katrin says she will call her liason and ask them to reach out to Kosovo police as they may not have sure footing in Pristina, but they can give her a contact. Scott tells Andre not to do anything until they hear from Jaeger. Kellett and Forrester go in to see Porter, and Raines asks Vo to see if Kellett found anything about Jordan’s friend, and while she is distracted, he slips out, gets in his car and takes off.

Porter tells them he is there for a review, and asks Kellett and Forrester if they have read the book ‘Heart of Darkness’. He tells them it is about a man who got so far away from civilization that he lost his way. Forrester tells him they are very busy and will need to reschedule, and he hands him orders from their superiors telling Forrester to transfer any current cases so that he can give Porter his full attention, and says they will be reviewing all case reports from 2020 to present, and that they will be there a while.

We then move to Pristina and Raines is arriving and meeting up with Ethan. Ethan tells Andre the police want to talk to him, and he says to start by telling him why they are in Pristina. Ethan tells Andre that his freshman year roommate, Leon, lives in Pristina and invited them to visit and party with him. He says he did not know anything was going to happen. He says he was texting Leon but can’t seem to get ahold of him and then two police officers come over to meet him. Detective Ledar Tolka and Detective Vizak Pocoli ask to see his credentials, and say they understand his sister is lost and he says no, missing is how he would describe it right now. They tell Raines he did not tell border control about the purpose of his visit or announce himself to the police on arrival and ask him to come with them. He asks to see their credentials first, and they show them to him. Raines tells Ethan to leave his cell phone on and leaves with the officers.

They arrive at the police station and take Andre inside. They then grab him, take his credentials and put him in a cell. Tolka returns and tells Andre that when he did not report to border control, he wanted to be sure he reasons for being in Kosovo were legitimate. Raines says he just wants to find his sister and her friend, and Tolka says that is why he should have alerted them. Raines says he is right and he apologizes. It is clear from this interaction that through his work with the Fly Team, he has learned to navigate the politics well of how to establish relationships with foreign police services. Tolka lets him out and returns his credentials and phone. He escorts him out of the building telling him that he needs to let the police do their job and that he should be leaving on the next train tomorrow evening, but he hands Andre a small piece of paper with Leon’s name and address on it. Andre says he will be on the train with his sister and leaves the station, after asking if Tolka has a gun he wants to lend him and he says no.

Raines calls Vo, and she says that he needs to get back or they will all be on notice. He tells her he is going to see Leon Gashi and gives her his address to look up information on him, and says he is going dark and to wait to hear from him. Vo tells him to please take care of himself.

Porter is going over old cases with Kellett and Forrester, and he is reviewing where Scott was on a particular date and time. Scott says it was personal time and Porter says there is no such thing in International Affairs. Scott says he cannot tell them he will not go to a restaurant or visit the Turkish baths while he is there in Budapest, and Porter looks uncomfortable and Kellett notices this. Forrester wants to know what he is looking for, and speak plain. Porter says it is related to his mother and that ever since the botched attempt with Scott trying to help catch her, trail has run cold, and he thinks Scott’s relationship with Jamie is the best way to draw her out.

We then return to Kosovo, and Raines is at Leon’s apartment and finds Ethan there. Ethan is high and says it was just to take the edge off. Leon told Ethan he would go get someone to help him. Andre asks him where his sister is, and Matthew Alcott offers to help. He is an investigator and says he has access to parts of Kosovo the police do not. Suddenly another man arrives and attacks Raines. Raines fights him, they crash through a window onto the lawn and eventually Raines knocks him out. A group of men begins to approach, when Tolka pulls up and tells Raines to get in.

Raines tells Tolka he figured he gave him the address to follow him and he tells him he is right. He asks him if he needs the hospital and Andre says no. He asks Raines what he learned and Raines asks “Why should I trust you”, to which Tolka answers “Because I am the only one you have.” Raines shows him Alcott’s card and asks if he knows him, and if they can get him from the number. Tolka says they can “ping” the phone. Raines calls Vo and asks what she found. She says Leon only studied one year abroad and then left the US permanently and does not show up anywhere else in the system. However he has a brother and cousin who were arrested for kidnapping and extortion 18 months ago in Pristina, and they were released on bail and never went to trial. In addition, Matthew Alcott was the one that bailed them out. Raines says it is likely organized crime linkages. Vo tells him whatever he needs, she is there for him, and he says he knows and thanks her.

Vo fills Kellett and Forrester in on where Raines is and what he is doing. Vo goes in to be interviewed by Porter and Jamie tells Scott she is willing to put everything on the table for him, but he says he won’t let her. She also comments on how he said something interesting earlier that Porter has been there 3 times in the last few months and he turned beat red when he mentioned the Turkish baths, so she wants to explore that and Scott says he will try to raise someone in the police department in Pristina while she does that.

We then return to Pristina, and we see Raines and Tolka following Matthew Alcott. Tolka receives a call and says there is a problem, and they go to a crime scene and find Ethan shot on the sidewalk. Raines busts open the door in Alcott’s office and Alcott tries to pull a gun on him but Raines disarms him. He tells Alcott to deny he is a part of this so he can put him through the wall. Raines tells him he thinks that local criminals have been kidnapping foreign girls and that when the families and friends feel they are getting nowhere with the police, in walks investigator Alcott, who can help them get their family back for them, but he is actually in on the crime. Alcott tries to deny knowing what he is talking about and Raines says he paid their bail 18 months ago. Raines asks if he is going to find contact info for his family, but then he says it must be Grace whose family is rich. Raines says he thought in his job he had seen the lowest of the low, but Alcott scams anxious parents at the worst time in their life, and he doesn’t think there is a pit deep enough for him. He asks where his sister is, and Tolka joins Raines to support him. Alcott says they are in a factory and Raines says he needs him to text them and tell them he has made contact but the girls are not to be harmed or hurt in any way or it will affect the ransom payment. As they drive to the factory, Raines tells Tolka he appreciated him helping him. Tolka asks if Raines is close to his sister, and he tells Tolka that his father threw him out when he was 17 and she was only 9. He says he shouldn’t have left her there. This was a very touching scene to see Andre share a piece of his past, as to this point, he appeared to just be a typical protective older brother, but the level of determination and protection he feels for Jordan now makes even more sense in the storyline.

Back in Budapest, Porter is asking to speak to Raines, and Forrester says Raines has left for the night, and so he says he will take the files back to the hotel and he expects everyone to be there at 8am. Jamie follows Porter with her iPad. Vo asks if they have heard from Raines and he says no, and asks her to pull and bring him any case where they have had a lead in Kosovo. They want to be prepared with cover for Raines if it is needed.

Tolka and Raines arrive at the factory and Tolka asks about Ethan, and Raines said that he likely told Leon about travelling with the girls and they used him to lure them in and were going to use him as a go between for the negotiator and the parents. He asks why they would kill him then, and Raines says because he did not tell them about him. Tolka lends Raines a gun and calls for support for them as they do not know how many men are in the factory. He and Raines agree they are not waiting and enter the warehouse before backup arrives. They appear to identify where they are holding the girls and they see at least 6 men spread out in the factory and the girls have been seperated. They see Leon leading a blindfolded Grace and Andre disarms him and gets him to tell him how he set Ethan up. Raines is signaling to Tolka that he has Grace when the kidnappers shoot Tolka. Raines gets Grace to a separate area of the factory and tells her to hide. Raines gets Jordan and as the kidnappers try to escape, the backup officers arrives to arrest them.

Several officers have Raines cuffed and are yelling at him in another language. Detective Pocoli arrives and Raines tells him before he says anything that his partner Detective Tolka was a stand-up guy, and for some reason he wanted to help him. Everything he did to rescue his sister was with Tolka’s assistance and he is very sorry that he died. This again is another scene where Raines shows not only how sincere he is but also his skill at working with other police agencies and recognizing their contributions. Pocoli tells Raines that Tolka’s wife and kids immigrated to New York two years ago, and he was hoping to have his VISA approved to join them, and that he hoped that by helping Raines, Raines would help him. Raines says he would have helped him. Jaeger enters the room and says Raines is an FBI agent working with Europol in their newly opened office in Pristina and they need to release him immediately, along with US citizens Grace and Jordan. They release him, and he thanks Katrin for her help. Jordan and Grace apologize and hug Andre and he says it is okay and he has them, and they leave with Katrin.

Porter arrives to the office and gets a not so friendly greeting from Tank, and he comments to Vo that they should likely not have a dog in the office. Vo tells him they are waiting for him in the break room. He is about to tell them how he wants to start the day when Jamie stops him. She says three times in three months he has been in Budapest, and it seemed like based on what they had combed through the day before he did not have a justifiable reason to return. She says it turns out Agent Porter fell for a prostitute names Rosalia and Forrester says they know he liked her so much that he came back three times in three months for what he said was official business and Jamie says he even rented her an apartment and shows him the surveillance photos she took the night before. She asks what Mrs. Porter and his kids would think about that, and Porter suddenly says he has everything he needs, and that they no longer need to pursue any disciplinary measures on the Fly Team office. Porter shows himself out, and Scott tells Jamie nice work. Forrester asks Vo if she has heard from Raines and she says he is seeing Jordan off at the airport, and Scott says to tell him that he wants to see him as soon as he gets in. Vo asks Forrester to take it easy on him as “we all would have done the same for our family” and Forrester says he will take it under advisement.

Raines is at the airport with Jordan and Grace’s parents are there as they paid a jet to come get them. Jordan tells him again that she is sorry and she will never be that stupid again and he says it was not her fault. She says she thought they were invincible and Andre says every 20 year old thinks that. She begins to cry and says she does not know what she is supposed to tell Ethan’s parents and Andre says the truth, no matter how awful it may be, because they need to know. Jordan asks when he is coming home, and he says he is not sure. She asks if he is catching monsters like those men out there and he says yes, and she says then he needs to stay and make sure no one else goes through what they just went through. They tell each other they love each other and Jordan gets on the jet to go home.

So not only did we get an opportunity to learn a little more about Andre Raines and what makes him tick, but we no longer have to worry about Agent Porter and any possible problems for the Fly Team…at least for now.

Let us know what you thought about this episode in the comments below.