While the premise had potential, the execution was clumsy. The story never dipped below the surface to explore the humanity of this character, making it hard to take seriously. Even making him the father of a loving adolescent son didn’t redeem him. Let’s review.
The opening hospital scene turned out to be the episode’s high point, capturing the chaos of an emergency room in a way that rivals the best medical dramas. A pregnant woman bleeds from her eyes and ears while her husband watches, helpless, as the hospital team fails to save her. That’s the heightened drama the rest of the episode failed to deliver.
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| "Toxic Behavior” – FBI: MOST WANTED, Pictured: Roxy Sternberg as Special Agent Sheryll Barnes, Shantel VanSanten as Special Agent Nina Chase, and Edwin Hodge as Special Agent Ray Cannon. Photo: Mark Schafer/CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
The pregnant woman’s death was the second unexplained death that day, prompting the Fugitive Task Force to investigate. Special Agent Ray Cannon (Edwin Hodge) talks to the pregnant woman’s husband, Silas Durst (Jon McCormick), and learns that his wife, Maisey, had been painting the nursery before her death. Meanwhile, Supervisory Special Agent Remy Scott (Dylan McDermott) and Special Agent Nina Chase (Shantel VanSanten) rush to speak with the widow of the other victim, Carlos Hernandez, who was also working on a remodeling project.
That connection leads the FBI to a hardware store, where free lemonade had been handed out. Remy discovers a puncture mark in a water container, which is collected for testing. The results confirm the presence of a deadly poison—DMM.
Basketball players, poisoned in a park, die at St. Michaels. Remy deduces that poisoners are rare and difficult to catch, and his team can’t quite figure out whether their unsub (unknown suspect) is targeting specific victims or choosing them at random. Translation: How the hell are they going to catch this guy?
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| “Toxic Behavior” – FBI: MOST WANTED, Pictured: Dylan McDermott as Supervisory Special Agent Remy Scott. Photo: Mark Schafer/CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
The body count at St. Michaels climbs to six. Remy reasons that the killer must have hospital ties. Special Agents Ray Cannon and Sheryll Barnes (Roxy Sternberg) talk to hospital staff to determine if anyone with an axe to grind might be responsible.
One ER doctor sums up the state of American healthcare: “The wheels are coming off the bus.” Translation: Everyone has an axe to grind. Ray and Sheryll’s investigation is abruptly interrupted when a man collapses in Ray’s arms, spewing blood all over him before dying.
CCTV footage leads Nina and Ray to a graffiti artist, who provides a sketch of their suspect. Meanwhile, the killer sends a $10 million ransom demand embedded in a cipher. Remy, naturally, delights in deciphering it.
The message: “I wear many hats, but not on my head. The FBI tried to help, but the players are dead.”
With this, the FBI quickly ascertains that the killer—white male, 40s—is Cormac McClure, a hospital orderly. When Remy and Sheryll question Cormac’s father, Dr. Franklin McClure (Ian Blackman), he paints his son as deeply flawed—someone who struggles with self-worth, blames others for his station in life, and overdramatizes insignificant events—aka someone with a 'victim mentality.’
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| “Toxic Behavior” – FBI: MOST WANTED, Pictured: Roxy Sternberg as Special Agent Sheryll Barnes. Photo: Mark Schafer/CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
Then comes the unlikeliest detective of them all—Cormac’s 13-year-old son, Jason (Judah Mackey). He unravels his father’s sinister scheme: poisoning random people to demand a $10 million ransom. A shallow plot, courtesy of a shallow motivation.
Jason challenges his father with logic, asking: “All the people killed—did they hurt you? How is this helping?”
Cormac’s glib response? “We’ll be rich. But if we don’t get the money, they’ll still pay with their lives. We win either way.”
Eventually, the Fugitive Task Force tracks Cormac’s location via Jason’s phone. Cue the requisite, end-of-episode chase. The FBI kills Cormac in front of his son, who grabs the poison his father planned to use in an act of revenge against an apartment complex that rejected him. Jason spirals into nihilism, crying, “Nothing matters!”
Ray holsters his weapon and approaches him. “Everything matters,” he tells Jason, giving him a choice: surrender the poison or spend his life behind bars—or worse. The latter, of course, is not what his father would want. Jason relents, handing over the poison, and is embraced by Ray.
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| "Toxic Behavior” – FBI: MOST WANTED, Pictured (L-R): Shantel VanSanten as Special Agent Nina Chase and Edwin Hodge as Special Agent Ray Cannon. Photo: Mark Schafer/CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
Now, here’s where the storytelling failed: the showrunner opted for “telling” instead of “showing.” Cormac’s motivations would’ve landed harder if we saw him being denied his apartment, shoved around on the subway, or mistreated by his boss. These are the flimsy excuses he offers to justify his actions—so why not make the audience ‘see’ them?
Television is a visual medium. A few quick edits illustrating Cormac’s distorted worldview could have saved the episode from devolving into a cartoonish portrayal of a killer with a victim complex. Instead, the narrative felt forced, the plot thin, and any deeper psychological or moral complexities overlooked. What we got instead was clichés and melodrama that likely left viewers disconnected and unimpressed.
Ultimately, “Toxic Behavior” tries to marry its crime procedural roots with a compelling study of psychopathology—but it stumbles. Given that well-balanced storytelling is FBI: Most Wanted’s bread and butter, this lack of nuance and depth makes for a forgettable watch. The episode could’ve been better. As it stands—thumbs down (slightly).
What did you think of the McClure’s family dynamic? Let me know in the comments.
Overall Rating
5/10
Lynette Jones
