I will start this by saying two things. I know that we had to get to know Wes Mitchell in FBI: International season 4 quickly, and I also know that when these storylines were planned out, the series wasn’t expected to be canceled by CBS. However, the show has wasted far too much time on Wes Mitchell this season.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS for FBI: International season 4, episode 17.
After spending the last seven episodes focused on Wes Mitchell, I had hoped that we would get a personal storyline for a different character. Raines is one who has been routinely underused throughout the series, and I had hoped for something for him in the coming episodes.
Instead, FBI: International season 4, episode 17 brought yet another Wes Mitchell storyline. He got a call from his dad to share that his biological father was up for parole. As a victim of his biological father, Wes has the chance to attend the hearing and speak whether on behalf or against the release of the inmate. It’s the first we’ve heard that Wes was severely abused as a child and that he wasn’t raised by his biological father.
These FBI: International storylines needed to be spaced out more
Even if the show wasn’t coming to an end, I would have said that there was a problem with the writing. It’s yet another storyline involving Wes Mitchell. While the series needs to give us a chance to get to know the leader, it’s completely forgotten about other team members.
Everything is about Wes, right now. At first, Jay Hayden’s Tyler Booth came in bringing up their history together. That one wasn’t as much of a problem as it was the first major guest star that put so much focus on Wes’s backstory.
After that, we got Riley Quinn, who was being sent on a mission by Zaleski to find dirt on Wes because of some history that Wes doesn’t even care about. Then Ella returned, putting their relationship at the forefront of the episode. It’s a lot in a short period of time, and when you have an ensemble cast, the rest of the characters need development.
There are ways to introduce a character without them being the constant focus. It wasn’t a problem with Scott Forrester as the team leader, so I don’t know why the writers have forgotten the others so much this season.
Raines and Amanda have been completely neglected in FBI: International season 4
We’ve seen some great development for Vo over the last couple of seasons, and we’ve also had more of Smitty’s backstory revealed. However, there’s still so little known about Raines and Amanda. The two characters seemed to be just stuck in their current storylines, with no hope of moving forward.
Sure, it’s possible that the series was planning on developing their characters more in FBI: International season 5, but it’s a failing in the fourth season. The introduction of a new character shouldn’t completely take over the development of other characters. Charmed showed how to do it right with its fourth season, and we’ve seen FBI: Most Wanted manage it when Remy Scott was introduced.
It’s just even worse now that we know that this is going to be the final season of the series. There is no longer any time for forgotten characters to get the development they deserve.
FBI: International airs on Tuesdays at 9/8c on CBS. Catch up the following day on Paramount+.
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