Poor Maggie had to make some tough choices.
That’s because her mentor came to town, and something was off about her on FBI Season 5 Episode 13.
It was enjoyable to indirectly look back at a younger Maggie through Gwen’s eyes. And didn’t OA eat that up?
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It was a very organic way that the reunion was set up. The FBI got sucked in because a dead body was gunned down in some kind of federal economic zone.
Someone texted one of the victim’s burners, and surprise, surprise, that someone was Gwen, who regularly used the victim, Cole Dixon, a professional informant.
Well, that was certainly a convenient way to get that old team back together again, wasn’t it?
And since Dixon’s last message to Gwen was both ominous and vague, having to do with thousands of deaths, unfortunately, there was little time for nostalgia.
Gwen’s presence made for a fascinating change of perspective. Everyone is used to looking up to Maggie as the JOC’s alpha agent. Maggie is a younger version of Gwen.
Gwen being there took Maggie back to being that raw trainee in Indiana. Would it have killed them to have a good old-days story or two about Maggie?
Gwen also gives Maggie a look about 15 years into her future. It’s easy to see Maggie refusing to step back when her body starts to betray her.
Likewise, Maggie kept remembering Gwen as she was, ignoring the evidence that something was wrong with Gwen, even after OA forced her to take a long look at how Gwen harmed this case. Eventually, Maggie got there, especially after finding that med pen in Gwen’s bag.
Yes, Yu was still loose on the street with the bomb because Gwen failed to be where she needed to be to contain him. But she also was the one that tapped the GPS in Yu’s abandoned car to pinpoint his target.
So she was still contributing to the case or at least making up for her earlier misstep. Gwen feared being forced out of the field, but she still had plenty to offer in another capacity.
It was painful for Maggie to comfort Gwen about her condition and to assign her to the perimeter because Maggie couldn’t trust her to do exactly what needed to be done.
But, in the end, Gwen was there for Maggie after You had gotten the drop on her. She wouldn’t have been if she had done what Maggie ordered and stayed on the perimeter.
Still, this is Maggie with her Midwestern straightforwardness. She’s called out OA, and she’s called out Jubal this season for what she sees as suspect behavior. Could you do any less for her mentor?
Gwen needed to tell someone. So why not her protege, Maggie?
Gwen had to know that her MS diagnosis meant that her days as a field agent were numbered. But a normal life can still include her being an instructor or an administrator. At least she wouldn’t be totally away from the action.
What appeared to do the trick was Maggie spouting Gwen’s words, but no one was bigger than the Bureau back at her. Gwen must have genuinely hated that.
And, frankly, watching the two of them work together, it helps to understand Maggie a bit more.
With the Maggie-Gwen relationship in the spotlight, that didn’t leave a lot of screentime for everyone else.
OA served as the needed voice of reason for Maggie regarding Gwen. He couldn’t understand what was happening with Gwen and hoped Maggie could explain it to him.
OA also kept his hand in as a bomb disarmer. Granted, he got walked through it to a reasonable degree, but it was his guesswork that saved the day. Bomb tech might not be as sexy as his usual position. But that’s a great tool to have in his back pocket.
It was a lost episode for Scola and Tiffany, with one ineffectual scene interrogating the stooge they collared to their credit. But that’s going to happen for them from time to time.
Jubal and Isobel also were there somewhere, although you would hardly know it. But it wasn’t their spotlight.
Maggie and Gwen’s reunion took place amid a case with intriguing twists and turns. The informant’s wife thought he was an Uber driver, for example, although she allowed he was keeping some secrets. No duh.
Dixon got in touch with a disgraced corporate chemist, who was later found shot dead, just like Dixon. Only he was creating meth as anticipated but rather a suitcase bomb, which in turn was stolen by two Asian men, according to a witness.
Fortunately, the analysts at the JOC were able to start pulling things together at that point, determining that the Chinese gang East-19 had paid the chemist. East-19 was undoubtedly violent but generally didn’t work with bombs, so this was odd.
It made more sense when it was discovered that they were attempting to fulfill the $5 million contract on a Chinese businessman who defected to America while continuing to criticize the Chinese Communist government.
To follow Maggie’s development, watch FBI online.
How did you like Gwen?
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Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.