FBI Review: Brother’s Keeper (Season 3 Episode 11)
The case in FBI’s Season 3 Episode 12 “Brother’s Keeper” challenges the essence of police work as a whole, and why it matters to care.
In general, most cop shows, whether they’re about a specific police force, the FBI, DHS, or criminal investigating services are heavy on the propaganda, as discussed more recently, copaganda. I’m not going to lie to you and say that doesn’t happen on FBI, but episodes like “Brother’s Keeper”, force their viewers, and sometimes their characters, to look into the eyes of the injustices law enforcement in America puts on certain people.
On FBI, the writers are never afraid to tell us exactly how their characters feel. The show and its characters have covered topics such as the unjust spying on Muslim people, Black people being killed by police at a disproportionate rate, and now, how law enforcement deals with mentally ill/unstable suspects.
“Brother’s Keeper” introduces us to Richard (Rob Campbell) and Mark (Ben Jeffrey), brothers who are wildly different and over the years have lost touch. When we find out that Richard is schizophrenic, there’s a silence that says everything you need to know. What Richard is thinking isn’t rational, but Maggie and OA have a duty to protect the people.
When Maggie confronts him, there are almost no guns, and she speaks to him rather than immediately taking a shot or getting more aggressive. This should be every law enforcement officer’s approach when dealing with a mentally ill/unstable person.
In this quest to essentially get a man to turn in his brother, we get to meet Erin (Adrienne Rose Bengtsson), Maggie’s sister. While it was a bit strange to randomly bring in a sister for Maggie, it worked remarkably well.
Something else that works remarkably well on FBI is Maggie and OA’s partnership. They trust each other entirely, and of course, they wouldn’t work so well together otherwise. It’s not always them outright saying it, either, which makes it so much more exciting to watch.
We’re three seasons in and I’m sure it’s far too late to start a slow burn, but personally, just to throw it out there, if the show wanted to give us a Maggie/OA romance, I would not be opposed. They have insane chemistry, OA was clearly jealous of Maggie’s (now ex) boyfriend Nestor, and we haven’t seen Mona in weeks. These are simply facts that I’m sharing with you.
Anyway… Maggie is reminded by Richard that being her sister, she knows Erin best, and when she visits Erin’s dorm, she finds the drugs Erin so adamantly denied using. Maggie tells Erin that she found a rehab for Erin to go to whenever she’s ready. Whenever Erin is ready to accept what’s happened and where she is now. Whenever Erin says ‘yes’ to help, because you can’t make an addict do anything, and Maggie knows this.
Here’s what would make Erin’s introduction worthwhile in the long run: actually hearing from her again. FBI, of course, isn’t going to become a show that follows Maggie’s addict sister around through her recovery, but I don’t want this show to use addiction for a plotline. They handle Jubal’s addiction so well, but this feels misplaced.
It’s kind of surprising that the FBI writers would only now, three seasons later, introduce this massive part of Maggie’s life.
“Brother’s Keeper” reminds us to love and support our family in the very best way we can, even if we feel like we can’t.
Stray Thoughts:
- I know that Richard killed someone and tried to hurt others, but is the idea of AI/robots replacing humans really that out there?
- A line I really appreciate from “Brother’s Keeper” is when Mark says, “we all know what happens when law enforcement deals with the mentally ill, okay? It doesn’t end well.” It’s unfortunately very true.
- Erin saying “Mags talks about you all the time,” to OA the second they meet and you… don’t want me to ship them?
- Why do the agents always yell at their suspects from so far away? A suspect could be next to a departing train and they’ll yell their name from 100 feet away and say they lost them when they get on the train.
What did you think of this episode of FBI? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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FBI airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on CBS.
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Laura Wanberg
Laura is a homebody who loves everything about TV. Some of her favorite shows include Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Parks and Recreation, and The Morning Show. With her ever-growing list of new shows to watch and books to read, her favorite thing to do is to cuddle up with her cat and get lost in someone else's world.
One thought on “FBI Review: Brother’s Keeper (Season 3 Episode 11)”
Erin: “Please don’t tell mom and dad”.
Maggie: “They’re gonna understand”.
I stopped to that, how often would the first line of this exchange turn in a different direction…a secret. An understanding. But Maggie’s line dissolves Erin’s proposition not to disclose the discovery to their parents. Love conquers fear indeed…boldly.
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