FBI Review: Hacktivist (Season 4 Episode 2)

FBI Season 4 Episode 2, “Hacktivist,” gives us something we’ve been asking for — continuity. 

First, Jubal updates us on his son’s condition, and woof is it upsetting. This episode is good, but it lacks a sense of urgency. There’s an understanding that the agents must find a killer before 48 hours is up, but they never quite correctly convey how much time is left. 

Having a big ol’ timer is cheesy, and it’s been done before, but there’s a reason so many other shows do it.

Luckily, Jubal’s son gets the help he needs just in the nick of time, and we’re bound to see more of him soon.

On a more personal level, FBI seems to separate the agents in “Hacktivist” between agents who are open to listening to what Lydia has to say, agents who are thinking strictly professionally, and Jubal (who is convinced everyone is the enemy).

This episode tells its story in a great way, never landing on a solid hero or villain, but keeping the thought open that maybe the FBI has become both. 

There are more overt signs of support and care, in Scola saying he wouldn’t have wanted to shoot a man in the middle of an episode. However, there are other things, such as Tiffany’s response to him that teeter the line.

Scola’s first reaction — putting his gun away and talking the man down — should be the norm, but unfortunately, it’s not. I didn’t find a need for Tiffany to respond to Scola’s comment at all, so when she does, insinuating that she’d rather shoot a mentally ill man than see Scola hurt, it takes a minute to process.

She’s sweet and she’s protective of him, but why make Tiffany respond to his comment in the first place? Leave it ambiguous for us to question what we would do. 

Then there’s of course Maggie and Jubal, both of whom are experiencing different ends of this spectrum in their lives, and going about it in wildly different ways. This was interesting for FBI to do because I would’ve pinned Maggie for being more aggressive in this instance. 

Jubal acts reckless and he’s warned multiple times by Isobel to not push it, except he does — because Rina is there to back him up.

[Keke Palmer voice] I hate to say it and I hope I don’t sound ridiculous, did anyone else forget that Rina existed? 

She comes in like a jump scare. Rina could be made into a wonderful character, but right now, her entire introduction and reference are only to Jubal. 

For a while, something has kept me back from loving Rina as a character, and “Hacktivist” shows me why. 

Jubal himself is not a bad person, and wanting to protect his son is completely understandable but he’s let off way too easily. His actions, while on one hand commendable, are a blatant disregard to Isobel’s warnings and his protocol. 

It seems like he recognizes that, too, since he apologizes to Rina and almost immediately looks shocked when he realizes he isn’t in trouble. 

Rina bulldozing over Isobel is a horrible look for Rina and she needs to do better and work with Isobel if she wants viewers’ respect. 

Hopefully, we come back to this in the next few episodes, so Jubal realizes he can’t just go AWOL because a family member is involved. We had to watch OA and Maggie learn this and unfortunately, it looks as if Jubal will have to learn as well. 

Stray Thoughts: 

• The way we meet John is absolutely hilarious to me. He’s immediately singled out in this giant facility, and we’re supposed to spend the next 40 minutes pretending like we don’t know he’s the killer? Suuuure.
• I don’t know what Bitcoin is and at this point, I’m too afraid to ask, but I feel like $20K to hack into a children’s hospital is just not enough. 
• Lydia really let fate take it away when she demanded that the FBI, with all of their other cases, find a serial killer in less than 48 hours. 
• One crumb of Scola and Elise, please? Writers, are you there? Spare Scola/Elise crumbs? 

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FBI airs Tuesday at 8/7c on CBS.

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