FBI Review: Face Off (Season 4 Episode 19)

On FBI Season 4 Episode 19, “Face Off,” Isobel becomes the target of a serial killer, and Nina blends beautifully with the rest of the team.

“Face Off” has a chance to go entirely off the rails at one point, but the story wraps up nicely despite a few questionable instances along the way.

Siri, Play Wannabe by The Spice Girls

FBI can try as much as they’d like to hide that Criminal Minds Season 5 Episode 17, “Solitary Man,” inspired this episode. Still, my brain is rotted enough that I noticed the similarities between the two episodes almost immediately. 

The story isn’t exactly the same, but the doting father turned serial killer turned kidnapper pipeline is clearly popular in the BAU. What makes “Face Off” worse is that this killer, David, is intelligent.

He uses the mask of a Black man to make it seem like this killer is Black, which is not only evil but also incredibly dangerous for every Black man in New York.

It’s reminiscent of FBI Season 3 Episode 14, “Trigger Effect,” where deep fakes are used as almost revenge porn. 

Go Girl, Give Us Almost No Remorseful Feelings!

The major problem with Deon Marshall and also with Isobel’s boss is that, well, they’re not entirely wrong.

It’s proven when she does the exact opposite of what Marshall instructs, even gently suggests, and it backfires on her pretty much immediately. 

Isobel does pull risky moves a lot, and though they sometimes pay off, Maggie’s situation deserves to be discussed further.

Sending Maggie and OA into that building alone, even though the criminal wouldn’t have been able to escape without them seeing, was a mistake. And Isobel should have to answer for it.

Exceeding the Group Dynamics Expectations

As Nina did when we first met her, she slides right into the group to fill in for Maggie on “Face Off.”

She’s charming and witty, and being a good agent on top of being a little flirty with Scola makes her just as interesting, just as important as any other character. 

Shantel VanSanten is a joy to have on FBI, and I hope even when Maggie returns, we can still have Nina around for some cases. 

Especially since Scola deserves a good woman in his life, and again, if we can’t have Elise, Nina completely fits the bill. 

Stray Thoughts:

• No matter how many times the show tries to convince me that Isobel rides the subway, I will never believe it. I know that woman drives her FBI-issued vehicle everywhere, and even if she doesn’t, she’s more of an Uber girl. 
• Is the FBI going to pay for that man’s therapy after forcing him to see those horrible crime scene photos when he wasn’t even the killer?
• My favorite part of this episode was yelling at Isobel to grab her gun when there was an intruder, only to find out she didn’t have it right away because it was locked up. Safety queen!

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FBI airs Tuesdays at 8/9c on CBS.

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