FBI Season 5 Episode 14 Review: Money for Nothing

On FBI Season 5 Episode 14, “Money for Nothing,” the show makes a fool of itself, trying to be relatable. 

Centered around OA, this episode introduces us to the side of OA that [checks notes] could be better with money. 

As usual with this season of FBI, the case of the week is hollow and watered down. The case is only there to make some sort of connection to what the characters are going through, and “Money for Nothing” falls flat.

This episode isn’t terrible, but it certainly isn’t good, which makes discussing it a gray area. 

The writing has taken a downward turn, which shows in the characters’ actions just as much as the shaky cases. When Tiffany is kidnapped, there’s no urgency because you know they won’t kill her.

Katherine Renee Kane is a great actress, and through Tiffany, even she seems bored and uninterested in the fact that Tiffany has been kidnapped!

For a show in its fifth season, even being a crime procedural, nothing that matters happens in this episode. Nothing has happened in season five as a whole other than with Jubal. 

By Season 5 on other shows, such as Castle, Law and Order: SVU, and even Bones, characters are getting married, in the middle of a slow burn, or even just meeting someone romantically. 

Having Scola and Nina is something, but when the solution is to allow Nina to exist only when Maggie is gone, everything about her fails to matter. 

For once, I’m not saying we need an inter-team relationship, but can we get something from these characters that isn’t being bodily harmed or facing failure in their livelihood? 

In Seasons 1 and 2, we were introduced to romantic partners, siblings, and families that made a difference in the characters’ lives. Now, we’re lucky if we see the team acknowledge each other, much less people outside of their work bubble. 

It’s a shame that the show is so weak, considering it has incredible potential with the cast they’ve got — but it is. 

Season 1 shows us how deep Missy Peregrym and Zeeko Zaki can get with their characters Maggie and OA, so why are we giving them bare-boned storylines?

Until FBI learns to care about its characters again properly, the show will continue to be a stick in the mud in the world of CBS crime dramas. 

Stray Thoughts

• This show tried to convince us that OA Zidan invested in cryptocurrency. Come on now.
• Every time they make Maggie go undercover in a club, she resembles Sandra Bullock’s character in The Heat, at a club in her pantsuit. 
• Anyone who has spent more than my rent on a pair of sneakers now owes me $500. I do not make the rules. 

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FBI airs Tuesday at 8/7c on CBS.

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