Kelly Moran, one of those JOC analysts who find the evidence to crack cases weekly, got out from behind his terminal for once.
He probably wished he hadn’t after FBI Season 5 Episode 11.
It’s great to see one of the support team members getting rewarded with his own episode. After all, FBI wouldn’t be the engrossing procedural it is without their contributions.
Kelly seemed like the least likely candidate to end up in the field. It must be his dress shirt and tie in every episode. That outfit just doesn’t scream “cyber specialist.”
He has no agent instincts. When he heard suspicious noises from the bank, he walked right into the robbery rather than quietly checking out the situation first.
Still, he made valuable contributions while a hostage, slipping out his hidden cell to text updates back to the office. That part came naturally to him.
Thanks to the actual field agents, Maggie and OA, the team was able to establish reasonably early on that the two robbers were inexperienced but, it turned out, also frantic.
Under pressure, Marco and Jennifer were understandably unrealistic about what was involved in getting into a safe-deposit box. It’s no longer the box renter and the bank manager, each using a key to open the box. Now it’s biometric, requiring an eye scan.
As the robbers already knew, and Maggie and OA discovered, that wasn’t an option since Rafael was already dead. This situation led the couple to scream for a locksmith, also largely an anachronism in this day and age.
Not helping matters was that all involved were reminded that it’s impossible to find IT or a specialized locksmith when you genuinely need them.
This shortage meant sending in Jubal to pose as a locksmith. Fortunately, the robbers chalked up his skittishness to nerves at being around guns, not his having absolutely no idea what he was doing, even enough to fake it believably.
Then there was the irony of Ian waiting on hold for IT so that he could walk Jubal through the process of unlocking the box.
Already dealing with the pressure of performing a totally unfamiliar task, Jubal also had to keep Kelly from doing anything more than sneaking an occasional text with facial expressions and veiled shouts seemingly at Marco.
Something along the lines of “Kelly, don’t be a hero. Don’t be a fool with your life.”
Naturally, something got lost in translation, and the fix dictated by Ian failed, leading Marco to attempt to crack open the box with a crowbar, setting off the security grid, effectively sealing the box so it couldn’t be unlocked. Oops.
Marco and Jennifer appeared to be under some deadline.
Maggie’s sharp eyes gave context to that, as the painting cam she uncovered showed that cartel thugs had killed Rafael and abducted his granddaughter. The couple had to recover the crypto wallet with the stolen cartel funds within a set period.
That certainly made Marco and Jennifer more sympathetic as bank robbers go. They just had a very illegal way of raising ransom money. And they were so tightly wound that someone was bound to get hurt.
Those back at the JOC must have been sorry that Jubal had been sent to oversee forces at the bank because they had to deal directly with a revved-up Isobel. They were hustling to save one of their own, so Isobel should have backed off and let them work.
Jubal learned long ago that screaming orders at the nerd herd wasn’t the best way to get results. Maybe it’s their fault since they usually pull a rabbit out of a hat to keep investigations moving forward.
When things fell apart at the bank, the analysts got things back on track, finding the rental car the thugs were driving so the team could execute Plan B, rescuing Ella.
That rescue was a bit risky, with both the agents and the thugs firing around a vehicle that had the child inside. Likewise, why didn’t one of the thugs use the girl as a shield?
But since Ella was heavily sedated, Maggie couldn’t just put her on the phone with her parents. That’s typically how such an episode would end.
Likewise, the EMTs wouldn’t force such a young child awake chemically. So, there was no way for the FBI to prove that Ella was rescued and OK.
That’s because while that rescue was going down, Jubal had been outed after his earwig came out during a scuffle. So the Salazars didn’t believe anything that anyone from the FBI said.
The bank manager didn’t help matters, grabbing Marco’s gun when he went to comfort Jennifer. He deserved to be shot for making such a stupid move.
Kelly had no choice but to reveal himself as Marco was about to shoot Jubal. His bluff with his cell was enough to distract the parents, giving the force outside the opportunity to breach and arrest them.
Jubal was right to praise Kelly for his actions, although all the agents rushing the bank with guns probably saved more lives than Kelly’s bluff.
Kelly likely will be content to go back behind his desktop and have his coffee delivered for the foreseeable future. But it was enjoyable to see him out of his element.
To follow the exploits of the analysts, watch FBI online.
How do you think Kelly performed in the field?
Which analyst deserved a spotlight episode next?
How believable was Jubal as a locksmith?
Comment below.
