Stream It Or Skip It: ‘FBI’ On CBS, About The Cases The Feds Face In New York

Dick Wolf’s shows have covered a lot of the people that protect us: cops, firefighters, doctors, prosecutors. Now he moves to the federal level with FBI, a show that doesn’t vary much from the typical Wolf playbook. Is it worth watching?

FBI: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Two brothers coming home from school in Upper Manhattan. The younger one goes in to play XBox while the older one talks to a girl he likes. Then all of a sudden, there’s an explosion on the first floor of the building.

The Gist: On the scene after the explosion are two Special Agents from the FBI’s New York Office: Maggie Bell (Missy Peregrym) and Omar Adom “OA” Zidan (Zeeko Zaki). As the cops try to evacuate the building, Bell has a feeling this isn’t going to be the last blast. Indeed, as she tries to keep the mother of the kid who went in out of the building, a much bigger explosion happens, sending the building crumbling to the ground.

Why was a random apartment building targeted? As the New York office puts its technological know-how into play, led by Assistant Special Agent In Charge Jubal Valentine (Jeremy Sisto), there’s hints that gangs are fighting each other for turf. But eventually, the explosions are pinned to a well-known white nationalist (Dallas Roberts) who is using the explosions to start a race war.

We get a little insight into both Maggie and OA in the pilot. Maggie is determined to bring gangs, terrorists, and everyone else she investigates to justice, but cares enough about her cases that she attends the funeral of the little boy killed in the explosion. She’s also still suffering after the death of her husband. OA used to be undercover, flushing out terrorist cells. But now that he’s working as a street agent, he’s got to come to terms with people like the white nationalist, who don’t trust him simply because he’s Muslim.

Our Take: FBI is a critic-proof show, which has been true of any show created by Dick Wolf, from the Law & Order shows to the Chicago Fire/P.D./Med trio. They’re heavily procedural, with cases generally wrapped up at the end of every episode. We see glimpses into the inner lives of the shows’ main characters, and sometimes there are story arcs that dive a little deeper in that area. FBI fits right into that mold, which means it’ll rise or fall with the charisma of the show’s stars.

This isn’t Peregrym’s first rodeo playing a law enforcement officer (she starred in ABC’s Canadian import Rookie Blue), so she hits all the right notes of being alternately determined, concerned, and troubled. Sometimes Peregrym employs her brow-creasing “worried face” too much, but that’s something that can be smoothed out as the season goes along; she’s more than capable enough to shoulder the show’s emotional load.

Zaki is also very capable, playing a guy who’s having problems adjusting from being an undercover agent to doing things by the book. Of course, Sisto is Sisto, effortlessly charming in whatever role he’s in. And in episode 2, we’ll see Sela Ward replace Connie Nielsen as the Special Agent In Charge of the New York office. Since we’d watch Ward read her e-mails for an hour, she’ll be a welcome addition to the show.

Sex and Skin: All business.

Parting Shot: Maggie goes to the boy’s funeral, feeling she has to after the boy’s mother tells her that she should have let her die with her son in that building. She is also likely there to deal with her own loss, and the knowing look she exchanges with the boy’s mother seems to indicate that.

Sleeper Star: Ebonée Noel plays Kristen Chazal, a young agent who is a computer and technology whiz. She even manages to somehow defuse a bomb at the end of the episode.

Most Pilot-y Line: “I’m not a Nazi,” says the white nationalist. Maggie: “Do you prefer to be called a white nationalist?” Nationalist: “I’m an Americanist.”

Our Call: SKIP IT, if Dick Wolf procedurals put you to sleep. We’re not fans, so we will be bypassing this one. However, if you’re a fan, this one is completely in your wheelhouse.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company’s Co.Create and elsewhere.

Watch FBI on CBS All Access