FBI: International Season 4, Episode 11, “Veritas Fidelis,” has no massive impact on the CBS show — but it feels like an episode the whole season has been planning for. The episode re-establishes Megan “Smitty” Garretson’s importance to the Fly Team, and brings her character arc full circle. At the same time, it tells an emotionally moving story, even if audiences can guess at the big plot twist. That doesn’t matter so much when the audience is so invested.
“Veritas Fidelis” kicks off with Smitty being called to a crime scene at her former school, the prestigious Blackmore University. It’s immediately clear that the death of student Emma Byers is a homicide, so Smitty recruits the Fly Team to help her close the case… and of course, ends up confronting her past. The story’s beats and themes will be very familiar, yet the performance by Eva-Jane Willis and a cameo by a former star make this episode feel intense and very well deserved.
FBI: International Successfully Pries Further Into Smitty’s Backstory
Season 4, Episode 11 Takes a TV Trope and Makes It Work
On its most basic level, viewers have seen “Veritas Fidelis” before. As soon as FBI: International reveals that Emma is the only female member of the Covington Club, some audience members will be able to guess that she’s joined to get back at someone. The “why” being a prior sexual assault isn’t a shock either, given the opening scenes that show off the attitude of the club members. Stories about secret societies and/or wealthy college kids getting away with crimes are a dime a dozen — one example being the 2000 thriller The Skulls, starring Paul Walker and Joshua Jackson. And the characters within the Covington Club aren’t fleshed out beyond the basic types needed to fill the story. There’s the one nice guy who wants to help, the one guy who’s just a follower, and the incredibly spoiled one who thinks he’s untouchable and so is the clear perpetrator. There’s nothing novel in the case of the week, but this episode shows how novelty can become irrelevant if the audience buys into the characters.
Viewers want to see Emma get her revenge, so to speak, on this elitist group of (mostly) ne’er do wells. Beyond that, they want to see Smitty get her revenge; it’s not surprising that the club’s lawyer just so happens to be a former classmate of hers, complete with snide references to their shared past. It’s a very common crime show idea that a hero confronts their past in some way, be it going home or having a loved one or old friend accused of a crime. FBI: International makes this pop by adding a layer to it: Raines reveals that Smitty’s expulsion from the school, which changed her career path and ultimately led her to Europol, was a setup by another rich classmate’s family. Her entire life could have been different if that hadn’t happened — and this revelation gives her connection to Emma immediately believable context. It really is personal; that’s not just a turn of phrase or a feeling.
Megan “Smitty” Garretson (to Raines): I went over it in my head a million times… I won’t let the same thing happen to Emma.
This episode’s place in the order of events makes it feel so significant. “Veritas Fidelis” happens right after audiences saw Smitty nearly quit the Fly Team and Tyler Booth remind her of her value. So is it just coincidence that right after she gets affirmation about being in the right place professionally, there’s an episode about how she almost didn’t get there? Smitty’s been searching for something since she learned about her family history in Season 3, and it feels like this episode is closing the loop on her personal story without actually announcing it. The final shot of Smitty walking away after adding Emma’s name to the university student wall seems like a statement about how she’s looking forward and no longer behind.
OA Zidan, played by Zeeko Zaki, wearing a black leather jacket on a teal background with FBI logo
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Another impressive aspect of Season 4, Episode 11 is that it knows how to use the other FBI: International characters to support Smitty, both on-screen and in terms of their use within the story. There are no subplots to pull the audience’s attention away, and nobody overshadows her accidentally. Andre Raines, with whom Smitty is most commonly paired, is the character who breaks the news about her expulsion to her — and is there to comfort her, both by giving her a hug in the moment and by going with her to Emma’s funeral. Any Fly Team member could’ve done those things, but making it Raines shows the depth of their partnership and friendship. It’s a
