FBI Season 7, Episode 12 Review: A Manhunt Gives Maggie Bell a New Opportunity

FBI Season 7, Episode 12, “Manhunt” is another bad day for Missy Peregrym’s character Maggie Bell — although this one ends on a potentially brighter note. Viewers of the CBS series know how many times Maggie has been knocked down, and this story puts even more of a burden on her shoulders. But the drama is fairly consistent throughout, and at least in this hour, Maggie is left with something to look forward to.

“Manhunt” is exactly what it says: Maggie leads the pursuit of two ex-Philippine police officers who have been trafficking young women into the United States with the false promise of American citizenship. After failing to rescue one of their latest victims, she vows to recover the girl before it’s too late. How she accomplishes that is what gives the story its tension, as well as its more hopeful ending.

FBI Season 7, Episode 12 Puts Maggie Front and Center Again

Elise Also Gets More Screen Time in a Supporting Role

“Manhunt” is almost entirely a Maggie Bell episode. While many episodes of FBI spread the screen time around, there’s no doubt that this is Maggie’s story. Stuart Scola is there as Maggie’s partner, but for the most part he’s supporting her — and that includes emotionally, as he has to convince her that certain things aren’t her fault. Jubal Valentine does what he normally does, directing traffic in the bullpen and getting clues from all the analysts therein. Isobel Castille shows up for one significant scene and OA Zidan is completely MIA, owing to the events of the prior episode “Shelter.”

At first glance, this seems like a bad idea, despite Missy Peregrym being more than capable of carrying the workload. The episode begins with Maggie being unable to keep Analis Bahena from being pulled onto a subway train and vowing to help her, and then there’s plenty of angst as Maggie speaks to a desperate Analis over the phone. it seems like FBI is just piling more emotional weight on Maggie’s shoulders, and there are events in “Manhunt” that will stick with her. But it ends with moments that are equally meaningful. Instead of closing with the arrests of the Ocampo brothers, the last big plot point is Maggie performing field medicine to save Analis’s life. She then later meets Joel Lowry, the former EMT turned 911 dispatcher who walked her through the medical procedure. So it’s not all terrible for Agent Bell, and that is a big plus for fans of the character.

There’s also some increased screen time for the recurring character of Elise Taylor, played by Vedette Lim. “Manhunt” reveals that Elise is the person who brought the human trafficking case to everyone else’s attention, so she too has guilt on her shoulders about the initially negative outcome. Elise is even seen conducting an interview with Jubal. Her role decreases as the episode goes on, but it’s still lovely to see her have a bigger part in the plotline.

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The Episode Ends With Joel and Maggie Meeting Face to Face

The end of “Manhunt” gives audiences something to chew on, because it can be interpreted multiple ways. Maggie is assisted throughout the episode by Joel — played by Bill Barrett from the Blue Bloods Season 14 episode “The Gray Areas” — who receives a 911 callf from Analis and connects the two women. It’s a little convenient that Joel just happens to have been an EMT when Analis needs urgent medical attention, but that’s a fact easy to overlook because the audience is rooting for her so badly. But then Joel shows up at the hospital wanting to get an update on the girl’s condition, and the episode ends with him and Maggie going to get a cup of coffee.

This could easily just be Joel being an exceptionally good guy… or it might be FBI positioning him as a future love interest for Maggie. She hasn’t had one in a while, and her only major personal storyline in Season 7 has been the show writing out Ella by giving Maggie another crisis of conscience (in possibly the worst idea of the season). Maggie doesn’t necessarily need another boyfriend, but it’d be appreciated if something just genuinely great happens for her. OA has a happy relationship with Gemma, Jubal is apparently giving it another go with his ex-wife, and Isobel just had a secret marriage, so why not let her date again?

Joel also serves as an effective contrast against the episode’s villains. The Ocampo brothers are just one-dimensionally reprehensible as former law enforcement officers turned shameless human traffickers. Aside from all the horrible details that come out about their operation, Maggie finds Analis’ sister Sofia dead in the middle of the episode, and one of the brothers taunts Maggie just before she shoots him. These characters exist for no other purpose than to be loathed. The existence of Joel, who goes above and beyond his station to help, provides the episode one “good guy” who isn’t in the main cast.

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FBI Lets Stuart Scola & Maggie Team Up in Season 7, Episode 12

The Atypical Pairing Works Very Well

One other plus of “Manhunt” is that it teams up Maggie with Stuart Scola, which FBI fans don’t see as often. Audiences are used to seeing Maggie work with OA Zidan, and Scola working with Tiffany Wallace. But Tiffany’s departure in FBI Season 7, Episode 1, “Abandoned” has meant Scola has been the odd man out. It’s fun to see the show mix up its pairings and give Scola another opportunity to play more off of Maggie, as his calm demeanor comes in handy for her on a few occasions. OA would also have been able to reassure and encourage her, but he’d likely also be just as angry about the situation as she is.

Plus, the pairing is a reminder that FBI isn’t married to one specific idea of how the show works. Over in Dick Wolf’s other One Chicago universe, Chicago PD once fell into a rhythm of usually doing stories with certain pairs, such as Jay Halstead and his future ex-wife Hailey Upton. While the pairings it picked to focus on were effective, that made the Intelligence Unit feel less like a team and more like a collection of people that just happened to work in the same office. The unit on FBI still feels like a team. “Manhunt” may not be the most novel episode, and it’s certainly not an easy watch, but it’s action-packed enough and it does improve on Maggie’s character arc for Season 7. Perhaps this is the first step in something new for her.

FBI airs Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. on CBS.