“Lineage” starts with the murder of a high-profile rapper on his tour bus. Yet the episode quickly pivots to being about drugs and those who traffic in them, settling down into something much more predictable. While it’s not close to the most underwhelming episode of the season, it is a collection of missed opportunities.

FBI Season 7, Episode 7 Tells a Prototypical Drug War Story

There’s Nothing Here Viewers Haven’t Seen Before

FBI Season 7, Episode 17 has two different plot fake-outs in relatively quick fashion. First, the murders might be because the rapper has a very public feud with another rap artist, who has accused him of being a pedophile. Secondly, they might be because his tour bus is packed full of pink cocaine. Somehow, this script manages to directly or indirectly reference the Kendrick Lamar feud, the Sean Combs case and the death of One Direction’s Liam Payne in maybe 20 minutes — which isn’t unexpected for Wolf Entertainment’s “ripped from the headlines” approach, but which might give some viewers whiplash. And all of this turns out to be just a bunch of red herrings.

But before FBI gets to that unsurprising reveal, there are several instances of smart characters doing not so smart things in order to keep the suspense going, which make the episode even more underwhelming. Jubal Valentine, an experienced FBI agent, is somehow unaware of the common practice of people leaving messages for one another in draft emails. OA Zidan spooks the suspects by getting into a fight at the airport hangar the team is surveilling. Stuart Scola is the only agent sent in to do reconnaissance in the bad guys’ bar, so he gets almost immediately taken hostage. “Lineage” is full of moments where the audience has to suspend their disbelief.

FBI Lets Viewers Finally Meet Isobel Castille’s New Husband

Tom Cavanaugh Is a Welcome Addition to the Show

What is particularly impressive is that the scenes between the two are handled maturely. Isobel contemplates retirement, having reached her 20-year anniversary with the Bureau. The idea of catching her proverbial “white whale” in Jack Grippo and then riding off into the sunset has some appeal. But Phillip is written as an incredibly supportive spouse. He gives her his opinion as someone who has already retired, but then he also respects her autonomy. One of his last lines says volumes about his character and their relationship.

One Major FBI Member Is Missing in Action – Again

Missy Peregrym Is Completely Absent From Season 7, Episode 17

FBI Season 7, Episode 17 accomplishes its underlying goal of showing viewers more of Isobel Castille and letting Alana de la Garza spread her wings. It’s just not a very well-written episode in terms of the actual procedural content, as viewers will be scratching their heads at some points and smarter than the characters at others. But that doesn’t keep it from being worth the watch, since de la Garza delivers great work, Cavanaugh adds some charm to the mix and the rest of the cast is as reliable as ever.