SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for FBI Season 8, Episode 4.

For the second consecutive week, FBI benefits immensely from its guest stars. FBI Season 8, Episode 4, “Manifest” is a solid enough hour, but it’s elevated significantly because of three alumni from the FOX thriller 24—two in front of the camera and one behind it. Without Sarah Clarke, Rudolf Martin and Jon Cassar, this episode wouldn’t be nearly as appealing.

Clarke (who portrayed CTU agent slash ruthless killer Nina Myers on 24, and more recently Eleanor Wish on Bosch) plays Senator Charlotte Hirsch, who is targeted for assassination because she’s the swing vote on a budget amendment to provide veterans housing and health care. She narrowly escapes one attempt on her life, which unfortunately kills her husband, before being murdered via neurotoxin on the airplane when Maggie Bell, OA Zidan and a Capitol Police officer are escorting her to Washington.

The casting of Clarke makes the character of Senator Hirsch more interesting. In different hands, she could be another generic stubborn political figure causing headaches for the main characters. But Clarke gives her a quiet strength, and the script provides some memorable discussion between the Senator and military veteran OA Zidan that deserves to be longer. Also helping the cause is the casting of fellow 24 veteran Rudolf Martin (who portrayed the villainous Belkin) as Hirsch’s killer, known only as “Oslo.” The ruthless international assassin type is not new; FBI: International alone had plenty of those. But Martin has done this before, and so he knows how to play it without overdoing the part.