FBI Season 8 Episode 6’s baby-stealing plot took the procedural in a refreshing new direction, which is exactly what it needed.

I guessed that the babies the doctor delivered weren’t really dead because that’s what would happen on a soap opera.

Yes, FBI risked becoming so melodramatic it couldn’t be taken seriously, but in the end, it delivered a compelling story, even if it did have some huge flaws.

FBI Season 8 Episode 6’s Core Story Was Interesting Despite The Usual Tropes

I hate all of the gunfights and chase scenes on FBI with a passion, and “Parental” demonstrated why they’re so problematic.

By the time we’d gotten to the climactic hostage crisis scene, we’d already had one gunfight and a chase, so even though Lyle shooting at the cops and threatening to kill his hostages made sense for his character, it fell flat.

I’d have loved for this scene to be as tense as it was meant to be, but it felt like just another typical FBI scene, though I appreciated Isobel being the main negotiator.

She likely understood Lyle’s pain because of her situation with her stepdaughter, though that wasn’t made explicit.

Still, It Was Great For Isobel To Be Out In The Field

It’s probably not realistic that the acting ADIC is at a hostage negotiation scene instead of in headquarters directing operations, but I don’t care.

Isobel has so often had a minor role, appearing in only a few scenes where she has to make tough decisions, so I appreciated her taking a more active role on FBI Season 8 Episode 6.

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I’m not as happy with how quickly the situation was resolved, though.

Isobel’s decision to tell the snipers to hold their fire wasn’t surprising — every cop show has somebody who is determined to end this without bloodshed — but it was approximately 30 seconds from her command to Lyle dropping the gun and surrendering.

That was way too easy!

There were only a few minutes left in the hour by then, so FBI Season 8 Episode 6 had to hurry up and get this resolved, but it was almost anticlimatic.

There was no tension, no question about whether Isobel had made the right decision.

Did this hostage situation feel rushed to you, too?
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Although This Ending Was Disappointing, The Build-Up of The Case Was Strong

I’d guessed that Dr. Rusk had been involved with stealing babies to sell on the black market because that’s how it would go on Days of Our Lives, but I didn’t expect to be right about that.

It seemed too soapy to be accurate, but it was handled well, for the most part.

The trauma of being told his son was dead, only to find out that it was a lie 12 years later, gave Lyle a strong, relatable motive.

The best villains are the ones who do terrible things for good reasons. It makes it harder to root for their downfall even though they need to lose whatever battle they’re fighting.

Lyle’s wife was even more sympathetic.

It was hard to tell whether her son was really alive or if she were clinging to conspiracy theories to soothe her pain the way she sometimes used drugs to cope, and her insistence that her son was alive reminded me of Margaret’s belief that she would someday find Jamie again on Found.

No Matter What Happened, There Was a Question About What Would Come Next

Topher had been living with his adoptive parents for 12 years, so even if Lyle hadn’t decided to resolve the situation through violence, the sudden appearance of his biological parents would have been traumatic.

Years ago, Law & Order had a similar story — a 12-year-old boy was forced to live with his biological parents, who were strangers to him instead of the adoptive parents he’d known all his life.

I doubt that we’ll ever find out how Topher is doing and if he established a relationship with Amy, but at least FBI Season 8 Episode 6 acknowledged that the other kidnapped-at-birth kids were in for a rough time because some of the biological parents might try to claim custody now.

The Addiction Angle Also Added Depth

TV doesn’t always handle addiction storylines properly. Sometimes it relies on stereotypes or inaccurate info about how addiction works.

I was worried that FBI Season 8 Episode 6 would be more of the same because of the way the initial drug bust was handled.

The scene at the club was ridiculous. Scola and Ramos were extremely obvious, even having a condescending conversation about how stupid everyone present was — why would anyone believe they were looking to score?

The dealer they arrested was more or less a caricature, too, though I laughed when he called himself an idiot — at least he realized it!

However, the way the show dealt with the drug users was better.

While nobody explicitly said that these people needed help with a public health issue, there did seem to be an understanding that Amy used drugs to cope with the pain of losing her son.

Plus, it was clear that Dr. Rusk thought (sadly, correctly) that he could get away with kidnapping these babies because the mothers were addicted to drugs, and that accomplice who almost hung himself disgusted me by saying that drug addicted parents didn’t deserve to have children.

A Few Random Thoughts

• I’m thrilled that OA and Maggie finally had a friendship/bonding scene! It’s been far too long.
• Since Amy felt only another mother could understand, this would have been a great time for Nina to make a cameo.

• Did anyone else think Isobel’s stepdaughter was a little too harsh? I can understand her not wanting Isobel to move too quickly to adopt her, but saying she’s a stranger after 18 months together seemed like too much.

I’ve talked enough. Now it’s your turn.

What did you think of “Parental?” What did you love or hate about it?

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