As a seasoned gamer of the global TV scene, I must admit that FBI: International‘s return for Season 4 in fall 2024 left me a tad perplexed, much like trying to find my way through a labyrinthine game of cyber espionage without a map. The premiere seemed to be more of a fresh start than a continuation, with the arrival of Jesse Lee Soffer as SSA Wes Mitchell.
In the fall of 2024, FBI: International returns for its fourth season, but it won’t continue directly from where we left off last time, as an explosion at Fly Team HQ didn’t allow that. Instead, the premiere presents a fresh start with Jesse Lee Soffer joining the cast as SSA Wes Mitchell. Interestingly, a significant portion of the premiere is not set in Europe but in Los Angeles to establish Mitchell’s transition to Budapest. Given Soffer’s comments about treating the episode like a pilot, one might wonder if Season 4 will feel more like a reboot.
As Luke Kleintank’s character, SSA Scott Forrester, departed from FBI: International, a fresh start was unavoidable. His absence didn’t receive an on-screen farewell, which left me intrigued. The Season 4 premiere, now streaming with a Paramount+ subscription, dedicated a considerable chunk of time to the events in LA that propelled Mitchell to join the Fly Team. This piqued my curiosity so much that I had to question the new cast member about it from the perspective of my character.
Following Jesse Lee Soffer’s confirmation that the Los Angeles sequences were filmed in Budapest instead of LA, and his praise for the production team’s exceptional work duplicating the city in Hungary to represent California, he highlighted the grandeur of the episode.
This installment was quite significant. After three seasons without introduction, a new character made their debut, which we approached like a premiere, investing ample time, excitement, and attention into it. To set the stage for this character’s backstory, we immersed ourselves in the work. It was an enjoyable process overall.
FBI: International previously parted ways with cast members without considering subsequent episodes as potential series pilots, but losing Heida Reid and Christiane Paul isn’t comparable to losing Luke Kleintank when there was no other Series Regular Agent on the Fly Team capable of replacing him.
Indeed, last season, Forrester had been preparing Vo for a more prominent leadership role. However, she wasn’t promoted during the break to Supervisory Special Agent rank to lead the Fly Team. This makes sense since she is still relatively new, while Mitchell has spent years in the FBI, even after a decade as a police officer (not his tenure on Chicago P.D.).
Given her past relationship with Mitchell, could it potentially pose challenges for him to collaborate with her on an equal footing instead of supervising her as a mentor, Jesse Lee Soffer opines?
I don’t believe there will be any complications. He has faith in her and admires her. He admires the person she’s developed into, and in a sense, she functions as his right-hand helper. There are instances where he devises a strategy, and she steps in to say, “You’ve gone too far. Pull back.” And he complies, acknowledging her guidance. He expresses trust in her and shows this respect towards her.
It remains to be seen if Mitchell, the new leading character on International this season, will open up about his past based on events from Jesse Lee Soffer’s first episode. Given the fresh start for the show, fans might wonder if they’ll explore Mitchell’s background more deeply. I posed that question to the actor, and here’s what he had to say:
Indeed, characters from his past reappear. Specifically, the character portrayed by Greg Czonka (Beau Napp) returns. This individual delivers a threat and eventually manages to escape, creating an intriguing narrative arc.
If FBI: International transitions into a continuous series, with each week revealing a part of this ongoing storyline, it wouldn’t be unprecedented. However, there’s no indication that this narrative arc will be handled any differently compared to how International dealt with Forrester’s case in the past – they might return to it between runs of standalone episodes. In the following clip from the next episode, Mitchell discusses his management approach to the job, as shown below:
In essence, if any characters had doubts about Mitchell that they weren’t openly expressing, Jesse Lee Soffer’s character extending a warm welcome to Tank into the Fly Team seemed to significantly improve his standing! To sum up, while Season 4 may seem like a reboot in certain aspects due to the introduction of a new leading man who didn’t receive a gentle introduction or pilot episode earlier, it’s not a completely fresh show.
In the majority of cases, the principal actors from the previous season remained, and FBI: Most Wanted managed to incorporate Dylan McDermott into Season 3 following the demise of Julian McMahon’s character Jess LaCroix; therefore, it seems reasonable to expect that FBI: International will also be successful in similar circumstances. Tune in to new episodes of FBI: International on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET, sandwiched between FBI at 8 p.m. ET (after a cast change) and FBI: Most Wanted with some updates on relationships at 10 p.m. ET, all airing on CBS.
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2024-10-21 17:07