FBI Season 7, Episode 14, “Hitched” is one of the most exciting episodes of the season. What could have been a melodramatic premise — OA Zidan having to save his wounded girlfriend on a vacation gone wrong — turns out to be a mini-action movie crammed into 42 minutes. It’s a bit like Air Force One on a passenger train, with a couple of concessions for TV.

“Hitched” revolves around OA and Gemma taking a train ride to Niagara Falls, only to learn that there are hijackers aboard. Who the suspects are and what they want deviates enough from the norm to get CBS viewers invested — partially because the guest roles are played by two very familiar faces. With Zeeko Zaki in full-on action hero mode, the story comes together in an incredibly entertaining way.

FBI Season 7, Episode 14 Has Plenty of Dramatic Momentum

There’s Rarely a Slow Moment in the Episode

Any action-based plot like “Hitched” has to move quickly enough to keep the audience feeling just as rushed as the characters. An example of this principle was illustrated in the FBI Season 7 spring premiere “Descent,” which wanted fans to be on the edge of their seats worrying about hijacked planes, but never reached levels of tension high enough to create that fear. In shifting to a story about a hijacked train, FBI does much better. A large portion of this is due to the incredible talent of the actors involved, but the script by Mae Smith also unfolds fast enough and with enough changes to make the viewers constantly uncomfortable.

Smith puts extra character development into the hijackers, making them more than stock antagonists, although it takes a little bit for that depth to come out. Their story is the actual backbone of the episode; it’s revealed that they are actually victims of a different crime. All of them come from a community in Ohio that was affected by the crash of another train carrying hazardous materials. After failing to get a class action lawsuit against CTX Logistics off the ground, they want to find a different way to get money from the company. That’s one twist, and then Smith adds another when there’s a difference of opinion within the group. These changing motives essentially break the episode into three parts, each one stepping the situation up just enough.

There are some weak spots, mostly near the beginning. The club owner who’s the initial murder suspect is a stereotypical Russian character, although this may be because FBI knows he’s just a red herring. It’s also almost expected that one of the other passengers on the train turns out to be the fourth hijacker. And when a gunshot goes off, everyone knows that Gemma will be the victim because main characters’ significant others normally are. But Smith makes up for these obvious choices by having the remaining passengers be active participants in the story, particularly when it comes to helping Gemma, instead of just cannon fodder to be killed or to complain. Even the suspects turn out to be quite sympathetic in the end.

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Episode 14 Has Another Stacked Guest Lineup

FBI Season 7 has had some excellent guest stars, such as Chicago Med‘s Guy Lockard and Cold Case star Jeremy Ratchford in Episode 8, “Riptide.” Episode 14 is another example of how the show’s casting directors are earning their paychecks, with Comfort Clinton returning as Gemma, and Melora Walters and Raphael Sbarge in the two key roles. Walters — known for her starring parts in PEN15 and Big Love — plays Evelyn Adams, the leader of the hijacking effort. Evelyn scares her colleagues when she declares that she doesn’t plan on releasing any hostages; instead, she’s taking the train on a suicide mission, planning to drive it into CTX’s freight yard, which is full of a dangerous chemical. The best scene in the episode is when OA tries to talk the schoolteacher down, but Evelyn winds up taking her own life. What could have been the most trope-y argument becomes fans watching Evelyn’s emotional collapse in real time.

Sbarge portrays Gordon Davis, the hijacker who initially drives the train. The actor was a staple of Once Upon a Time for the ABC show’s entire run as Archie Hopper, and just recently appeared as a defense attorney in Law & Order Season 24, Episode 4, “The Meaning of Life.” It’s no wonder that he’s migrated over to another Dick Wolf show just a few months later. Gordon’s face is obscured for the first part of the episode and he’s looking down at the train controls, so Sbarge can’t make that visual connection with the audience. Yet he still makes Gordon feel like a real person, and once Evelyn’s true nature comes out, he is wonderful at playing Gordon’s shock and fear. All of the guest performers have something to add to “Hitched,” but these two TV veterans do more than their part to make the episode memorable.

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FBI Season 7, Episode 14 Is Another Zeeko Zaki Showcase

OA Zidan Turns Action Hero in This Episode

It’s quite possible that Zeeko Zaki is the most underrated actor on network television, and “Hitched” is another FBI episode that proves it. Zaki has a full spectrum of things to play, from OA desperately pleading for someone to help Gemma to becoming a one-man army when OA makes the very smart decision to uncouple the other train cars so that everyone else can be saved. That’s a plot twist many viewers won’t see coming, but it’s exactly in line with OA’s incredible selflessness, and it means Zaki has to carry the final portion of the episode largely by himself.

Audiences know that OA won’t be able to stop the train until the last possible second, because that’s how TV works, but Zaki’s performance still makes those moments where OA is trying to get into the driver’s cabin and trying to wrestle with the brakes feel tense. They’re as much about the emotional pressure OA puts on himself as they are whether or not he’s able to succeed. Even the crack in his voice when he expresses his guilt to his partner Maggie Bell resonates with the audience.

FBI Season 7, Episode 14, “Hitched” shows how good an FBI agent and how good a person OA Zidan is, and like Episode 11, “Shelter,” Zaki steps up to the mark. With two other wonderful actors bringing the other half of the story to life, what could have been a very simple episode that just provided more angst for OA and Gemma becomes something fully developed and even surprisingly emotional. This is FBI at its best, and a worthwhile ride for the audience from beginning to end.

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

FBI Season 7, Episode 14

Release Date

September 25, 2018

Directors

Dick Wolf

• 

  Missy Peregrym

  Maggie Bell

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  Zeeko Zaki

  Omar Adom OA Zidan

Pros & Cons

• The plot moves at a breakneck speed, with enough twists to keep viewers guessing.
• This is another FBI episode with top-notch guest stars who help elevate the plot.
• Zeeko Zaki continues to deliver great work as OA Zidan.

• Some of the minor details and characterizations are predictable.