FBI: International

Dumb, nonsensical and actually damaging to the franchise's established lead.

FBI has spent almost 60 episodes establishing OA as a highly professional, intelligent and skilled agent. This turns him into a hot headed buffoon in an effort to make the new lead agent look good.

The concept that the FBI don't have foreign field offices full of highly connected and intelligent agents, fully up to speed with local Intel but instead have a team of five "super agents" to roam the world is utterly ludicrous.

Hopefully can course correct as some talented actors are going to waste here.

The best actor... the rest of the team is weak, ugly and lacking in charisma.

This show is impossible, poorly cast, and impossible. That said, it isn't one star unwatchable. Many of the one star reviews are from reviewers offended by the very concept of Americans operating in their country or by the numerous cultural liberties the show takes for the American target audience.

The biggest challenge with this show is the distracting premise. Without explanation or justification, we're handed a group of four FBI agents operating in Hungary. It makes no sense. The writers clearly never thought this through, so at various times they have armed FBI agents running around arresting suspects, unarmed FBI agents running around arresting armed suspects, and unarmed FBI agents standing around while local law enforcement arrests suspects.

What the show needs is some consistency and justification. Place these FBI guys on a joint Interpol-FBI task force. Have them begin chasing suspects in the US and continue their pursuit overseas after getting the necessary clearances. Have an army of State Department employees in the background burning the phone lines negotiating approvals. Have the FBI team be called in by local law enforcement who need some unique specialized skills or expensive ultra-high tech equipment the team is furnished with. Forget the FBI and make them a clandestine branch of the CIA. Something, anything, that is even remotely plausible.

The other major problem is the casting. The no more than adequate lead has 90% of the lines and 100% of the meaningful dialogue. His second in command, the living embodiment of beige, appears to exist solely to provide the lead with a thoroughly uninteresting love interest. The rest of humans on the team may as well not exist. Eleven episodes in and I couldn't tell you their names. They're given nothing to say, nothing to do, and no character development. It seems the only time they get involved is when the director realizes they've been hanging around the set for days and takes pity on them.

I like the dog. The dog is great.

Five stars for the settings, occasional plot twists, and interesting action scenes. No stars for the stupid premise and thoroughly inept casting. Five stars.

What a crap series.

The whole premise does not hold water as the FBI have no jurisdiction abroad. They also carry guns in countries where it would not be allowed etc.

It is also ridiculously patronising in that it tries to show all other police forces as being inept and that they are the only ones that can solve a crime.

I will tell you what it isn't, it isn't the scent of a good TV crime/detective series. Rather, that non-stop irritating background music with the drums constantly beating in a losing attempt to create suspense just irritates Mrs. Shullivan and I into asking each other "had enough?" The answer is yes, after two episodes of watching yet ANOTHER bunch of thirty-somethings so called seasoned International FBI agents over the top acting this crappy CBS series has been over cooked and all we see is smoke and another stinker.

I give it a 4 out of 10 IMDB rating and I would bet the house it does not make it to a season 2.