FBI recently returned from hiatus with an explosive Season 5 premiere that shifted priorities in Maggie’s absence (as actor Zeeko Zaki explained), but it didn’t follow up on anything from Season 4’s conclusion, which was not the case for FBI: International and FBI: Most Wanted. This was due to CBS’ decision to pull what was supposed to be the Season 4 finale from the schedule just hours before it was set to air in the spring. Now, that episode is finally scheduled for the not-too-distant future, and the storyline of the Season 5 premiere actually sets it up.
CBS delayed the episode, called “Prodigal Son,” back in May due to the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The finale was set to involve a potential school shooting in a storyline that revealed Jubal’s son had become friends with one of the potential criminals, leading to a case that could – to quote Jeremy Sisto – ”go terrifically wrong” for his character. There was originally no sign as to whether it would ever air, but TVLine now reports that “Prodigal Son” will debut on Tuesday, October 4 in FBI’s usual 8 p.m. ET time slot.
So, how did FBI’s Season 5 premiere set up the Season 4 finale, when “Prodigal Son” was originally planned to air months before the return earlier this week? Well, after one star shared that the fifth season would get off to “a different” start, the premiere – called “Hero’s Journey” – picked up as if it was following what was planned originally as the penultimate episode of Season 4.
As FBI isn’t the most serialized of the nine shows under the Wolf Entertainment umbrella, “Hero’s Journey” could simply tell a story that set up Jubal’s storyline with his son without contradicting anything that had already aired. If anything, the upcoming Season 4 finale-turned-October episode may pack more of an emotional punch after what went down between Jubal, his ex-wife, and teenage son Tyler.
According to Jubal’s ex, Tyler has been struggling to make friends in light of his complicated relationship with his father and diagnosis with leukemia on top of the usual pangs of adolescence. Jubal was caught up in a high-stakes case of trying to prevent a bombing and then resolving a hostage crisis with a different teenage boy, and forgot about Tyler’s fifteenth birthday party. (And didn’t even have time to pick up the cake.)
This storyline went a long way to establish how Tyler has been feeling, and explain why he might be in an emotional position to make friends with the wrong kind of person and not be too eager to flip on them. The plot undoubtedly would have worked well enough back in Season 4 as an extension of all of Jubal’s emotional struggles following the death of Rina, but the additional setup with Tyler could make “Prodigal Son” all the more engaging in October.
Tune in to CBS on Tuesday, October 4 at 8 p.m. ET to finally see “Prodigal Son” as part of FBI Season 5, ahead of new episodes of FBI: International at 9 p.m. and FBI: Most Wanted at 10 p.m. If you want to revisit the end of FBI Season 4 to see where the show left off before the finale was pulled from the schedule, you can do so streaming with a Paramount+ subscription.