The fifth season of the American crime dramatelevision seriesFBI premiered on CBS on September 20, 2022,[1] and concluded on May 23, 2023, with a total of 23 episodes produced. The season featured the series' 100th episode as the season finale.
Working undercover on a sting operation, OA succeeds in getting close to the buyer, but things take a turn when the buyer's partner is murdered and the bomb they were after has disappeared. Via information from Curt, they learn that the man that stole the bomb is intending to use it at a building where the Federalist Society conference will be held. Meanwhile, Jubal finds himself struggling to fulfil a promise to attend his son Tyler's birthday party and eventually misses it. Tyler's mother, Sam informs Jubal that four children came to the party, a relief for Jubal as Tyler is going through a tough time as a result of being diagnosed with leukemia.
The team investigates a shooting at a pawn shop that leaves two people dead, one of whom is a police detective. The team finds a suspect who was on a drug run, but lost the drugs he was supposed to deliver and now gas to save his sister from his boss. Meanwhile, Scola and Chase are revealed to be in a relationship.
Two masked assailants rob a gun store and kill the owner in the process. The FBI manages to identify one of them through surveillance cameras, Clayton Hall, who has a history of odd behavior and resorting to violence. When they arrive at his house, he commits suicide after refusing to leave his room. The case becomes personal for Jubal when it's discovered that his son, Tyler, plays video games with a friend group which the second assailant might be a part of. The case becomes more complicated when Jubal learns that Tyler was on speaking terms with the second assailant who may be targeting a girl at his school.
Before heading to work, OA is robbed at gunpoint by a man and a woman. Though he brushes it off, the NYPD launches an investigation, which reveals that the couple were responsible for at least ten similar robberies. The FBI investigate the murder and rape of a young woman, which is just the beginning of a string of many more rapes and murders of other women.
Accountant Frank Leone is assassinated by two gunmen in the middle of broad daylight. His wife hands the FBI his laptop, which leads them to the notorious drug leader El Feo, who was a client of Leone prior to his death. The FBI learns from the state attorney that El Feo was going to be imprisoned, and Leone was most likely going to testify against him. They discover he had an informant on the judge panel, but she is later found tortured and killed. Wallace reaches out to a friend, Ralphie, who is the cousin of El Feo and a former cop and lost his brother to El Feo's drugs.
The five year old son of Liza Peters, Luke Peters, is kidnapped and his nanny killed in the process. The team learns that Liza had once dealt business in Eastern Europe and unravel the fact that Chechen terrorists kidnapped Luke. Meanwhile, Chase reveals to Scola that she is pregnant with their child, and is later reassigned to white-collar crime.
Marisol Lugo and Enrique "Kiko" Cortez are killed by a gunman in a park, and the FBI learns that Marisol had aspired to be an FBI agent. Cortez' girlfriend tells them that they were threatened by the MHB, a local Bronx gang, warning him against selling drugs on their territory, despite him not being affiliated with any rival gangs. Meanwhile, Maggie, who has returned from her hospitalisation, faces uncertainty as she tries return to her duties.
Trucker Clay Parker is killed when he tries to prevent two robbers from gaining access to his trailer. The robbers successfully steal barrels of ammonium nitrate, suspected to be utilised for a bomb. The FBI determine the Norseman Brotherhood to be behind the robbery, which Maggie is in the process of infiltrating.
Teen Trevor Logan departs home quickly with his father, who is shot by another driver in a black car. While his father is hospitalised, he asks Trevor to secure a bag of drugs, which Trevor instead takes to the FBI, believing they could help them both. Meanwhile, Chase reveals to Scola that she is moving to Los Angeles with their baby and asks him to sign a waiver, which in effect strips him of his parental rights. After some thought, he refuses to sign the document and desires for himself to be present in the child's life. Chase accepts and reveals the baby's gender to be male.
Chloe Rogers, a pizza delivery woman, is abducted while heading out to make some late night deliveries. The FBI find it difficult to identify her despite the small amount of information they receive about her from her boyfriend and college students. DNA samples from her toothbrush confirms her identity to actually be Annabelle Collier, a girl who went missing 18 years ago, and whose abduction Castille and her partner Jake Reed then investigated.
Kelly Moran finds himself in a hostage situation during a bank robbery on his way to work, but manages to alert Jubal. The NYPD and FBI quickly ascend on the scene and the investigation into the perpetrators ensue. The FBI identify them as Marco and Jennifer Salazar, whose target is a deposit box registered in the former's father's name. Further investigation into the father's background reveals that he owned several shell companies and dealt with money laundering to Colombia.
Two MTA workers die when they accidentally trigger a Botulinum toxin gas bomb hidden on a bus. The bomber is quickly identified as another MTA worker, Aurelio Martinez, who is subsequently found murdered. The FBI discovers that Martinez was paid to plant the bomb by Bin Zada, the alias of an operative working for a Houthi extremist group. Meanwhile, Jubal relapses into drinking after he gets potentially worrying news about Tyler's health.
The FBI investigates when a man is found murdered in an Opportunity zone in Red Hook. The victim is identified as Cole Dixon, an informant who was working for Agent Gwen Carter, Maggie's friend and former mentor. Gwen joins the investigation, despite Maggie's growing concerns over her friend's health.
An armored truck delivering cash to a strip club is robbed by a masked man in broad daylight. The same perpetrator is linked to two other robberies. Maggie's team eventually track down and arrest the suspect, Tom Hoffman. Hoffman admits to committing the robberies but explains he's being threatened by Mason Simonian, whom he owes $300 thousand. Simonian is suspected in several other murders, including the killing of an entire family in Queens. Meanwhile, OA starts to panic when his investments in cryptocurrency tank.
Off-duty diplomatic security guard John Reagan attempts to detain a man whom he recognizes but is shot dead in public. When the FBI tries to investigate the Reagan's background, they are repeatedly stonewalled by the State Department. The shooter, Luca Cilic, is eventually linked to a religious Croatian rebel group. The situation becomes even more perilous when it's discovered that Cilic has stolen an extremely deadly mutant strain of Covid-19 from a Hudson Genetics lab and plans to bring it back to Croatia. When his co-conspirator, James Levins, is determined to be the only man who can help the FBI find Cilic and the virus refuses to cooperate without proof that his kidnapped wife has been rescued, Castille resorts to using a deepfake video to trick him into cooperating.
Corrections officer Mia Lopez is shot in broad daylight. The FBI tracks the casings to a gun owned by Kenny Nelson, a member of a MC club, who reveals he sold the gun to a man the day before. Surveillance from the MC's bar reveals a company van, which was driven by Michael Landry, a former soldier who served during the Afghan War. More shootings occur against a judge, a police officer and a doctor, all involved in the case of Michael's sister Haley's death, who died in custody. Meanwhile, Tiffany tries to convince her troubled younger brother Brian to seek help for his increasingly erratic behavior.
Chase is rushed to the hospital after being shot and Forrester is assigned to keep tabs on her while Jubal is summoned back to New York to aid Scola's undercover operation. Scola manages to secure a meeting with his contact, Nico Sabalenka's boss, Andrej Chernin, with help from the Fugitive Task Force's Remy Scott. When Chernin meets Scola, he becomes suspicious and is later arrested. However, an agent from the State Department takes over Chernin's arrest. Jubal discovers that the agent tortures Chernin, and tries to stop him, but Chernin breaks loose and commits suicide. An unrelated HR manager is kidnapped by Lenkov's men, and Nico is tied to his operations. At the penthouse of a real estate building where Nico works, the FBI discovers notebook pages that supposedly outlines a hit on the US President.
This episode continues a crossover event that begins on FBI: International season 2, episode 16 and concludes on FBI: Most Wanted season 4, episode 16. Luke Kleintank (Scott Forrester), Heida Reed (Jamie Kellet), Vinessa Vidotto (Cameron Vo), Keisha Castle-Hughes (Hana Gibson), Roxy Steinberg (Sheryll Barnes) and Dylan McDermott (Remy Scott) are credited as Special Guest Stars.
Colonel John Sittenfeld is abducted and tortured before the abductors take his keycard to gain access to his home base and steal Javelin anti-tank missiles. When the FBI finds him, he dies after recounting what happened. The FBI manage to secure fingerprints from a trolly and find the driver, Ray Nichols, who refuses to cooperate, but eventually tells them a Mexican hitman bought the missiles to take out a witness scheduled to testify against a former cartel leader. Meanwhile, Scola and Nina discuss changing jobs, but Scola later decides to remain in his.
Trucker Vince Duggan is killed by his contacts after crossing the Canadian border. The FBI originally suspects he was drug smuggling, but his contractors are revealed to be terrorist planning a large scale attack in New York and that he delivered explosives. The team is joined by Jubal's former colleague Jack Lombardo, who may have a shady past of his own.
Rafael Morales, a drug dealer and guard at the Emeralds bar, is found shot and dead in a federal park. The investigation coincides with Maggie's sister's return to New York, who is quickly involved in the case when her friend Nikki is kidnapped, which is linked to another dealer, JJ Gomez. Gomez tries to secure money from Nikki's father to pay a debt to the bar owner, Samuel Rowe. Erin goes in undercover to gain intel on Rowe's drug operation and Nikki's whereabouts. Meanwhile, Maggie grows weary and doesn't believe Erin when she claims she didn't snort cocaine while talking to Rowe.
Allison Becker, the daughter of Senator David Becker, is abducted from the streets of Brownsville. His father tells the FBI that she thought she was being stalked, but said person turns out to be working to get suspicious pictures for a super PAC. They use one of his photos to discover where Allison worked, a halfway house, where a similar-looking girl, Katie Ryan, has been missing for three days. They take on both cases and identity the suspect as Caleb Vance who had an emotionally distant mother who deprived him of heat and food, even resorting to locking him in a closest.
A worried mother discovers her missing daughter and other teenagers dead in a forest, from overdose. The FBI learns that the position utilized stems from usage in animals, and are aided by organized crime to take down the Albanian mafia led by Fabian Shabani. Organized crime's undercover agent Val Sula utilizes his connection within the mafia to learn more about the dealings of the poison. The uncle of the distributor to the teens is revealed to be making it for the mafia. During the case, Sula's devotion to his Muslim faith puts the mission on the edge of breakdown, and he withdraws when he finds it hard to handle.
Dr. Paul Hendrix, a Renowned Neurosurgeon, is abducted and later found dead in a federal park. Surveillance footage edges them closer to identifying the suspect after a retired army colonel is found dead in a similar fashion as Hendrix. A pastor from a church identifies him as Frank Silver, who worked for the church as a janitor but was fired for erratic behaviour. A psychologist determines that Silver suffers from a form of narcissism. The FBI investigate an abandoned church, where they uncover Silver's hideout and torture chamber and a new victim who is alive. Newspapers from his hideout helps the team determine that he targets individuals who works with life and death situations, and they determine that a judge is the next target. Meanwhile, Nina is hospitalised after an infection is discovered, and Scola is faced with choosing to save her or their baby. He ultimately aims to save both, but only Nina if all else fails. Fortunately, the doctors manage to save both mother and child. Scola reveals to his colleagues that he and Nina have a baby son, named after his brother who died on 9/11.
Production
On May 9, 2022, CBS renewed the series for a fifth and sixth season.[27] The fifth season premiered on September 20, 2022.[1]
Ratings
Viewership and ratings per episode of FBI season 5
^This episode was pulled from its planned airing on May 24, 2022 on CBS due to the Uvalde school shooting that occurred the same day that the episode was scheduled to air.[5] It was, however, aired on other networks as Season 4 Episode 22.[citation needed]
