Yesterday’s Miracle
Episode 5 of FBI: International season 2 begins with Kellet briefing Forrester on her findings on Zsólt’s dad. As it turns out, Peter is being blackmailed by the Balkan mafia who are using his auto shop to run illegal businesses. Forester visits the shop and tries to ask if there is anything he can do to help. Peter is not happy about the visit and rudely dismisses him. The team is called to investigate a case after an American couple is detained in Bucharest as their surrogate goes MIA. The surrogate, Cosmina, has gone into hiding before delivering the baby to the biological parents, Dennis and Amy. The couple is worried about the safety of their surrogate as well as their unborn child. The couple has been trying to have a kid for years and this was their only option. They found an agency and set the ball in motion because they thought surrogacy in Bucharest was more affordable but they were unaware of the hidden costs and now they are $ 200,000 in debt and they don’t know what happened to their child. In Bucharest, the team is welcomed by Deputy Chief Hofer who thinks Americans are taking advantage of young girls in the country by tricking them into being surrogates. He is not particularly inclined to help them as much . Even so, he allows Forrester and Vo to talk to Dennis who is currently being held in a cell after he went berserk at the clinic. Lucky for him, the man he accidentally hit, Howard Greyson, decides not to press charges and he is released. Raines and Kellet head over to the surrogacy agency and meet the director, a woman named Felicia. They are suspicious as to how she runs a surrogacy clinic without doing a thorough background check. She listed no emergency contact or physical address of the girls working for her and her excuse is things slip through the crack. Well, that is a fairly big crack, Felicia! Kellet pushes her further and she finally gives up Cosmina’s current address. The team breaches the apartment but the surrogate is nowhere in sight. Hofer gives them only five minutes to go through the house much to Forrester’s frustration. Their investigation points to Cosmina being on the run and might be on her way to the train station. They rush to the train station and stop Cosmina from fleeing but there is a problem. Cosmina is no longer pregnant. Where is the baby? They interrogate her and she claims she had a stillbirth a week before. Vo and Raines find it hard to believe her story as there is no evidence supporting her claim. Raines goes through her phone and learns she received five strange calls from an unknown burner phone. Further investigation leads them to Cosmina’s friend and based on her statement they believe the baby is still alive. Hofer thinks Cosmina is a victim and tries to get the case closed but Forrester is adamant that she is lying. Meanwhile, Raines manages to find the owner of the burner phone that has been making suspicious calls to Cosmina. They are surprised to learn that Howard Greyson is the man behind the calls. A quick background check into Howard reveals that he and his wife have been having fertility problems. They are, however, illegible for adoption as Howard has a past case of child endangerment when he got into a drunk accident with his nephew in the car. It looks like they have been trying to find another way to get the family they want. They also learn that his wife is currently in Bucharest and they immediately visit her hotel but they are too late. The couple is already on the move and it is evident that they have the child with them. They are later able to find them as they try to flee the country in a private jet. Raines and Smitty head back to confront Felicia about her part in the baby’s kidnapping. Felicia tries to flee but they successfully arrest her. As matters stand they only have circumstantial evidence and none of the suspects in their custody is willing to talk. Forrester decides to add pressure on Cosmina and she finally caves and confesses that they planned to sell the child to the Greysons. The problem is the Greysons are loaded and have the best lawyers on their payroll. They also claim they were victims of Felicia’s lies and were just helping a young teenage mother give a better life to her child. Sadly, the team is unable to bring them up on any charges. Another day, another case where the rich get off scot-free. At least there is a happy ending as the child is returned to her biological parents. The episode ends with Forrester watching the Balkan mafia secretly from his car.
The Episode Review
I felt frustrated when the team was unable to file charges against the Greysons who knew they were stealing a kid from their biological parents. Many couples suffer from surrogacy and it is scary that this happens in some countries because they don’t have strict laws protecting the parties involved. I am looking forward to Forrester helping his neighbor but I hope he will be careful and ask for more help. It can be dangerous doing the surveillance alone.
