I’m no expert, but I know rules exist for setting up TV narratives. This week’s episode of FBI: Most Wanted, “White Buffalo”, is impeccably plotted and paced because it follows the FBI’s formula for sequencing events — violation, complication, escalation, and apprehension. However, the episode’s narrative structure, weighed down by too many competing themes, may disappoint some viewers, but it is still worth a stream. Permit me to explain.
“White Buffalo” – FBI: MOST WANTED, Pictured: Dylan McDermott as Supervisory Special Agent Remy Scott. Photo: Mark Schafer/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The violation. Emma and Trevor, two passionate young people, enter an art museum. Given how topical the show is, viewers know art defacing is imminent. Emma yells, “Art or the earth—which is more important?” Trevor records their public act of defiance as Emma splashes pigs’ blood on a painting.
The complication. Witnessing this horrible act, a docent calls security for assistance. The guard draws his weapon and approaches Trevor. A struggle ensues. The gun goes off, killing the docent.
The escalation. Trevor and Emma flee the museum with the loaded gun. The duo kills a second man when they steal a CO2 tanker. They ignore the FBI’s order to stop and drive the tanker to a fair filled with families and children. They offer up their friend, Tori, as cover for their escape. Tori’s arrest gives Trevor and Emma time to release the compressed gas. While Remy and his agents are forced to focus on saving lives, Emma and Trevor slip away. The two dream up a new act of public defiance, identifying the pipeline’s transfer station as their new target. Trevor convinces Emma (sort of) that violence is the only answer.
“White Buffalo” – FBI: MOST WANTED. Pictured: Edwin Hodge as Special Agent Ray Cannon. Photo: Mark Schafer/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The apprehension. Remy calls Trevor and Emma “piss aunt eco-terrorists,” and he and his agents locate them quickly. Discovered, the duo abandons attacking the transfer station. Instead, they collect a hostage and move on to the pipeline’s injection site. This is a site where CO2 gas instead of a slurry of water, sand, and chemicals is used for fracking. This practice, illegal and dangerous, stokes Trevor’s anger. The hostage warns that if they set fire to the injection site, they will die. Ignoring the warning, Trevor starts the fire. Remy’s crew approaches. Ray sees smoke and asks Remy, “What should we do?” Remy says they must ambush the duo or die. Trevor tries to cowboy up, but Remy shoots him. Emma holds her pistol to the hostage’s head, screaming, “Trevor is dead; what do I have to live for?” Nina lowers her gun and tells Emma, “You can do more alive than dead.” Emma surrenders. Remy handcuffs Emma and informs her that she’s being arrested for domestic terrorism and for being an accomplice to murder.
“White Buffalo” – FBI: MOST WANTED, Pictured (L-R): Shantel VanSanten as Special Agent Nina Chase, Dylan McDermott as Supervisory Special Agent Remy Scott, Keisha Castle-Hughes as Special Agent Hana Gibson, and Edwin Hodge as Special Agent Ray Cannon. Photo: Mark Schafer/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
That was the story, but it wasn’t executed without baffling distractions. The distractions stem from competing themes, including activism versus terrorism, girls with Daddy issues, sexual fluidity and jealousy, and the appropriateness of the legend of the “White Buffalo.”
Activism and terrorism share the goal of driving social change. The difference between these terms is method and intent. While method (violence) was clear, Emma and Trevor’s intents were not. Trevor’s motivations didn’t feel genuine, and failed to convince me that Emma would follow him so easily when he was just some pathetic guy making up plans on the fly.
Early in the episode, Nina is struggling with her father’s visit. Nina’s father grouses about the filth and noise in New York City. He’s insulted by her partner’s willingness to pay for things. He questions Nina’s marital status. Things are so tense at home that Nina feels relieved when she gets the call to investigate the murder. At the end of the episode, Nina contradicts her father’s statement that she’d had a perfect childhood. Seething she snarls, “Everything was wrong.” Her father walks out. Nina’s sister, hesitating before she follows him, says, “Maybe this will all blow over,” Nina replies, “I will be okay if it doesn’t.”
We learn from Emma’s landlord that her oil executive dad pays her rent. Yet she has chosen to become a climate change activist to target the fossil fuel industry. While it’s not a perfect parallel, we can surmise that Emma, like Nina, has daddy issues. Family conflict is the root of both women’s motivations. It makes sense that it’s Nina who talks Emma into surrendering.
“White Buffalo” – FBI: MOST WANTED, Pictured (L-R): Shantel VanSanten as Special Agent Nina Chase, John Finn as Jackson Chase, and John Boyd as Special Agent Stuart Scola. Photo: CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Emma’s landlord clues us in on another detail – her apparent bisexuality. When Tori helps Emma and Trevor escape to Pennsylvania, the show makes it very apparent that the two women are attracted to each other. Trevor is the odd man out. Trevor’s first murder was accidental, which triggered his anger, fear, and insecurity. He flipped from activist to terrorist only after they spent the night at Tori’s. Trevor’s true motivation was jealousy. He transferred and amplified these powerful emotions to his relationship with Emma, leading him to ‘burn it all down’—literally.
Moreover, the showrunner clumsily weaves in the Legend of the White Buffalo. The Lakota people consider the birth of a white buffalo a sign of good fortune, the fulfillment of prayers, or a prophecy. According to the Google machine, the legend of the White Buffalo also symbolizes a ‘pledge of allegiance to the planet’. Yes, the metaphor fits Emma’s logic. Unfortunately, I perceived the introduction of the white buffalo as cultural appropriation. The show didn’t handle the topic with care but handled it rather superficially.
White Buffalo was a decent episode. However, the multitude of themes diluted the crime’s narrative, leaving viewers like me uncertain about where to focus their emotional and intellectual investment. By focusing on one or two of the themes discussed above, the episode would have been more impactful with stronger viewer engagement. But what do I know? I only recently began reviewing FBI: Most Wanted for SpoilerTV. How did you like White Buffalo? Can anyone tell me what’s up between Nina and her dad and sister? Did anyone else perceive jealousy as the driving force behind Trevor’s actions or get lost in the sub narratives? Let me know. I’m always down to chat.
Overall Rating:
8/10
Lynette Jones
