Jubal has long been the rock for the FBI Joint Operations Center.
But circumstances on FBI Season 5 Episode 12 proved too much even for him.
Having Yemeni terrorists running around with a biotoxin would be enough to ruin anyone’s day.
Jubal is accustomed to handling such situations regularly. But throw in an unknown threat to his cancer-survivor son, and Jubal found himself struggling.
The old expression is about something that drives a person to drink. Jubal had two such somethings on this day.
Jubal had been sober for years. He even helped others through Alcoholics Anonymous, including his fellow recovering addict, the late Jess LaCroix of FBI: Most Wanted.
That made his actions on this particularly high-tension day all the more shocking because it was entirely out of character.
One day at a time and all that. But this was Jubal we’re talking about. He’s been through times that would try men’s souls, including Tyler’s cancer and Rina’s murder, but he stayed on the wagon even then.
The temptation is there to blame his ex-wife Samantha because she does tend to overreact, primarily where Tyler is concerned.
But anything physically out of the ordinary with Tyler needs to be checked out. As recent as his cancer was, he has to be considered in remission, not cured.
Sam’s phone call forced Jubal to be overly optimistic about Tyler’s condition while he subconsciously feared the worst. You can’t blame Jubal for fortifying his coffee with a bit of vodka after that worry, combined with the pressure of the missing bioweapon.
Sadly, work, even such a potentially apocalyptic case such as this, should have been just the distraction that Jubal needed during Tyler’s doctor’s appointment. But the nonconclusive calls and texts from his family were the drip, drip, drip that set his nerves on edge.
It was apparent to all of his coworkers that something was off about Jubal, who wasn’t his usual calm, cool, and collected self. When he finally snapped at all the analysts in the JOC, he eventually was forced to admit to Isobel what was going on in his personal life.
Isobel depends on Jubal to do all the heavy lifting for her at the JOC. He’s the people person who works with the analysts to make the magic happen.
So Jubal doesn’t get the option of having an off day because of what’s going on outside of work. He certainly can’t be off his game when an unspecified number of Yemeni terrorists threaten the city with a bioweapon.
At least Jubal came out and explained to Isobel that he thought Tyler was safely past his cancer. She went through the motions of offering Jubal time off when he needed it.
But seriously, that’s never going to happen during a crisis, even if Jubal himself is a ticking time bomb.
Isobel did make a wise choice, sending Jubal out into the field with Maggie to hunt for the two terrorist cousins. That way, he’s not yelling at the analysts, who need to be in top form in such a situation.
Fortunately, thanks to Jubal’s generally deft hand, the JOC can run smoothly even with Isobel in command. She can undoubtedly relay necessary intel to those agents in the field.
A bonus was that Maggie knows Jubal and when he’s out of form, which he definitely was in this episode when the back of his mind was focused on Tyler.
Also, thanks to her sister Erin’s drug troubles, Maggie knows the signs of addiction. And, as she again showed, she’s not afraid to speak truth to power, however much she may feel for Jubal.
Maggie saw signs that she didn’t like, such as Jubal overreacting when a pedestrian bumped him, and he spilled his spiked coffee. Then one terrorist got away when Jubal didn’t take the shot Maggie thought he should have.
So she called him out as delicately as possible, considering they were amid a manhunt. And, instead of taking the easier way out and blaming his behavior on his concerns about Tyler, he flat denied drinking.
Then he quickly reassigned Maggie and partnered up with the more compliant Tiffany.
But when it came right down to it, Jubal wanted Maggie by his side. Maybe he wanted someone who would double-check his decision-making. Within reason, that is, He did threaten to fire her when she kept pressing on his drinking.
Let’s face it. Jubal couldn’t admit to drinking. And Maggie didn’t really want to be burdened with that particular piece of intel because she would feel obligated to report him, friendship or not.
Everything worked out in the end. Maggie found the device and deactivated it, based solely on Ian’s educated guess. Tyler’s bump was a cyst that needed to be drained. Maggie left it at cautioning Jubal to get help or else.
One crisis averted, and Jubal fell further off the wagon, taking on liquid courage to go get the bad news he feared from Sam. Only in the end, it was good news, and Jubal had broken his sobriety for nothing.
So he returned to AA to start working the program again. The only thing Jubal remains confident of is how simple it was to slip and fall.
To review Jubal’s career, watch FBI online.
Were you shocked by Jubal’s drinking again?
Was Maggie right to confront him?
Was Isobel suspicious or just willfully ignorant?
Comment below.
Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.