FBI season 5 episode 18 recap: Did Scola turn to work?

Quick-witted FBI agent Stuart Scola had been on a vacation to Rome with his girlfriend Nina and his baby. Nina was shot and was making a healthy recovery but Scola's absence on the show was truly being missed. Thankfully, he returned to the show in the latest episode and was instantly assigned an abduction case.

The abductee's name was John Sittenfeld. He was a ladies' man and had numerous enemies. He was even having an affair with his married assistant.

The FBI suspected that the assistant's jealous spouse had captured John, but the truth blew their minds. This episode of FBI was titled Obligation. It was written by Alex Zakrzewski and directed by Claire Demorest, and was aired on April 11, 2023.

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FBI season 5 episode 18 recap: Could the FBI capture John Sittenfeild's killers?

The episode began with Scola returning to work after his trip to Rome. His girlfriend Nina and baby are healthy and recovering after the former was shot. He had taken a few days off but was now feeling better upon returning to work. Scola was assigned to an abduction case on his first day back.

The victim was the deputy commander of an Air National Guard Base named Colonel John Sittenfeld. He was dragged into a vehicle and nobody reported the incident until 12 hours after it occurred. John Sittenfeld was not well-liked since he had a reputation for being a ladies' man.

Sittenfeld was having an affair with his married assistant and her husband quickly found out about it. The husband's name was Derek White. He also worked in the Air Force and confronted John on the day of the abduction. This made him the prime suspect.

Unfortunately, the FBI was mistaken. John's abduction was not a one-man job done by a jealous spouse. It was a group of people who planned everything to the last detail. The abductors even knew how to avoid cameras, which made it harder for the FBI. They were moving quickly but the team quickly got information about the car.

John's tortured body was found in a warehouse the FBI tracked down. Turns out, the motive of the abduction was that someone wanted to rob the armory on the base he controlled to get access to all weapons. The goons took an untraceable missile system called javelin. These missiles were highly intelligent and capable of causing severe destruction.

A terrorist-level event was about to happen if the missiles were not discovered soon. Their investigation led them to a person called Ray Nichols. Nichols looked like the average guy in sight but had several shell companies and his boss was a Turkish citizen who ran a garment manufactory.

Ray Nichols boss's name was Adem Potal. Nichols, however, denied giving any information about him.

When his pregnant wife Mila (who was wearing a wire after being convinced by Tiffany) tried to get Potal to admit his wrongdoing, she tried to push him too hard and almost got killed. Thankfully, Polat and his bodyguard were killed by Scola and Tiffany. But the mystery of the javelin missiles was unsolved. Only Nichols could help them, but he was not saying a word since he knew snitching meant danger for his family.

Nichols finally budged. He revealed that he was the car's driver but did not participate in the theft or murder. Polat was an arms dealer and he sold the javelin to Pascual Santos, a hitman for the Colima Cartel. But Santos left the USA.

The episode ends here.