Warning: spoilers are ahead for the Season 4 premiere of FBI: International, called “A Leader, Not a Tourist.”
CBS brought the three FBI shows back to Tuesday nights in the fall 2024 TV schedule, and FBI: International all but hit the reset button in its fourth season premiere. Chicago P.D. alum Jesse Lee Soffer joined the cast as the new Fly Team leader to replace Luke Kleintank’s SSA Scott Forrester, and it’s clear enough after the first episode that SSA Wes Mitchell isn’t Forrester 2.0 (or Halstead 2.0). Soffer spoke with CinemaBlend about his new role as Wes, including how he’s going to cause some problems for the Fly Team and the impact of his ten years as a cop before joining the Bureau.
Wes Mitchell was an agent with the Los Angeles field office when International kicked off its fourth season, but he went overseas after his partner was shot by some men who fled back to Budapest. He didn’t make the best impression on the Fly Team other than Vo, who he’d trained and knew at least some of what to expect from him. When he decided at the end of the episode to stick with the team rather than return to the U.S. to deal with a breakup and the loss of his partner, Vo cautioned him that working with the authorities of other countries requires some “finesse.”
So, how much finesse does Wes Mitchell have that he just didn’t show off in the Season 4 premiere? I asked Jesse Lee Soffer that very question after he weighed in on why Chicago P.D. fans should watch FBI: International, and he shared:
Not a lot. [laughs] He’s more of a bull in a china shop. I think sometimes he had some finesse, but it’s definitely his secondary priority. He’s kind of like, ‘Yeah, we’re gonna get it done. I have an idea. Here’s how we’re gonna do it.’ And then Smitty or Vo or somebody has to pull him back and go, ‘We’re way out of line here. We’re not even in a country where we have any jurisdiction.’ And he’s like, ‘So what?’
While the Fly Team welcomed him warmly enough at first in the Season 4 premiere (which you’ll be able to streaming with a Paramount+ subscription), he wasn’t exactly receptive to everybody trying to make him understand that what works to get info and access in the U.S. isn’t going to fly in Budapest and elsewhere. When I noted that Smitty in particular seemed like she was preparing for a headache with Wes sticking around, Soffer confirmed:
Definitely a constant headache, and she’ll continue to have a headache. I can’t imagine a scenario where she won’t have a headache and where the two will just see eye to eye. I don’t foresee it happening for a while.
It’s not hard to see why the Europol liaison and the “bull in a china shop” FBI agent might not be each other’s favorite person on FBI: International! She was of course sympathetic to Mike’s death and is no stranger to personal feelings overlapping onto a case, but I can imagine she’s missing Forrester’s softer touch in early Season 4. That also might not change any time too soon, as Jesse Lee Soffer addressed whether there’s anybody on the team Wes would actually listen to:
I think he would. He hasn’t really had to yet. Smitty kind of tries to get him to cut it out sometimes, but he doesn’t listen. He listens to Vo, but I think if others spoke up, he would, but he hasn’t quite had to yet. There’s a tough job to be done, and and we got to do it, and we can’t always do it the right way.
“He doesn’t listen” seems to be a theme for Wes after just one episode, and what’s entertaining to watch for viewers from home isn’t necessarily fun for the characters who work with him! It certainly sounds like Smitty won’t be the biggest fan of his approach, at least at first. Vo did establish that even Smitty was on board with Wes replacing their wine and cheese loving leader.
Part of what set Wes apart from the other agents as well as Smitty is that his background wasn’t just at the FBI; he spent ten years as a cop. The nine-show Dick Wolf TV universe isn’t so meta that FBI: International gave Jesse Lee Soffer’s new character the background of ten years as a Chicago cop, but his background with the LAPD showed in his approach to the investigation in Budapest. Will that be a recurring element for Wes? Jesse Lee Soffer previewed:
Definitely. That’s one of the the themes going forward, is that he’s going to find a way, even if it’s not quite the right way, or if it’s against the rules, or if they’re out of their jurisdiction. He’s going to find a way, and he’s not going to think twice about it. Smitty can think twice about it.
Actions to cause Smitty some headaches aside, his dogged approach to the job is going to be key to Wes. After sharing how his new character “loves work” when he shared how he prepared to join FBI: International three full seasons in, Soffer said:
In the story, there’s the guy that’s running the Fly Team in the interim is on the wine and cheese circuit, and he’s off golfing and doing some tour in Italy or France or god knows where. And Wes has gone through this awful thing with his partner, and so when he takes the job, he’s just here to work. He’s just here to focus on work and put that stuff behind him.
See more of Jesse Lee Soffer as SSA Wes Mitchell with new episodes of FBI: International on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET, between FBI in the wake of a departure at 8 p.m. ET and FBI: Most Wanted with its terrifying fugitives at 10 p.m. ET, all on CBS. If you want to revisit Soffer’s first episode as Wes Mitchell, you’ll be able to stream it via Paramount+.