The FBI team returned from its holiday break with an explosive new case that trapped two agents in a deadly prison riot and forced Isobel Castille to make a final choice about a big promotion. In the episode “Fadeaway,” which aired on Monday, December 1, 2025, an apartment building explosion in Brooklyn revealed a complex plot to cover up a murder, leading the agents into a tense and dangerous prison investigation. While Isobel weighed a job offer that would take her away from the team, Agents Scola and Eva Ramos found themselves in serious danger behind bars.
The Brooklyn Apartment Explosion Starts a Complex Case
The episode opened with a massive explosion at a Brooklyn apartment building. The blast was so powerful it completely wrecked the building and put the lives of everyone inside in immediate danger. Agents OA Zidan and Maggie Bell quickly determined this was no accident. They found evidence that a time-delay detonator built from heating coils had caused the fire, meaning it was a planned arson attack.
Following the evidence, the team traced the specialized heating coils to a local brewery that had recently hired a man named Harry Jenkins. Jenkins had just been released from prison after serving time for arson. The agents arrested him for the bombing, but he confessed he was only following orders. Text messages on his phone showed he was hired for the job by someone else.
A Prison Investigation Turns into a Fight for Survival
The trail from the text messages led the FBI team to a federal prison. The person who hired Jenkins was using a contraband phone from inside the facility. Agents Stuart Scola and Eva Ramos went into the prison to find the phone’s owner. They identified the owner as an inmate named Russell “Two-Slice” Jackson, but before they could question him, they found he had been murdered in the prison yard.
The investigation pointed to a lower-level gang member, Cole Watkins, as Jackson’s killer and the person who likely used the phone. Watkins was connected to Lorraine Green, a resident of the bombed apartment building whom the agents had questioned earlier. As Scola and Ramos prepared to question Watkins inside the prison, a violent riot suddenly erupted. The situation grew extremely dangerous when a powerful inmate named Kaos and his crew entered the area, looking to punish Watkins for bombing a building in his gang’s territory.
While Scola and Ramos question Watkins, unbeknownst to them, a prison riot begins to form. As the rest of the team watches helplessly, Ramos and Scola are in danger.
Trapped in the infirmary, Scola and Ramos were tied up and found themselves in the middle of a brutal beating. They heard Watkins tell Kaos he was only trying to “save his son”. Watching the riot unfold on security cameras from the outside, Maggie and OA made a risky move to help their teammates. They fought their way into the prison infirmary, helping to overpower Kaos and his crew just as backup arrived to finally restore order.
A Dark Motive Behind the Blast Revealed
While the prison riot unfolded, Jubal Valentine and Isobel Castille worked in the JOC to piece together the real motive. They discovered that another resident of the building, a 15-year-old girl named Cierra Gibson, was pregnant and had died in the fire. However, medical evidence showed Cierra had no soot in her lungs, meaning she was dead before the fire even started.
The agents connected the timeline of Cierra’s pregnancy to Demarcus, the son of Cole Watkins and Lorraine Green. Demarcus was home from college on summer break when Cierra became pregnant. Jubal and Isobel confronted Lorraine with their theory: Demarcus got Cierra pregnant, and when she refused to end the pregnancy, he killed her. To cover up the murder, his parents, Watkins and Green, orchestrated the entire apartment bombing to make it look like Cierra died in an accidental fire.
While the team could conclusively prove the arson plot, they lacked the evidence to charge Demarcus with Cierra’s murder. The case ended with the arsonists in custody, but the person responsible for the initial crime remained free.
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Isobel Castille’s Big Decision About Her Future
Throughout the episode, Isobel was under pressure to accept a promotion to Assistant Director in Charge (ADIC). Accepting the job would require her to leave her position as Special Agent in Charge and name a successor for the team. Isobel wanted her second-in-command, Jubal, to take over, but her superiors made it clear they did not approve of him for the role.
After the prison crisis was over, Isobel made her choice. In a surprise move, she decided to turn down the promotion and remain as the team’s SAC. A key moment in her decision came from watching how her future boss treated Jubal. Isobel realized she did not want to become the type of leader who spoke down to her team. She also simply loved her job working directly with Jubal and the agents on major cases.
“She actually decided to turn down the promotion. Isobel had seen how the Assistant Director had talked to Jubal, and she didn’t want to turn out to be the kind of person he was”.
Her choice ensures that the leadership of the New York field office remains stable and that she can continue working with the team she trusts.
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