What’s the fastest way to get on the FBI’s Most Wanted List? Kill a woman in broad daylight in front of Supervisory Special Agent Remy Scott (Dylan McDermott) and the Fugitive Task Force, obviously. This is what happened in this week’s FBI Most Wanted episode, “Ars Moriendi,” Latin meaning the “art of dying.” Let’s talk about it.
” Ars Moriendi” – FBI: Most Wanted, Pictured: Dylan McDermott as Supervisory Special Agent Remy Scott. Photo: Mark Schafer/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Before the perpetrator, Jay Lark (Steven Maier), committed his first murder, he rudely pushed past Remy in a diner. The ensuing pursuit by Remy and Ray Cannon (Edwin Hodge) was a visceral experience, bordering on nauseating due to its graphic subject matter. The extended, first-person, hand-held chase scene, while delivering an adrenaline rush, felt (paradoxically) overdone and stretched thin. Lark’s flight escalated from a foot chase to a car chase, then to a scooter and finally the subway. Despite the palpable tension of the FBI’s pursuit, it did little to mask the predictability of Lark’s inevitable escape that early in the episode.
“Ars Moriendi” – FBI: Most Wanted, Pictured: Roxy Sternberg as Special Agent Sheryll Barnes. Photo: Mark Schafer/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
After escaping, Lark posted the video of his murder on an unregulated online server. The video, which Remy aptly described as a ‘snuff’ film, garnered comments from users, particularly from Jar-Man26$$, aka Jarret Bahri (Rama Vallury). With the assistance of Jill from Cybercrimes, the FBI swiftly deleted Lark’s account, ‘God is Dead.’
The storyline, centering on the self-loathing gamers Lark and Bahri engaging in a ruthless real-life kill competition, felt disturbingly familiar—evoking echoes of Leopold and Loeb—but with the added twist of Gen Z’s social isolation due to the pandemic. Lark’s loss of both parents to COVID and Bahri’s abandonment by his father during the epidemic introduced a unique perspective. However, the execution lacked consistency and left much to be desired. The perpetrators, thoroughly unlikeable, failed to evoke any sympathy. Special Agent Sheryl Barnes (Roxy Sternberg) and Remy’s half-hearted justifications, blaming the pandemic or the internet for the gamers’ actions, fell flat and felt unconvincing.
“Ars Moriendi” – FBI: Most Wanted, Pictured: Roxy Sternberg as Special Agent Sheryll Barnes. Photo: Mark Schafer/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Despite the predictability and unsettling theme, the episode managed to retain a certain level of entertainment. Most viewers likely anticipated the inevitable betrayal as one gamer turned on the other. In the end, Lark reached out to Bahri when the FBI began to close in on him. Bahri couldn’t resist live streaming Lark’s murder, unable to resist the age-old adage from “Highlander”: there can be only one—Übermensch. Although the episode provided a certain morbid enjoyment. it ultimately fell short of being groundbreaking and left an unsettling aftertaste.
“Ars Moriendi” – FBI: Most Wanted, Pictured (L-R): Keisha Castle-Hughes as Special Agent Hana Gibson, Edwin Hodge as Special Agent Ray Cannon, and Roxy Sternberg as Special Agent Sheryll Barnes. Photo: Mark Schafer/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Did you enjoy this episode? Do you think the pandemic is responsible for Lark and Bahri’s rampage? Let me know in the comments.
Overall Rating
7:10
Lynette Jones