FBI Season 7, Episode 7 dives into the dangers of online discourse as the Alpha Team uncovers a challenging case of the week.
"Monumental" follows the team as they investigate the death of a park ranger who was shot by a masked suspect on Governors Island. While diving deep into their investigation, the Alpha Team unpacks a multitude of connected crimes tied to an online conspiracy theory community.
FBI Season 7, Episode 7 premiered on CBS on December 10.
FBI Season 7 Episode 7 Cast & Guest Stars Guide
Kiah McKirnan - Desiree Cole
Kiah McKirnan guest stars as Desiree Cole, the park ranger who was murdered by an unknown assailant.
McKirnan is known for her roles in Mare of Eastown and Night Sky.
Jere Burns - Duke Ducoyle
Jere Burns plays Duke Ducoyle, an extremist and "woke" podcaster who has millions of followers.
As the host of a podcast called The Path, the FBI believes that he is responsible for the string of murders in the National Park.
Burns recently appeared as part of the cast of Death and Other Details on Hulu. The actor also starred in NCIS: Los Angeles, All Rise, and The Catch.
Taylor Anthony Miller - FBI Analyst Kelly Moran
Taylor Anthony Miller reprises his role as Kelly Moran, one of the FBI analysts tasked to dig deep into Desiree's personal history to learn more about her death and potential suspects tied to her murder.
Miller's notable credits include Chicago Fire, Magic City, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Vedette Lim - FBI Analyst Elise Taylor
Vedette Lim returns as Elise Taylor, another FBI analyst who works alongside Kelly who managed to track down a potential suspect whom they found bickering with Desiree in the comments section of her social media.
Lim is part of the cast of various projects, such as 3 Body Problem, The Undoing, and True Blood.
Tommy Buck - Brandon Halford
Brandon Halford (played by Tommy Buck) is a possible suspect who has been feuding with Desiree on social media.
Halford works as an orthodontist in Allentown, and the FBI manages to track him down nearby after they believe that he is set to kill another target.
Buck appeared in Blue Bloods, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and The Blacklist.
Kat Cunning - Drew Ambrie
Kat Cunning appears as Drew Ambrie, Desiree's ex-girlfriend who is brought into questioning for her supposed involvement in her former beau's death.
Cunning previously appeared in Rap Sh!t, Trinkets, and The Deuce.
James Tupper - Phil
James Tupper joins the cast of FBI Season 7, Episode 7 as Phil, Drew's dad who is shocked to learn that his daughter is being questioned by the FBI. He is adamant that his daughter is innocent.
Tupper can be seen in Me and Orson Welles, Big Little Lies, and Mr. Popper's Penguins.
Wayne Lopez - Park Ranger
Wayne Lopez plays a park ranger and Desiree's co-worker who reported her death to the FBI.
Lopez has credits in Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, and Shameless.
Federico Parra - Ricky Del Rio
Federico Parra plays Ricky Del Rio, a member of the ravage online community who was arrested by the FBI for assaulting one of their own during the riot.
Parra previously starred in The Equalizer, Midas, and Saint X.
Bobby McFarlane - Kyle
Bobby McFarlane portrays Kyle, one of Calvin's followers who attacked the FBI agents in the latter half of the episode.
McFarlane is a stuntman known for his work on Terrifier 3, FBI: Most Wanted, and Fallout.
Here are the series regulars who appeared in FBI Season 7, Episode 7:
- Missy Peregrym - Special Agent Maggie Bell
- Zeeko Zaki - Special Agent Omar Adom ‘OA’ Zidan
- John Boyd - Special Agent Stuart Scola
- Alana De La Garza - Special Agent in Charge Isobel Castille
- Jeremy Sisto - Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jubal Valentine
- Lisette Olivera - Sidney Ortiz
Read more about the cast of FBI Season 7 on CBS.
FBI Season 7 Episode 7 Plot Recap & Ending Explained
A Murder at the National Park
FBI Season 7, Episode 7, "Monumental," (which can also be streamed on Paramount+) opens with a park ranger being murdered in cold blood by an unknown assailant.
The victim is later identified as Desiree Cole, a ranger assigned to oversee the Greenwich National Monument (the one commemorating the gay rights movement).
Given that it happened on federal land, it makes it a federal crime, which prompts the FBI to investigate.
Maggie and OA respond to the scene where Desiree's body is covered up and the suspect did not take any of her belongings, meaning that it is a premeditated crime.
Back at the FBI headquarters, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jubal Valentine returns after an exit scare in FBI Season 7, Episode 5, and he leads the team of analysts in unearthing details about the victim and finding potential suspects.
It turns out that Desiree had a messy breakup with her ex-girlfriend, Drew Ambrie, and her gun is similar to the one that was used to kill the ranger.
Drew Insists She is Not a Killer
Maggie and OA head over to Drew's house to ask her directly if she murdered her ex, but she insists that she is not a killer.
Drew's dad, Phil, arrives, to console her, and he also tells the FBI that her daughter is innocent.
After her alibi checks out and her gun does not match the same one from the crime scene, the team is back to square one.
FBI analysts Elise Taylor and Kelly Moran find out that Desiree was involved in an online spat with an anti-woke commenter named ScrollLord who threatened her with violence.
As a result, ScrollLord becomes a potential suspect, and the analysts pull up his identity and whereabouts. It is revealed that his real name is Brandon Halford and he is currently within the vicinity of the house of the director of Greenwich National Park.
The FBI believes that the director is being targeted so the Alpha Team goes to the location where they discover that Brandon is involved in an ongoing hostage situation.
A Larger Online Conspiracy
After subduing the fake hostage situation and easily arresting Brandon, the FBI brings him in for questioning.
Brandon tells them he believes that the National Park Service has been trafficking children and that an anonymous conspiracy theorist online named "Calvin," who claims to be a high-level FBI official, is aware of the organization's secrets.
Meanwhile, the analysts believe that Brandon is part of a group that has been targeting employees of the Greenwich National Monument, mainly because a security guard was also killed a day before Desiree was shot.
Brandon insists that the truth of it all can be found online, which leads the FBI to uncover Calvin's modus operandi.
It turns out that this person utilizes his millions of followers to do his bidding by letting them decode mysterious drops online.
Stuart and Sidney (who seems to be Tiffany's replacement after Katherine Renee Kane's exit in FBI Season 7) notice that there is an ad on Calvin's homepage that directs them to a podcast called The Path hosted by a charismatic extremist, Duke Ducoyle.
It does not take long for the team to realize that Duke is Calvin because he built his brand by decoding Calvin's drops and he earns money in doing so by luring his followers to buy his merch and even kill innocent people.
So Who Killed Desiree?
Stuart and Sidney loop Special Agent in Charge Isobel Castille about Duke's antics, and they decide to bring him in.
Duke, though, is unfazed by the FBI's investigation, insisting that Calvin is the one to blame for the murders. While Isobel claims that Duke is Calvin, there is still not enough evidence to pin the crime on him unless the suspect who killed Desiree gives him up.
While the team believes that Brandon is the gunman, the results of the ballistics of his gun prove that he is innocent, meaning that they have no suspect (again).
Still, Sidney manages to decode one of Calvin's messages, and the FBI and the NYPD work together to protect the Greenwich National Monument from an imminent attack by online cultists.
During the rally, the Alpha Team eventually captures two assailants, and surprisingly, one of them is Phil Ambrie (aka Drew's father).
It is unveiled that Phil commented "Mission accomplished" on Duke's wall moments right after Desiree's time of death, meaning that he is the one who killed her and the other National Monument employee who turns out to be a former army veteran.
With the help of some convincing from his daughter and the realization that there are no kids who are being trafficked, Phil comes clean to tell the FBI that he and Duke planned the attack on Desiree and the other employee.
After the confession, Phil's friend and a fellow online cultist, Kyle, attacked the feds to derail the investigation, but OA subdued him easily.
Duke is eventually arrested after Isobel points out Phil's confession that he is simply obeying his orders, meaning he is liable for the deaths of the two park employees.
New episodes of FBI Season 7 premiere on CBS every Thursday at 8 p.m. ET as the first show in a three-hour block of FBI programming.
