Asset’s case
of the week involved the fatal shooting of Navy Lieutenant Naomi Elder, on
leave in LA and staying with old college friends. Elder was located at Joint Base Pearl Harbour-Hickam,
where she specialised in monitoring classified intelligence. The team at first investigate her murder but
soon discover she was in possession of highly classified intelligence documents
on China
that she was willing to sell to the highest bidder. While Kensi and Deeks chase down leads on the
sniper who escaped by motorbike whilst Sam and Callen investigate the
victim.
The sea of
change permeates through many characters in Assets, some of which are food for
thought as to the future. Sam has turned
to his former SEAL friend Tom Olsen to clear his house and not Callen. The latter only finds out Sam’s house is for
sale when he drives past. Roles are very
much reversing between the two of them.
Early in season one, Callen was homeless and contemplated living on a
boat (and actually stayed on Renko’s boat).
Now Callen has a house, roots and Sam is ripping up his,
putting painful
memories of his once happy family home behind him in favour of his own boat. There was also talk in abundance by Deeks in
particular who is not only concerned about his future at NCIS but is also
questioning the sanity of raising a family with both parents in such a high
risk job.
Deeks initially is keen to
remain with NCIS although he rambles when responding to Mosley’s question about
why he wants to stay with NCIS, so much so that he cannot provide a reason,
just literally recites their mission statement.
Later, Deeks randomly asked Kensi if she thought Hetty had retired for
good which triggers the topic of change generally. He voices genuine concerns that everything
seems different with Hetty and Granger gone, and with Mosley and Hidoko in
their stead. Gallantly Deeks talks about
leaving NCIS, maybe spurred on by his talk with Mosley in the gym and lack of
ability to formulate valid reasons for staying.
Talks of little Princess Sunshine Deeks, in typical Deeks style, soon
take a light-hearted turn and there is a return to the status quo - at least
for the moment on the ‘Densi’ front. It
is also notable that as well as the reversal of character traits between Sam
and Callen, particularly on the home front, that a comparison can be made
between Kensi and Deeks, and Sam. Sam
has lost his wife and his children have left home for boarding schools. He has gone from having his family close by
(OK, Aiden is much older), to being on his own.
Kensi and Deeks are trying to bridge that divide. They want what Sam once had but are aware of
how easily, through the course of their jobs, that it can be ripped away.
Deeks is quite
right to be wary of Mosley. In the
premier she sent him back to LAPD and now challenges why he wants to stay. He does manage to get a smile out of her and
is safe for another day at least. Away
from the team, Mosley plans to make more changes, firstly by getting an office
build for her by her own contractors.
She correctly analyses that Hetty’s open office space allowed her
accessibility to her team at all time and vice versa. Mosley clearly wants a barrier and for the
hierarchy of rule to be clear. More alarming
is that Mosley confirms her plan to break up the team which surely must foreshadow
at least one future episode. Admittedly
this is only to Hidoko who sees the team works seamlessly as they are. Again it seems Hidoko is siding with the team,
which contradicts her desire not to partake in a shooting competition with
Callen and Kensi. Is she really just
Mosley’s eyes and ears on the ground or one of the good guys? Certainly Nell and Eric disagree with each
other on their thoughts of Mosley and Hidoko, no doubt reflective of the
audience base.
To voice
opinions through the characters is reflective of how emotive the presence of
two new cast members can be. Many people
do not like change, yet it follows most through their personal and professional
life. Mosley has been brought in to fill
a void in the operations structure left by Granger and to create drama and
tension. She is not meant to be liked. So far her end goal is simply to make the
NCIS team the best possible and changes will be in the best interests of
NCIS. In this respect she is unlike
Hunter who replaced Hetty in season two/three and she too split up the partners
for no discernible reason. It is Team
Leader Callen who attempts to defend the team after Mosley reiterates they
cannot confirm if the stolen intelligence was a one off or part of a larger
ring as the team killed all the suspects.
Despite the
undercurrent of unease and change, there were many light moments particularly
when Kensi asks Deeks to move to his ‘other left’ and when the pair discuss their
theoretical daughter, Princess Sunshine Deeks.
Sam has moved on from likening Callen to a reclusive sociopath with no
ties to having a house that screams he’s an international spy and Callen of
course cannot believe how prepared Sam always is, carrying a tool with a
Phillip screwdriver on him. The most amusing scene featured the entire team
discussing Kensi’s shot up Audi. For
special agents they seem rather unobservant with Sam not realising Kensi’s had
her car for a year, and Callen (the international spy) thinking Sam’s had the
same Challenger for five years, when he got a new one last year! An unintentionally amusing moment was when
the bad guys on the motorbike shot straight at Deeks using automatic weapons
and still missed.
There were
little surprises within the plot and despite Elder’s now married college
friends who secured a reasonable amount of screen time, the easy path of having
one of them involved was a cliché that was not to be. The case itself remained unresolved, serving
as a reminder that not all cases are tied up neatly with a bow, as Mosley pointed
out. And not everything needs to be shown
on screen. Deeks boasts his basketball
skills to Mosley who counter-boasts but feels no need to prove herself. Why should she? After all, she is the boss?
Assets should
have aired last week and was switched with Se Murio El Payaso in the wake of the
Las Vegas
shootings. Certain elements missing from
Se Murio now make sense, for example the disappearance of Mosley and Hidoko. There was no progression of Hetty’s
adventures which featured heavily in last week’s episode. Assets also tackles more of Sam’s journey
through grief and ends on a poignant note, with Sam talking about his boat,
Michelle, and of eventually sailing her with the kids to Carmel to scatter his
wife’s ashes. Overall, change is certainly in the air and is a overriding theme
for the season so far, and this week laid bare.
What did you
think of the episode? Like it, loathe it
or indifferent? Please leave a comment
below and let me know your thoughts.