When an episode is titled “Kill Beale
Vol 1”, it’s clear that everyone’s favourite Technical Operator is going to
find himself in some serious trouble. Eric Beale has been missing from LA
for most of season 11’s episodes to date. He’s been working for a start
up tech company in San Francisco
and has been mentioned sporadically, just to keep him in the thoughts of the
team and the viewers. This week he finally returns to the fold, and gets
an episode that is all his!
There were certain expectations going in to this
episode, firstly that it will be exciting and secondly that Beale will be -
well Beale. There were indeed plenty of intense scenes, albeit not too
much in the way of action, and this was offset with a suitably rambling Eric,
mainly from a caffeine high to counteract the effects of being drugged. Usually
character centred episodes feature the main field agents, and when they
haven’t, Nell and Eric have shared the limelight. This meant there was a notably
different feel to ‘Kill Beale’. There were two distinct settings; Los Angeles (with Nell, Kensi and Hetty), and San Francisco , where Sam
and Callen are searching for Eric. It is not only the new location which
is different, but also much of the episode takes place at night which is
unusual for the show. And finally, there is no Deeks as he was back with LAPD
for the week (in actuality actor Eric Christian Olsen co-wrote next week’s
250th episode and was prepping for this). Kensi was very much a spare part
during first half, exemplified by her lounging in the bull pen and staring at
Deeks’ desk which prompted her to call his cell (and inconveniently, Callen
called her at that moment). On the plus side, this allowed conversations
between Kensi and Nell to take place, with Kensi playing the role of the
sensible, reassuring older sister.
The narrative pace was surprisingly
pedestrian. The team were worried about Eric and initially there was
little cause for concern; he was the victim of a break-in and then arrested for
smashing the rear window of a police patrol car. Yet even when they
realised Eric had escaped an attempted kidnapping, been drugged and
successfully kidnapped by two fake NCIS agents, there was no real sense of
urgency or panic. Sam and Callen were stonewalled by Eric’s employer and that
was it. There were no threats given and no further action taken. It almost
seemed like an afterthought at the end, when the Chinese were revealed to be
behind the criminal enterprise of the start up company. There is little action
in San Francisco
as Sam and Callen go through their investigative steps, visiting Eric’s
apartment twice. Even the scenes between Eric and the fake NCIS agents featured
no real action; it was mainly talking (on Eric’s part) and they were never
portrayed as an actual threat to Eric’s life. The conversations
between Nell and Kensi added to the sense of lethargy. Nell was understandably
worried yet there was very little assistance to be offered from the team in LA
until half way through the episode.
Despite Eric’s goofiness, he had the presence of
mind to finally realise the fake agents were actually, well fake. It was their
questions around to whom Hetty been talking which alerted him, which is ironic
as it was them referencing Hetty and stating that ‘she will have our head on a
platter of avocado toast’, that convinced him to accompany them until the
agents from LA arrived. Twice Eric attempted to escape the pair and so he
clearly utilised some of his agent training. It was Eric’s position in the
field that prompted some in depth conversations at different points of the
episode, with Hetty, Nell, Callen and Sam. In scenes at Hetty’s desk, an
emotional Nell challenged Hetty about her decision to place Eric in such a
position. She calls Hetty out, particularly when she refers to him as ‘Mr
Beale’. Nell forcefully states his name in Eric and accuses Hetty of
already distancing herself emotionally. Key to this is Nell realising she
can not be Hetty, a role she has been groomed for since her
arrival. Such conversations in LA mirror those in San Francisco , where Sam and Callen discuss
whether they rode Eric too hard so he had to prove himself, or gave him false
hope of his agent abilities so he believed he had skills he actually lacks. The
agents rarely question their actions or discuss repercussions and this aspect
belies the fact that even though the episode revolves around Eric, it is
actually about Hetty, Nell and Callen.
Hetty’s manipulation and decision-making has been
challenged in the past by Callen (S4), Kensi (S7) and Deeks (S8) but
Eric's situation and Nell's words seem to hit home. Hetty no longer wants
her job and seemingly neither does anyone else. Hetty speaks with Callen
about her decisions with Eric and ends by suggesting Callen should
consider taking her job. There is a lot of foreshadowing here to next week’s
250th, where Hetty is targeted by a former operative she handpicked and
trained, a case which will obviously affect Callen and potentially both their
futures. This finally looks like the start of the season 11 story arc.
Callen has referenced working alone and being a
lone wolf more times in the last two episodes than he probably has in the last
two seasons. Early season 11 he was happy-go-lucky (maybe forcefully so),
enjoying his job and Sam's company. Now he has turned serious and reflective. Is
Callen getting itchy feet now he's been settled so long and fearful that those
close to him will be hurt, in order to hurt him?
Callen: This job used to be a lot easier.
Sam: It was never easy. It was
just easier because you were working alone.
Callen: Yeah, this is what happens when I stay in
one place too long.
Sam: No, this is what happens when you
get connected to other human beings
Many of theSan Francisco
scenes took place at night, in back streets and alleys, makeshift tents for the
city's vast homeless population. Images of the Golden Gate Bridge
may illustrate the agents are in a different location but there is nothing
glamorous about it. The scenes in the mission also take place in the
early hours of the morning or late at night. The workplace is quiet, empty and
dimly lit, reflective of the shadowy environment of their work and the
questioning of their motives. By contrast Kensi's location scenes were during
the day, clear blue skies in an affluent property with an outdoor swimming
pool, belonging to the rather hapless business owner of the San Francisco think tank.
Kensi is the only one who really had any action, holding off a number of
shooters. The subsequent interrogation with Kensi and Nell was particularly
satisfactory and successful. A formidable force!
Many of the
There were some cracking lines of dialogue, even
though Deeks’ quick-witted quips were missed. Kensi described Eric as a
born conspiracy theorist, ‘one Area 51 documentary away from wearing a tin foil
hat.’ At another point Eric stated to the fake agents that he lives in
the shadows - whilst standing flat against a wall with a bright streetlamp shining
on him. Eric’s return to Los Angeles and
the Mission was
very sweet and his best scene was when he was alone in the ops centre, breaking
out some cool dance moves, with Nell discretely looking on. This was
followed by the long overdue tete-a-tete between Hetty and Callen, discussing
decisions and the future, which will feature heavily next week. It will be
interesting to understand how much their relationship may be scrutinised when
Hetty's manipulation is placed under the spot light.