There are effectively three permanent
cast members missing at the moment, with reminders of two covered in the
‘previously on NCIS:
‘Angry Karen’ opens with Nell talking Sam in as he waits to meet a whistle blower with information vital to national security. Unfortunately the whistle blower, Donald Harris attempts to run Sam down, propelling himself through the windscreen of his car in the process. The team proceed to investigate why he tried to kill Sam, and what information he was due to divulge.
This is a busy episode with numerous
settings covered by the various team members, clearly a luxury now afforded
with a large team. Rountree is stationed at the hospital, Sam and
Callen team up at certain points but split to interview Harris’ roommate and
the missing accountant’s Captain respectively. Kensi also relishes working solo
for once, although she later partners with
There was some great character moments
as expected from writer/showrunner R. Scott Gemmill. Rountree spent most of the
episode bored during his hospital duty and, with his burgeoning kinship with
other newbie
Running alongside the case is the theme of development. Callen shows Fatima how to connect IT equipment to a car and extract information from the car, a task Eric would usually undertake and certainly a skill Callen rarely has a chance to demonstrate. Nell is experiencing a crisis of confidence and repeatedly doubts herself. She babbles away to Sam who really just states the obvious to her, that she is capable and doing a fine job. There is no questioning why she sent Sam to a meet without Callen as back up and at no point is it referenced that the team were pressuring Callen to take Hetty’s job. This is very different to the overly self-assured Nell who was introduced in season 2 however the potential which Hetty originally saw is clearly still present - and Nell is proving her right even if she questions her own abilities. The closing scene sees Callen approaching Nell’s (aka Hetty’s) desk, just as he has done with Hetty in the past. There is no animosity, just a gentle rebuke that she hasn’t offered him a drink.
‘Angry Karen’ suffers from a lack of
cohesion, despite Nell’s attempt at being the glue which holds them together.
The separation of the team results in an unusual lack of energy in certain
scenes, for example Sam’s interview with the housemate suffers with him unable
to play off Callen. Likewise there is no bullpen banter or post-case drinks for
the field agents at The Squid & Dagger. The main action of a car chase and
gunfight is reserved for the climax, with Callen throwing himself out of the
Charger to come up behind the Navy Commander to point a gun at the back of his
head. There is a notably low body count in season 12, most likely linked to
both budget constraints and the tempering down of the use of violence by law
enforcement. This has resulted in a shift in the style of storytelling. Gone is
the frenetically paced, action packed episodes and instead there a
pedestrian feel with a focus on the investigation. In the past, slower episodes
have been character focused (not present here) and this new version of
NCIS:
Note: ‘Angry Karen’ is pejorative slang
for an angry, demanding white woman and was the name given to the fictional
weapon which was duping the navy out of millions.