NCIS: Los Angeles S13E03 Review [Indentured]

 

There is always something more engaging about an episode which opens in the middle of a case, particularly if the team are involved. "Indentured" sees a group of ATF agents embroiled in a heavy gunfight they are losing, their lead agent calling over the airwaves for help from any law enforcement officers who may be nearby. Sam and Callen hear and their response is all the more serious as they clearly know each other. Unfortunately, the bad guys overwhelm the ATF, and without mercy, the lead agent is shot dead. Sam and Callen arrive at the warehouse too late. Their involvement in the case was to support ATF in taking down a white supremacist arms dealer, but the inside man was made before this could occur, and so the case is taken over by NCIS. The killer, Lukas Meyer is known and the investigation is to find Meyer and stop the weapons sale.  This opening is reminiscent of S09E23, “A Line in the Sand” where the NCIS team were under heavy fire and coincidentally, both episodes are written by Frank Military.

 

As is mostly the case with episodes penned by Military, there is intense drama, a focus on character and a darkness which creeps around the edges.  Military was also responsible creating and playing last season’s villain Kessler (S12E05, “Raising the Dead” and so this episode is the perfect place for the threat of Kessler to resurface.  Kessler’s girlfriend’s decomposed body has been identified after washing up on the Florida shoreline back in July, The exchange between Kensi and Deeks in the bullpen clearly shows the latter moving into attack mode. He will not allow Kessler to get near to Kensi and that is by any method necessary. Kensi realises this and her facial expression is full of concern. She knows Deeks killed his former partner at LAPD for abusing a teenage prostitute, Tiffany. Deeks also tortured a cleric in S05E19 “Spoils of War” after Kensi disappears and is held captive in Afghanistan (also written by Military). Deeks has a dark side when it comes to women being threatened and abused by men...

 

There is much going on in this episode which takes the team in several directions simultaneously, maintaining interest and creating layers within the narrative. Kilbride takes Sam as a partner, dropping Callen out of the picture as he’s not former military, as Kilbride wants the trust of Ret. US Army General Collins, who was due to buy hundreds of AK47s from Meyer and has connections with a right wing militia group. He also wants to ensure that if Collins is innocent, that he can continue to run for senator without a blemish to his character, thus protecting the integrity of the election process. Callen teams up with Rountree whilst Kensi and Fatima go undercover at a rehab centre, to gain the trust of Meyer’s girlfriend Mia. Deeks tails Collins although how he can remain inconspicuous when driving a bright red truck is a mystery.  Maybe the bad guys are colour blind? There is also the revelation that Kilbride has a personal connection with Collins, leading to the team mistrusting Kilbride, and causing confrontations between Sam and Kilbride.  The theme of trust is part of the overarching framework of the show (usually with Callen), and it makes a pleasant change that Sam is at the forefront this time, and for someone other than Callen to butt heads with someone in a position of higher authority.  

 

The issue of trust runs both ways and in a twist it turns out that Kilbride is another one who does not trust easily. When the team arrive to storm the warehouse, ATF are already in position, and Kilbride walks out with Collins in handcuffs.  Trust has to be earned and it is in short supply between Kilbride and the agents. In a scene more familiar between Callen, Sam and Hetty, Kilbride engages with the partners by offering them a single malt to discuss that very topic. In answer to Callen’s questions, he hasn’t heard from Hetty and doesn’t know if she’s safe. He also reveals that he is now running the Office of Special Projects. It is unknown if this is temporary or permanent, or what role Hetty will have if she ever returns.

 

It has been a very long time since the Office of Special Projects, a team which (used) to specialise in undercover operations, actually went undercover. It’s an element which has been sorely missed and makes an impressive comeback. Deeks has fun with Kensi, creating a shared back story although there is a missing (cut) scene as Fatima’s involvement comes out of the blue. Fatima’s role undercover is to set up Kensi to gain Mia’s trust and the two women enjoy a fight scene, after Kensi finds Fatima bullying Mia.  It is also a reminder of how the team can fake such scenes, with the blood pouring from Fatima’s head coming from a red sponge squeezed against her forehead. It can also be implied that she surreptitiously spat back the liquor she swigged from the bottle swiped from Mia. The visual manipulation of Mia is matched by the psychological. Mia opens up to Kensi about how abusive and controlling Lukas Meyer is and Kensi offers to solve her problems by killing Meyer. A little later Kensi’s alias tears up, explaining how she killed the boyfriend who raped her. Unfortunately, Mia develops a strong liking for Kensi’s alias and feeds her a false address for Meyer, who later turns up dead from an oxycodone overdose, Mia’s drug of choice.

The story then moves on to one of moral ambiguity, covered by Deeks and Kensi at work and later at home in bed. Deeks is the voice of conscience, asking Kensi if she thinks she gave Mia the idea and the courage to kill Meyer. At this point he sounds a little accusatory which is ironic given his past actions. Mia later sends a video message to Kensi’s undercover cell phone which the couple watch in bed. Again Deeks offers Kensi the chance to pursue Mia, however she decides to wait until morning before calling in the lead.  Kensi is at peace with her decision which means Deeks is too, and the episode closes with saying ‘sweet dreams, my little velociraptor’. The screen turns black and there is a gentle baby dinosaur growl.

 

Daniela Ruah (Kensi) absolutely owns this episode with her undercover performance.  She was extremely convincing and manipulating - for the greater good. Undercover operations have been in short supply for the last three or four seasons, with characters maybe assuming a role for a minute or so. Hopefully this is the start of a return to how the team used to work missions. The use of slow motion captures the horror of the gunfight, and is utilised towards the end when Kilbride walks with Collins in cuffs, emphasising which side Kilbride is on. It has sometimes been used ineffectively, for too long a gun battle sequence, but the direction here is spot on. Overall this was a thoroughly enjoyable episode and season 13 is definitely off to a solid start.

NCIS: Los Angeles S10E09 Review

A Diamond in the Rough sees the team investigate the home invasion of Navy Captain Dean Hadlow and his wife Luanne, who are entertaining house guests and old friends General Omer Abidi and Sahar, his wife.  The robbers steal money, jewellery and a laptop containing highly classified documents and shoot Captain Hadlow when he attempts to defend Luanne. 

There is a peculiarity to this episode which is established right from the start. The pre-opening credit sequence has a very odd feel, with an overly apparent awkwardness between the four adults having dinner. Luanne talks non-stop and seems a touch intoxicated, admitting she always drinks for two. Sahar Abidi and the General are quite staid and the Captain is not exactly relaxed. This continues to the house invasion, where the characters are unable to act until Luanne cracks one over the head with a wine bottle and is hit in return. This prompts her husband to rather laboriously move around the dining table to try and rescue her.  This lack of motion and emotion feeds through to subsequent scenes. Sam and Callen speak with Sahar at the crime scene as the General has fled. Her first question is whether they’ve found her necklace, not if they have found her husband. Kensi and Deeks speak with Luanne in the hospital and again there is a lack of emotion or concern, even when she reveals her daughter declined an invite to dinner and now cannot be reached. Luanne is not concerned about her daughter or overly upset about her husband.  In turn, Kensi and Deeks are not bothered about the daughter. The lack of empathy with the guest cast and the two agents means there is no urgency to the situation, no tension is created and the case becomes unimportant. 

The introduction of daughter Emily adds another layer to the emotionless adults. Emily is superficial, living her life through social media and surrounding herself with like-minded young men and women, aspiring to a lifestyle she cannot afford.  This is deliberate leading to some scathingly amusing comments from Nell and Eric back in Ops, that Emily conveniently broadcasts everything about herself online and no warrant is required as her life is out for public consumption.  At least Kensi and Deeks have fun by infiltrating Emily’s pool party especially with Deeks ripping into a dim and self-obsessed young man.

The episode is bracketed with Kensi and Deeks in their bar. At the start they interview some crazies for the position of bar manager.  At the end, the couple are back in the bar and Mama Deeks makes a surprise appearance, stealing the scene with her dry and slightly inappropriate sense of humour. It seems very fitting that Roberta will be the bar manager. It allows for future ad hoc fun scenes, especially how she might interact with the lodger, Callen. He will either indulge Mama Deeks and squeeze every bit of juicy gossip and wind up material possible about her son, or she will just annoy him! The episode really centered around Kensi and Deeks and their banter but didn’t serve any purpose to further their development as individuals or as a couple.  There was a lot of fun, for example with Kensi’s pursuit driving causing Deeks to panic yell they needed to get married right then! The interrogation scene where Kensi and Deeks reference different boybands was again fun and as a counter to the lightheartedness, during another scene, the camera followed Kensi and Deeks as they breach a house (which is a nice change from focusing on Sam and Callen), and the noticeable lack of background music enhanced the natural sounds of the partners breathing. Without any tension or drama the scene and sound direction seemed very misplaced.

It is great the show has such flexibility, focusing different partner at various points, however the character banter and interactions needs to remain on point.  This was not the case with Callen and Sam. Certain elements were great, such as Callen’s obsession with a neighbourhood  app allowing him to effectively spy on his soon-to-be neighbours, and the subsequent wind-ups with Sam. At other times their words seemed a little forced and not quite in line with how they usually speak. When the Pakistan officials arrive and usurp their authority, the pair just look at each other.  Again they have very little come back during their interactions with the official from the State Department. The foot chase of the General and his wanna-be assassin results in Callen tumbling down concrete steps with the General - not great for someone recently recovered from a broken back, and a missed opportunity for Callen to complain and Sam to rip him apart.  

For probably the first time this season, Eric and Nell were given a fair amount of screen time, although their relationship is following the same path as Kensi and Deeks. The latter constantly talk about their wedding plans without even setting a date, and the former (well Eric) is constantly talking about furniture he's ordered for their first place together - a place which they have not even found.  Their absurdness is not out of the ball park which is a relief, although Eric was getting quite close.

​This was a very light episode with plenty of banter but there was nothing of substance with either the case or the characters.  The poor guest character development means the plot twist holds little interest and Callen shooting the Pakistan agent with diplomatic immunity has no repercussions. The General's secrets were placed on the dark net in an auction won by the US yet it is unclear who or how this happened. At best, A Diamond in the Rough provided a lot of banter with the three sets of partners as well as progression with the bar. Most of season ten has so far delivered episodes with a bit of oomph, with some guts and gumption. Light-hearted episodes can be a tonic but this one fell a touch short of the mark.

A Virtual Scrawl

NCIS: Los Angeles Review S07E14

Last week's episode focused on Callen's character, but this week the attention is clearly on Kensi, with Deeks also under scrutiny.  Kensi’s back story has been explored during earlier seasons; investigations into her father’s death led Kensi to be accused of murder and to the subsequent reconciliation with her estranged mother.  Kensi’s spell of living on the streets as a teenager was also touched on in last season’s ‘The Grey Man’.  She was previously engaged to a marine named Jack who suffered with PTSD and left her on Christmas day.  Hetty used this to her advantage when she sent Kensi to Afghanistan on the ‘white ghost’ mission.  She knew that when Kensi found and recognised Jack, she would not be able to pull the trigger, and would instead investigate.  But Kensi deliberately allowed herself to be captured and found Jack was also being held hostage (and that he had found peace in himself and moved on).

Kensi and Deeks experienced a lot of trauma (hostage, torture, PTSD) before they even became a couple, most recently overcoming Deeks’ Internal Affairs drama.  This week, the pair arrived in the bull pen with Kensi excitedly announcing that she was moving in with Deeks.  Sam and Callen show little enthusiasm for the move with Callen assuming they were already living together.  The pair have been happy together for a while now, but where is the fun in maintaining the equilibrium?

Ex-fiance Jack had been guiding ICE agent Sy Riggs around antiquity sites in his adoptive country of Afghanistan, but Riggs had been collating two lists; one of antiquities and another of key Taliban and Al Quaeda contacts.  Jack became suspicious and contacted Hetty who flew him to LA, but Riggs had already arrived to sell the lists.  Hetty placed Jack in her new property (a dilapidated apartment block)  after an attempt on his life during  their rendezvous. So Hetty sent Kensi and Deeks there on protective duty - although in true Hetty style, they didn’t know who they are protecting until they arrive at the apartment.

The narrative of ‘Come Back’ is very much character based as opposed to case focused, and the episode allows Kensi to explore her relationships and emotions without it becoming a soap opera.  In fact the whole Kensi/Deeks/Jack triangle is handled with maturity by the characters, thanks to the writing of Erin Broadhurst, in her first solo-written episode.  There is no jealousy from Deeks (he and Jack actually bond), no barbed comments from any character and no hint that Kensi still loves Jack.  With one dead wife and having recently remarried, Jack clearly has no problems moving on.  It is Kensi who has unanswered questions and requires closure from Jack, and Deeks allows her the time to have those conversations.

For several episodes after the trauma suffered by Deeks and Kensi (early and late season five respectively), NCIS Los Angeles dealt with the subject of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and then moved on to other cases and character developments.  But PTSD forms an important subtext to ‘Come Back’.  Both Kensi and Deeks speak separately to Jack about their experiences.  Deeks sometimes wakes up screaming as he recalls how he tortured the Afghan cleric to try and find Kensi.  He also freely admits that he would do the same again to save someone he loves.  ‘Internal Affairs’ has already shown that Deeks will kill to protect women and this angle of his character will most likely be explored again.  Crucially Jack advises Deeks to not push her away, like he did.  Kensi admits she still has nightmares, and Jack has them every night.  Terrible though it is for the characters, it is interesting to know they still suffer (off camera) and reassuring for the audience that PTSD has not been swept under the carpet.

Being a victim of trauma can trigger violent reactions, which is cleverly tackled during a Jack / Granger conversation.  Jack found peace and solace in Afghanistan but happiness was ripped from him when a US drone strike killed his first wife.  Jack fought the urge to take up arms against the US in anger and retaliation as he would just be perpetuating the violence. Instead he vowed to restore his country Afghanistan and he made it clear he wasn't helping NCIS for Granger or the USA.  He still values the simplest pleasures in life, especially his family so it didn’t really come as a surprise that he caved to the bad guys blackmail and gave up his location to protect his family.

For the first time probably since the season opener, Hetty had a substantial role to play, particularly during her closing scenes with Kensi, who challenged why Hetty placed Jack’s life in danger again.  Hetty reminds her of their roles and the difficult positions they ask others to place themselves in, but reassures Kensi that she had a SEAL team covering Jack’s family back home.  The other, more random piece of information is when Hetty makes a comment to Granger about a stress remedy she learnt from an old Romani woman when she was a child.  Is there truth to the conversations she had with Alexa Comescu in the season three opener, that she grew up with a Romani family?  Or is this a subtle reminder about Callen’s past.  Hetty’s back story has yet to be fleshed out - that would be a whole spin off in itself!  There are also hints about Granger when Jack reveals the Assistant Director’s marine past.  It’s already known he was CIA and involved in black ops, and more of his story will be explored later this season, if the promised Granger,O sees the light.

There is a reversal of characteristics between Sam and Callen, as Callen spends the first part of the episode guessing what Sam was secretively writing in the bullpen.  The boot is clearly on the other foot from last week but Callen treats it as a game.  He correctly analyses and deduces correctly that Sam is arranging a Mathalete reunion, and the light banter and sassy Callen continue, particularly with the amusing fight at the warehouse.

But the real joy in this episode is the development of Kensi and Deeks.  Kensi gets the closure she desired from Jack, even though this was not required for her to move forward with Deeks.  Deeks shows a maturity that seldom comes across in his ‘class clown’ role, and even offers Kensi a take away and crash evening, rather than a moving in evening.  Kensi again proves how sharp a shooter she is in the final gun fight, taking on countless bad guys and snapping a man’s neck (note the team eventually turn up to support her, just as it looked as though Jack’s life might be sacrificed for the Kensi/Deeks relationship).

There are a number of additional touches that help seal this as one of the key episodes of season seven - and indeed in the Kensi canon - such as the mathalete joke, the Hetty/Romani reference, and the throwback to Deeks’ walking workstation.  And in support of the real agency, Sam and Callen comment about NCIS turning fifty next week.  The references to past episodes, the character development and the maturity with which tricky situations are handled, means that ‘Come Back’ is a sheer pleasure to watch for fans of all characters.

How did you enjoy this episode?

avirtualscrawl.wordpress.com