After a brief “Previously on…” about the Arkady/Anna – Oil Tanker storyline…
…we’re right in the middle of a heavy-armed, sighworthy-outfitted gunfight…
…which Karposev and Anna manage to flee off in his oh-so-subtle Porsche.
More gun fight means more thigh holster #ShallowMe… Oh and we learn that this is all taking place in Russia.
Absolutely LOVED this camera ride… Anybody else sat more upright to glimpse behind the monitor before the camera did ?? :-p
Karposev ran into a hit squad… Who wants to take him out ?? #MoreBaddies
Eric & Nell are “blind”… *gulp*
“No food, just loose tea, Scotch vodka. You must own this apartment.”
Only Hetty plays poker for whole apartments…
“I was the Queen of the Prom , sweetheart.”
“What?” “Just say Thank You.” “Because I’m ME.” “Swaaag.” These three being their usual awesome selves…
Dear TV/film writers around the world: Don’t ever write scenes in moving cars when you aren’t able to shoot them on location. EVER !! Please !!
Sam bear worrying about Callen being back in Moscow because of his family history… #Aww
Karposev’s dead… must have been Anna…
“You first.” HA, girl has sass… #LoveIt
Lil hand-to-hand with our G…
“I’m more of an acquaintance.” *snort*
She’s obviously NOT thrilled to see her daddy…
Tea. Hetty’s resolution of choice…
“That didn’t work out how I thought it would.” “Nah, but it was so fun to watch.” Sam cracking those one-liners today…
“You’re welcome.”
“You know nothing about me.” And yet, we found out a lot about Anna in this scene… 😉
Aww… nobody likes Arkady…
Arkady worked with G’s dad until 1988. G’s face. Oh my…
Vyto spent too much time with COD… he has the same finger rub thing going on… 😉
“You know I’m standing right here in the room.”
“He’s a member of ISIS.” Now that’s one unfortunately very up-to-date twist…
“If I play nice Hetty agreed to help me find a job in the states.” Welcome back in S7, Anna !! 🙂
Perfect look-alikes… hihi…
“Maybe he still is a good man.”
Honey bunny… 😉
Wow, so much can go wrong…
“I don’t sing.” Let’s see…
Hetty in full OP mode… #ILike
It actually worked…
“Trust is based on actions, not words.”
Great job, Nell !!
Kick-a** Kensi !!
KAAAAlinka… HI-LA-RI-OUS !!
WooHoo !! Eric found ’em…
“The room’s empty.” Argh…
Eric found them again…
Oh, no, no no no…
Sam offering to carry him… *gulp*
Arkady offering to stay behind to stall the police… *tears up*
You can almost “see” the thoughts rattling through Callen’s head right now.
“Arkady is alive.” THANK YOU, thank you, thank you !!
Eric found the ships… Case closed… Now onto more personal topics…
“I was married here.” “What?” Uhm, yeah… WHAAAT ??
Hetty telling Callen about his father…
Callen at his father’s grave… *tears up again*
Visiting his father’s favorite espresso bar before heading home…
And then he turns up… Callen’s father is alive !!
Wow, what an episode… it didn’t end with a regular cliffhanger like when one of the team member’s is in peril but it sure left me gaping at the screen… Only seconds ago I had shed tears with Callen about his father’s story – including his death… and now he is sitting there enjoying an espresso and playing with one of the refugee coins…
How is this possible ?? Was Hetty aware that Callen’s father is still alive ?? Would she feed him such a lie ?? Can they ever recover if he would find out ?? When / how / why will we see Callen’s dad again ?? I mean, Callen doesn’t have any motivation to keep searching for him… It would have to come from his father… Or from Arkady (who’s still alive – Thanks, @Harimoto! – and might run into him in Russia) ??
Apart from Callen’s story we had awesome gun fights, great conversations and hilarious one-liners… Every member of the team got to shine !! And that’s what I love about the show !! I hear you Densi fans being a little bummed after this ep… but I liked the few scenes they were in a lot… Eric, Nell and Granger were awesome back in OPS and I loved Hetty being out in the field…
OK, OK, enough pictures, enough words from me… Let’s hear it… What are your thoughts about this NCIS Los Angeles Season Finale ??
And THANK YOU my lovely readers for your loyalty througout the season… I hope you enjoyed my picture reviews as much as I did… I sure enjoy your comments !! See you all back in September for another awesome season of NCIS Los Angeles !!
I really really really liked the finale episode! I can understand why Densi shippers are upset, I wished a few more scenes for myself, but they are having a serious relationship now, and no Daily Soap relationship, so I like that part. Hetty and Arkady were hillariuos and the scenes in the hotel were just great, great action scenes from everybody. I feel bad for Callen, but at least he found out more about his dad being a hero. Maybe he walks back and sees him, who knows. I am glad no one is tortured or kept somewhere, I am not a big fan of terrible cliffhangers. So I enjoy my summer with rewatching and cant wait for Season 7.
Chernoff, K was an fantastic episode. S6 just flew by. Totally insufficient Densi ALL year was very disappointing, yet still by far the best show on all of TV.
Sindee you ROCK!
Thank you for all you do!!
Thank you for the review sindee. It’s always fun.
Judging from the poll on this site and my own mixed feelings, it was one of those episodes which will divide the fans and viewers into two groups. Lovers and haters. (Pretty much the same happened with “Humbug”)
Up until the last minute I was enjoying the whole thing, one of the reasons being that seemingly Callen’s daddy issues will finally be resolved, and we can move on. Despite being a Callen-focussed episode, I very much liked it up until that point, that didn’t happen since maybe season 3. Arkady was funny, as always, Sam’s one-liners also made me smile. The action scenes were good, I liked the small puns (Bunny, LOL). If I cut out the last minute, it was a solid 9/10 episode, because it had almost everything I love this show for (only exception being Kensi and Deeks’ relationship, which was left out from this episode, but this time I understand that).
Then the last minute arrived and like an excellently built battering ram, it crashed the entire episode into oblivion. Just for that, I should give a 0/10. – Really? That’s the big surprise? Not a surprise, but a PANAMAX shipload of frustration. But I stayed by a higher rating than that, because it didn’t seemed fair to give a zero based only on a tiny portion of the episode.
As for the whole season: I think this was the best season so far. It had it’s ups and downs, but mostly we had good episodes throughout the year. I’ll be back for season 7, that’s a given. I just hope, the quality stays at least this year’s level, or even tops it.
It was such a stunning episode – all of the team members in action, and then… no usual cliffhanger. Nope, instead there was these rare few minutes in which Callen and his father could have met, but didn’t. Would his father KNOW he has a son? Callen won’t believe any of it anymore, it’s been a closed book now to him, I think.
And now, Arkady ánd Ana stayed behind. Glad they do, because I love both characters! Could it be Arkady will meet mr. Reznikov one more time in Moscow? Woow. Season 7 will start with things WE, as viewers, know, but Callen and Hetty and all the others, don’t. How’s that for a great start?
All in all, I really loved season 6. It had more of the show as I personally loved from seasons 1-3.
I was really disappointed in this episode. I’ve had enough of the Russian storyline. It was interesting the first few times but all this continuing angst over Callen’s father leaves me cold. I’ve been very disappointed with this season. I felt this season has been predominantly Sam and Callen with little focus on Deeks and Kensi. And I’m really confused – what happened to the storyline where LAPD were snooping around about Deeks? Did I miss an episode or was that thread never taken up again. I can only hope season seven has some really good Deeks episodes. We didn’t even learn anything new about his character this season and to me that says very little care/interest was given to Deeks by the writers.
Thank you for another wonderful recap 🙂
For those who watched the Sneak Peeks — Did anyone notice a scene was cut from the aired episode? And it was an intense one. I was really looking forward to seeing the entire scene based on that sneak peek. Looks like someone was really sneaking in making viewers believe it would be in the actual episode.
What happened to Callen’s “new love interest”? So much hype about that and then nothing. Unless it was meant that he would just meet her. Looks like Ana is that love interest as she is coming back to the US. She is Arkady’s daughter so she is connected to someone from Callen’s past. OR was Joelle the love interest? Too confusing for me.
That final scene was ridiculous! This show does NOT need another question to be answered or story line to develop! Epic fail in my opinion on leaving viewers thinking Callen’s father is still alive after the heart wrenching scene of Callen at his father’s grave.
Overall it was a well acted episode although I didn’t like Ana’s acting–was expecting much better from the actress. And what was with all of those toothless grins/smiles? However she did deliver a wonderful line to Callen about trust being based on actions and not words.
Kensi unhappy with Deeks for killing the guy in the woods was another ridiculous scene. Deeks played it well but WHY do the writers put in such stupid lines/scenes for the cast?
I give it a 5/10 based on these things:
-Callen at father’s grave
-Arkady singing
-Arkady is alive!
-Callen’s leather jacket
-Callen in a suit
-Hetty telling Callen she was married as part of an undercover assignment and Callen saying “it didn’t mean anything” as he glanced around the church. My first thought: Tracey from “Standoff”. Callen knows it meant SOMETHING to Hetty.
-Kensi kicking some serious bad guy ass!
-Everyone rocking the thigh holsters/tactical gear 🙂
I have mixed feelings about this episode. It didn’t really feel like a season finale, but it was nice not to have a cliffhanger for the whole summer. I can defiantly see a lot of Densi fans being upset,there was really not a lot of them in this episode. I did love that Hetty was with them in Russia and was in the field with them. That was a lot of fun to watch. I didn’t really think Arkady was as funny as he was in Beacon. I really felt bad for him, in that no one liked him, including Ana. I thought when she saw him back at the house was a little much. IMO. I agree I would be upset too, but she was the one who decided to work with him in the first place. If she doesn’t trust him as much as she said she did, then why did she agree to it?
I’m not sure about Ana. I don’t really see her being a new love interest for Callen. And I agree I wasn’t overly impressed with her acting. She didn’t really have a lot of lines just walking around smiling a “smartassy” smile. Just a few weeks ago he was talking about kids with Joelle, and Ana seems a bit young for Callen, but as far as the personality goes she is the type I see Callen being with.
My prediction for next season is we probably won’t get a lot of Callen because we got so much this season. They will probably put that on the back burner for a season. I hope we get to find out what is going on with Deeks and the IA investigation. I would really like to see more backstory on Eric and Nell as well.
Its been a fun season and defiantly one of my favorites.
Yes, I was looking forward to the scene, and it never came up. Why?
Thanks for a great recap, sindee. It was a great episode, great action and I was surprised when Arkady got shot. Anna was a surprise, such a feisty girl, but watch out Callen, she used to have her own handcuffs.
I never knew Kensi could speak Russian until this episode, something to note in her file. Deeks killed the guy because he was shooting at Kensi, how sweet. Well plotted to take the buyers out to find the missing oil. Job well done. ISIS involved, not good, but good to see how up to date the threats are on this show to the real world. The LA section of Granger, Eric and Nell was short but well played, Granger’s still playing hard ball, but softening in the centre. It’s refreshing to not have a cliff hanger, yet I was left a little frustrated. Hasn’t Callen waited long enough to be reunited with his father? I knew his father hadn’t died back in 2008, he left flowers and a note in his sister’s grave more recently. Callen needs to remember this. I hope we see Anna again and Callen finds the truth about his father. But I suppose we’re still hanging out for more on Deeks and the IA investigation, and S7 we hope will deliver on that.
Wasn’t expecting much and didn’t get much. I don’t know what viewers elsewhere saw while the credits were running, but here we saw a promo for Survivor, one of the worst shows on TV, and then went immediately into local news. Once again we have been lied to by the showrunners – no romantic interest for Callen with Ana, no resolution on his father, nothing on the IA and the Densi scenes could have been any two military hunters. Team having multiple roles??? not so much.
OK: His father died 7 years ago under an alias, except that now there is an old man sitting alone in the cafe twirling one of those commemorative coins. More for the writers to string us along next season and give a reason for Callen-centric episodes. Getting old, production team.
Kensi now speaks perfect colloquial Russian? Where did that come from?
At least they had the signage in Russian (except for the exit sign at the garage that showed in one of the promos) and hired Russian speaking actors for the hotel staff. My Russian is rusty, but what I understood was accurate.
I’m torn about how to rate this show… some of the dialogue was good, some unbelievable in any storyverse – secret marriage, permission for hacking the Russian traffic cameras and the hotel security system. It reminded me a lot of the old “Mission Impossible” TV show – totally unbelievable, but fun to watch. I’ll probably give this one a high like for the action and hope against hope that next season will be better. Except for about three episodes (Grey Man, Humbug, and Expiration Date) this season was a dead loss for me. Others had good scenes (Seal Hunter Densi scenes as a good example) but the good got lost in the bad…. Rage should gave gotten the show pulled in and of itself.
Thank you for the recap sindee. Is it longer than it used to be cause it’s the finale? (This also may excuse the length of my comment)
First of all I totally agree with you regarding the driving scene though I am not sure the awful quality is the writers or directors fault. There were more scenes where there was no attention to details e.g. Arkady and Anna meeting for the first time in the room and Arkady had a glas in his hand. Nothing shattered when Anna attacked him ;-((.
Arkady was great as always. This guy was the trump card in this episode and not only in this one. Sam acted strange to me since he dashed Callens hope for his father, Nell was annoying as always, and Kensi and Deeks worked nice together which was great to watch, Eric and Granger should be paired more often since they are hilarious together. Callen focused on the task though he got more information about his father. He didn’t speak a lot in this episode but he was so predominant – I loved it. And yes I love Callen centric episodes and so I like this one. But …
This episode continued with planting the seeds for something that the writers will pick up again (or not) in 20 or more episodes later. We had plenty of these in this season and it sucks (e.g. the mole, IA Deeks).
What happened with Anna or Callens father…? Okay Anna might come to LA soon but with Callens father we have to wait again for 30 or more episodes. This is the experience we witnessed after the Reznikov episode and this topic came up for the first time again in Spiral. So it will be a long wait.
Finales don’t need a cliffhanger but a better, stronger story like in season 1.
So this episode totally fits in this mediocre (sometimes even below) season 6. It would have been a good one for a sweep episode but IMO not adequate for a finale. Sorry.
Probably my hopes have been too high for this season since the S5 was bad IMO and I thought they would have realized that the quality needs to be improved to keep the viewers. S6 had good to great episodes but they were few but instead far too many filler episodes.
Just one more thing. Who is the new love interest for Callen? They teased it all the way but who is it? And don’t try Joelle since they said NEW love interest and we know her since S5. I wouldn’t mind if there is no love interest at all since I am not a fan of it but why all the teasers?
I think the Callen love interest thing is the same, as the big Deeks story. Outright lie. Sorry, that 3 scenes in 3 episodes does not qualify as a story.
I agree I have always thought it was Joelle. Never trust the “spoilers”. They also said that Deeks was going back to LAPD this season and that didn’t happen either. They also said there was going to be a mystery woman named Kate. That didn’t happen either.
Maybe Deeks went back to LAPD in between episodes 😉
Agree. Ana was not a love interest. The showrunners are lying to us yet again… maybe they don’t care since SB is going on to another show, Season 7 may be the last.
I completely forgot about “the mole”. I don’t know what was going on with the producers and writers, continuity issues all over the place.
Maybe, they thought they weren’t going to be renewed…….might explain the return to such Callen centric episodes….wanting to go full circle.
Totally rambling now…..
Still watching till the end if the series….still love the show….looking forward to September…..have a great summer everyone!
Anna is the mentioned “new love interest”. They plan to bring her back which is the tease we were given about this woman. I do hope this time it can be a lie/change because Anna never needs to be seen again!!!
If there is a new love interest for Callen in this episode it is clearly his father and the chance that he could be alive. I think it was a misunderstood hint by the writers to confuse all of us (again – btw: I like this kind of ambiguous spoiler) thinking that Anna is the new woman in Callens life. But that would make no sense at all… and I’m glad with that explanation.
Many thanks Sindee for everything you do!
On the whole, I thought this episode was good. It was fast paced and entertaining. I love Arkady. His interaction with Hetty, Callen and Sam are fun to watch. It was a bit of a disappointment as a season finale. I don’t mind that it wasn’t a cliff hanger but some sense of what lies ahead might have been good, maybe the appearance of a new or familiar bad guy, or something about Deeks, Densi…Hetty anything.
I would like to have seen more team interaction….I would really have liked to have seen more Deeks. I’m not sure he had more than 5 lines. It would be nice if his fight scenes were as good as Kensi’s…..she does kick ass!
As for the season….
I would say half of the episodes were good…the rest a bit of a mess if not terrible. If I didn’t love the cast, I’m not sure I would have hung in all season.
So glad there will be a season 7. Hoping the writers and producers do better!
The only reason I keep watching is the growing relationship between Kensi and Deeks. Callen I’m getting a very cold feeling about..He has not come to accept that he got shafted in his family history, but the millions of war orphans also got shafted and have good life. I’m worried that he is or is becoming like Hetty; anything for the current mission, lie if it is useful, use a team mate regardless of the impact. The only one he seems to really care about is Sam. He tells Joelle to trust him…. Right, and I’ve got a brand new bridge that needs an owner. His baby blues and grin doesn’t affect a male – we don’t trust them.
I have often thought the same thing about Callen…he only cares about Sam …..and Hetty. I blame the writers!
As a female, I gotta say that his baby blues and sexy grin are super hot! Very trustworthy indeed!
Vive La Difference!
Indeed!
What exactly does Joelle need to trust him about? I was confused with that line. Those baby blues and beautiful smile sure are distracting … and trustworthy 🙂
At the start of Field of Fire as he drops Jo off at school, they have an exchange about the evening… He says “you can trust me”… all she says is “be safe”. He lied to her clear up to Humbug and only admitted what he did because he had to. He had a sexual relationship when he was posing as a crook (don’t remember the name of the episode off the top) and thought he may have impregnated her when he sees her son… but he just left when the assignment was over. Trust? Not hardly.
Well, I’m a female as well, but Callen’s “baby blues” don’t do it for me, I’m all TEAM DEEKS! 😀
Maybe it’s my age, I’m much closer to Deeks agewise than to Callen 🙂
You see I am watching the show because of the team and Callen of course. And the show is all about Callen as SB said it. I know he said it at the beginning but his story and character is important to the show.
The romantic densi stories shouldn’t be a topic. Friendship and partnership yes, but no romance please. This season had more Callen and Sam screen time but last season was all about Kensi and Deeks IMO. And more screen time doesn’t mean character backstory.
My fear is that whatever the writers will come up with it will be not good enough for the viewers because now we have two clans. The Callen (and Sam) and the Densi clan. I don’t have high hopes that they will ever reunite. It will never be enough for either side. That is sad IMO.
Just like people change over time, so do stories. The show did very pointedly start out as “here’s poor Callen who never managed to get along with a foster family and someone wants him dead who could it be? story line. Lasted until the end of season 1 when they figured out Dom wasn’t going to cut it for the story and brought in Deeks… the attraction between Deeks and Kensi was obvious – and written in by the writers – from the first show he appeared in (Hand to Hand). At that point the show ceased being only a Callen against the World show and became something different. Over the years Sam has changed (he has a family), Nate went off to do his profiling duties elsewhere with occasional returns, and two healthy, beautiful people who cannot have a relationship outside because of their job and who have been tossed into a pressure cooker and partnership have developed a personal relationship. Their partnership has grown to include being in love – just like would and does happen every day in the real world. Some of us would like to see how that loving relationship grows and how they keep it from affecting the team. Callen is the only one who really has not grown in self-awareness or any other way, even with Joelle.
There really are now two parallel stories that intersect in the ops center. Callen is still the prime, but that has to change as he finds out more about his father. If the production team chooses to have him meet his father, it will be a rude awakening for him… they have been apart for 35+ years each with no shared experiences. There will be joy at finally meeting, but father/son is going to be difficult to establish. Where then does Callen go? The obvious growth would be with Joelle; they are young enough to have children or to adopt one who might be in a similar situation as Callen was. That would be a normal, growing story line and would parallel Densi getting married, getting pregnant, and growing as humans always do. Otherwise, we have come to “The End”… and I really hope that does not happen.
WOW! I love your comments 🙂 I am a “die hard” Callen fan BUT even for me his “woe is me story” is getting boring. I agree 100% — so what if he finds his father .. then what does he do? He has SO much to live for but he’s not doing that by spending so much time & focus on his past.
You may be right, satisfying everyone would be hard.
I did not like the first season. I started watching again when tall, blonde and gorgeous showed up…shallow I know.
I am a Densi fan.
That being said, for me, the best shows feature the team, Spoils of War, Descent, Lange, H, Familia etc.
This season was so so because the stories were blah, and often poorly directed and edited. I am hoping for a return to quality.
Also,
It would be nice if the show runners would stop putting misleading spoilers out there.
I was the same way about season 1 – watched it because I saw the crossover intro with NCIS and thought it might be interesting… then somewhere between the intro and the real season 1 they redid the cast and sets. Macy gone, Hetty in, Eric in and Kensi moved to a field agent position. I did keep watching because it was after NCIS primarily and nothing else was on that I wanted to watch. I just couldn’t accept Dom…. not even real in TV land – no one would dump a raw trainee into the NCIS LA situations. Then they brought in Deeks (who I understand knew Daniela before he joined the show) and the chemistry in the team clicked. He was the new guy who got teased a lot but he has a absolutely beautiful and smart partner (Liaison, phooey – he acted as an agent from the first). The first seasons were all team centered and the developing unspoken not understood and not accepted by either of them relationship between Deeks and Kensi was always a recurring subplot. Over time that slowly changed – Kensi started to show jealousy without admitting why; Deeks started to be protective of her and feared for her safety when she had to (I hate the word seduce) a suspect. It became more real and obvious in the two Hetty in Romania episodes, although only Deeks appeared to realize what was happening. It exploded in Descent – her jealousy about Monica (she can really carry a grudge, Deeks!) leading up to him losing it and kissing her. From time to time, they had hinted about their thing (The Debt), but had always stepped back. While Descent was great, Deeks revelation that he was in love with her in Ascension set the tone for was supposed to be season 5. The deleted bedroom scene that was shown as such on the Spoils of War DVD confirmed that the “our thing” scene in Frozen Lake set the new relationship. All those involved the team, not just Densi. Then Dani got pregnant (beautiful little boy, isn’t he) and season 5 plans went out the window. They had no time and it was too early in the Densi relationship to include a sudden pregnancy, so they shipped the character off and just wrote in snippets for her until the baby arrived… the Densi hug after the rescue was really the first time in a long season they had been together.
And then came season 6. I haven’t figured out what the plan was, but not much seemed to jell. Almost like there was a production team debate about where to go and each writer did his own thing for the first half of the season with Humbug being the Christmas fluff and somehow Deeks and Kensi took the plunge. Only with the Russia arc (with a patch in the middle of that) was there a coherent story line. Result, ho-hum stories with some good and some adequate dialogue and situations… and one that I think failed miserably on any scale as shown.
So, yes, I agree the ones with the team work best if they include a significant subplot or personal interaction. I hope we see more of them in a thought out presentation next season.
I disagree, the show is not all about Callen. Maybe it was laid out as that in the very beginning, but now it’s definitely about the whole team. And Deeks and Kensi are just a part of that. So, discovering Callen’s past is just as much a part of the show as discovering secrets about the other team members.
And from an objective writer standpoint, I think there should not be “Callen-focused” or “Densi-focused” seasons, but every season should have equal time devoted to each character. If that means that the focus of one whole episode is on one character’s development or past or whatever, that’s fine, but then the next one should be about someone else or everybody.
As a Densi fan, of course I like more Densi, but I’m also happy with little tidbits here and there, as long as there isn’t a Callen focus for like 5 episodes in a row!
Like in the last episodes, it’s been all about Callen and that Deeks LAPD backstory for example got ignored completely!
How do you know his eyes and grin don’t affect males? Some men might find him attractive. Just as some women might not find him attractive.
I agree re misleading spoilers, press releases, promos etc. And it does make me wonder what was edited out and why, and also if Shane Brennan had storylines intended for this season that he couldn’t squeeze in. I thought the mole was going to be revisited, Callen had a new love interest, Deeks IA – set up in S6…and yes some discontinuity between episodes. But others worked very well (e.g. the first four), The Grey Man, Humbug, Spiral, Expiration Date, Rage, Beacon, Chernoff K & Kolchec A – I even enjoy Black Budget now – it grew on me. This season has been SO much better than S5.
S5 – Callen had to wait almost two seasons before trying to find info on his dad. The poor man had to wait until The Grey Man in S6 until he mentioned him again. The only reason for that was his storyline was placed on hold due to DR falling pregnant. And I full agree with Skippy, that S5 was all about Kens and Deeks (albeit they were apart).
I believe all the characters have grown and developed, Callen especially as he has discovered more about his past, he trusts more people, is now in a steady relationship etc. but he doesn’t always understand the emotional side of people / impact of events as he is still closed off in that way. He’s not gonna change totally and people often don’t get answers to life questions they’re searching for. Not everyone has a happy ending.
I work with plenty of people who are couples/married and they keep that life outside of work so I don’t believe we need to see too much of Densi in that sense, only if it is required for the story. They are together and I think the writers have kept that work balance very well with the little snippets of their love life. It’s not a romance show, I don’t need to see them domestically.
I must admit the team episodes are usually the best, but Callen is my favourite character and for me, Rage was the best episode this season. I am looking forward to finding more about Deeks which promises in S7 now. And yes it does seem the fandom has divided in to Callen (and Sam) versus Densi – but it comes down to personal opinion, preferences etc. The Densi relationship is great but I’ve always been drawn to characters such as Callen’s and will always prefer his stories.
I think we have to agree to disagree about Rage. While I saw excellent writing, so is “Fifty Shades of Gray” also well written. While I saw excellent directing and editing, so was “Lady Chatterly’s Lover”; that doesn’t counterbalance what I also saw: misogynistic borderline prurience. The scenes between Callen and Kensi in my view were totally unnecessary to the plot and designed only to allow Callen to score, which I define as prurient; it also shows that Callen will use anyone, even a friend and team mate to get what he wants. The scene between Kensi and the biker woman was pathetic (as in pathos). That line, “Who else would want someone like me” made my stomach turn. The good boy who got in with a bad crowd had to die, right? There are no good boys in biker gangs, biker gangs deal in drugs, women trafficing, gun running, etc. They don’t rob banks and they don’t get nuclear material. And then at the end, “Deeks and Kensi are going to join us there” at supper. Just another day rolling around in the hay with a team mate’s known significant other, exposing her to possible assault, and killing a bunch of people… how about a beer, partner? Even with it being on the season 6 DVD, I will never watch Rage again and I skip over the screen shots/clips when they show up in a blog.
Short, personal incident that may shed some light on why I feel so strongly about this one…. quite a few years ago when we were younger, and had just moved from San Francisco after 7 years to a town in a conservative part of the country we were invited to a birthday party for a common friend who was also my wife’s boss. Normal party until present time. Then I found out his male staff had hired a stripper to “entertain” and give a lap dance. I watched the faces on the guys and the women and got ill… I’d seen a lot in dear old Sodom and Gomorrah by the Bay, but nothing like what I saw on those faces. I had to get up and go outside. He was my wife’s boss so she had to sit there. We never went to another party with those people again, and I always found an excuse not to play poker with the gang again. True story.
Callen did NOT use Kensi in “Rage” and her presence was crucial to the plot as Callen needed a partner. And since he had been in solitary lock up for 6 months and required a female partner, Kensi was the logical choice. I don’t think Deeks shacking up with Callen would have went over very well with the “gang”. And well, the reason Sam didn’t go with Callen was obvious. It was undercover work and when Callen told Kensi they would take turns sleeping I thought that confirmed that it was purely work for them. I think you took the undercover work of Callen & Kensi a bit to serious and have done a lot of “assuming” as to what went on between them undercover & under the covers.
G. Callen’s character doesn’t need any help “scoring” — yes that is an assumption 😉
As I said, agree to disagree. Her presence was not critical in my view; Callen has been in similar situations before without a female partner. He could easily (if written that way) sell his excon story without a biker babe. The kiss was not critical; the pretend covered by a sheet (her) and bare chest (him) was not critical. Why did he have to be in solitary for six months? Because it was written that way. I’m sorry, that whole setup was designed to titillate the viewers (some of them). I understand you feel differently, and that is fine. Each to his or her own.
Kensi was not critical to Callen successfully selling his undercover story however it helped enhance it and lend some credence that he was a con and had been in solitary for six months. And that was the only way they could convince the gang that Callen was still inside but out of site to them (ref S6E02 for details).
It seems that your imagination has gone a step further than the majority of fans regarding the two of them in bed, which as you say, is most likely influenced by your awful experience at that party (which does truly sound horrendous). That does not make the rest of us naive but rather that we believe these characters are sensible and professional.
I for one do not see Callen as using people for his own ends. He did not use Kensi, she was a willing partner in the undercover op. He fell for Kristen in S1 Past Lives and his guilt of walking away from her without a word was evident. He accepted her word that her son was not his, that she was in a loving relationship with a man that believed the boy was his. Admittedly he took her word on that and again walked away. Don’t forget that Callen is emotionally stunted in many ways due to his upbringing, and so does have problems with relationships and being honest with himself and with others. He also has the ability to separate personal from professional (except when its his family). But he is not a bad person which is what someone who uses people, usually are.
I don’t remember anything sexual happening between Kensi and Callen in Rage? I think that does both characters something of a disservice by suggesting they’d carry their undercover op that far. I think if they were being watched and their very lives depended on it they’d possibly go that far but I’d imagine there’d be huge emotional repercussions for both of them, especially Kensi.
Lost a comment response somewhere in cyberspace… hope it doesn’t show up here again.
I apologize to all of you for my poor exposition last night. I did not mean to imply that Callen and Kensi were intimate during the show. What I did mean, and apparently put poorly, was I have issues with the writer/director/producer of this episode – Rage in case I’m not clear.
The Callen/Kensi kiss was solely to establish cover under the plot Frank Military wrote and directed, as was the bedroom scene. But:
The writer and in this case director also started out with a blank canvas. He could tell the story any way he chose… and in my opinion he chose very badly. When he set the plot to include Callen’s girlfriend he started a decision tree. He didn’t have to establish skinhead bona fides with the explicit kiss, but he did. There were other options. He didn’t have to include the bedroom scene, but he did. He didn’t have to have the skinhead break in, but he did. He didn’t have to show Callen topless and Kensi wrapped up in a sheet, giving the impression of sex, but he did. “We’ll take turns sleeping” does not absolve him of responsibility for what showed on the screen. He didn’t have to show the young guy getting gunned down by the FBI, but he did. He didn’t have to depict the woman as so pitiful, but he did. He didn’t have to have Sam and Callen show no remorse, but he did. Only Deeks was shocked, and that by the FBI shooting.
As you may have noticed, I am older than most of the commenters here. While I have been around the world several times in the military as a kid and later in service, the Jesuit saying still applies to me: “Give me a boy for six years and I will have him for life”.
I grew up in a time when women in life and on the screen were treated very differently than they are today. What we watched was monitored as was what we read. No computers to wander around with. “Sex is for marriage or at least a permanent relationship”; “you don’t treat a lady like that”… etc.
I do not like it when the writers use Kensi’s (or any other woman’s) beauty and body as plot vehicles, Leave that for the porn industry, they’re better at it. I didn’t like Monica in her panties, I didn’t like Kensi leaving that guy and buttoning up her blouse as she left his place, I didn’t like the see through blouse in Standoff. I think those examples demonstrate what I don’t care for.
I loved the deleted scene in Spoils of War, because it was a love scene and no nudity. I loved the kiss in Descent because it felt real – the frustrations and jealousies of 3 years boiling up into that one kiss; the looks on both their faces. I loved the bedroom scene in Expiration Date even if the undershirts were ugly because it did show their love and advanced the plot of their argument and set up the conversation with Thapa.
I really don’t need to see the seamy side of the job. I know they have to do things, but I don’t get a thrill from seeing it. I’d rather it happened off screen and just be referenced if needed for a plot.
With that, I hope we can just agree to disagree re this show, and go back to discussing our favorite TV show. I really hope the production team doesn’t foul it up next season. I might have to join others and walk away…
I forgot to mention the Humbug kiss! How could I do that? Awkward, sweet, beautiful smiles… all while she is trying to stand up on ice skates.
Final thought on how this show would have been acceptable to me:
Pre-op meeting in the ops room
Callen: “This one is going to be rough; these skinheads are in some ways worse than the Taliban or the other mid eastern terrorists we have dealt with. Sam and Deeks, Kensi and I are going to be very vulnerable in there with them. We’re depending on you covering us more than usual:
As the team disperses, Callen stops Deeks.
“This is the best and only way we could come up with to get an in. We’re going to have to put on an act like we never have before. I know how important she is to you; I promise you I have her back and that she will not be hurt. Neither of us will like it, but we’ll do what we have to do to keep ourselves safe. And when the op is over she will come back to you safe and sound. You OK with that?”
Deeks: “I don’t like it, but I understand. Just so she is not hurt.”
After the op:
Kensi and Deeks walk up to each other.
Kensi: ” I’m ok, safe and sound. Nothing more than pretending happened and I pretended it was you just like you pretend it is me”. You ok?
Deeks: “With you, definitely. I’m glad you told me. As long as we are open with each other about our ops, we’re good. But Kens – that FBI guy…”.
Good thing you are not a NCIS LA writer.
Why? Really am curious.
First of all I guess your view is a bit outdated, too old fashioned for this show.
Of course they can show a kiss, a hot one for that matter in Rage (best episode this season IMO). They can show skin and they have to do it even more often IMO, they work with pictures and less words and leave the rest to the imagination.
This show is a drama/crime show so there has to be action, drama, crime and violence, humor, some erotic (kind of) scenes due to some undercover work they have to do and some character backstories. That is what draws the audience to it. And the later this show airs the more of it has to be in it.
The point is that this show lacks in demo ratings (mainly the 18-34) and they need to get the younger ones back coz they are the target audience for all TV stations (network or cable). So what you would like to see is some family friendly show like TV-G and that is not the airing at 10pm.
But NCIS LA airs at 10pm so they are free to do and show more. As you put it, yes the need to titillate audience if they want to survive the strong competition at this time slot. This is one way to get the younger audience, which by the way gets the show more money.
Not sure where my reply went, so will try to reconstruct it and hope it does not duplicate the previous.
Really, thank you for the frankness and honesty. Gives me a base to explain.
I am older, admittedly. I remember the TV-G era very well and have only one thing to say about them… UGHHHH! No way do I want to go back there… but you must remember: CBS, NBC, ABC are subject to the FCC “decency” rules. Even after 10 there are limits to what is permissible on commercial TV. The straight cable channels are not so limited… I do not want to turn NCIS LA into a Playboy or Showtime (Game of Thrones) or whichever Black Sails is on show just to get ratings. By the way, I am considered a flaming liberal here.
Here in a mid-east university town the 18-34 year olds are not watching CBS at 10pm on Monday night, I guarantee. In the fall, it is NFL Monday Night Football; winter into spring it is NBA or college basketball. Not commercial TV. None of the places that cater to the 18-34 or any age group are showing NCIS LA or its competitors as I witness on restaurant/bar videos. CBS so much as said they moved NCIS LA because (1) Mark Harmon doesn’t like it and wanted his buddy’s show (NCIS NO) to follow NCIS and (2) they wanted to nail down their Monday Night problem. Solved with Scorpion and NCIS LA. Their financial statements say they are pleased/happy with the current viewership levels. I look at the weekly ratings shown on this forum, and it looks to me like they are consistent, with slight variations from week to week depending on what special is on the other channels. Since most folk do not see the non-existent promos for NCIS LA, I cannot see that a show like Rage boosted viewership much if at all. NCIS LA lost some audience with the move away from NCIS and Tuesday, but the numbers stabilized quickly. Of course CBS would like to make more money from all their shows, but the execs also realize there is just so much of the pie to go around. As long as they get what they see as their share, they are generally content. If they are not happy, they will cancel and try something else.
Would I be accurate to infer that some viewers believe that sex and violence are just a recreational activities, that holding to a commitment is old-fashioned, and that so long as a hot star is involved, anything goes (within limits of course – no Playboy)? I seem to get that impression from the references to a hot kiss. Nah – that was just two skins touching with nothing behind it but pretense and simulated passion.
Final thought from the military (Adam until today). Missions don’t occur ad hoc. All teams plan and rehearse. A team leader takes the time to explain the mission, what the scenarios will be, what the contingencies are, and makes sure everyone understands their role and the others’ roles. He/She also takes the time to address any team member concern. In this case he knows Deeks and Kensi are involved, he knows Deeks is protective of her, and he knows Deeks will not like what the ops plan calls for. That showed in Deeks’ “Be safe” line. It would make sense for him to pull him aside (like Hetty did with Sam in Spoils of War) and reassure him that he (the leader) will have her back. It would also be real for Deeks and Kensi to reassure each other when the mission was complete. I don’t expect all that to take up half the show, but it would show some compassion. I’m sure a real TV writer (I’m not, at least not of action fiction) could express those considerations in a few sentences and the great actors we have convey them. Hetty did.
You want to keep this comment or shall I release your first one?? It was hold for moderation…
“By the way, I am considered a flaming liberal here.”
Geez, where is that? No offense, but as skippy said, these views are more than a little outdated. Even in Central Europe (I think the US designation to this area is already Eastern Europe) which was on the wrong side of the iron curtain, and that means a few years behind the west in sense of people’s views and thinking and most of all, any kind of liberalism.
As a 22:00 show maybe they could show a little more scenes with less clothing (DR is a beautyful woman), not necessarily nudity in any sense – no complains but we saw that from earlier shows. But I don’t watch it for these, and I’m pretty sure, none of the more or less regular commenters do.
I didn’t hear much answers of the “why they moved the show”, so I just accept the two things, you said. With that, NO does nowhere near as good as LA did at tuesday 21:00. It’s ratings are already way below last year’s LA ratings, and all that in the 1st season.
I made a few charts on the ratings, I can post them here, if somebody wants, but LA’s ratings usually are between 1.4 and 1.7, with 1.6 avg. If the ratings for NCIS and NO are examined, they almost always run together with a few tenths (and a few hundred thousand viewer) difference. So NO depends solely on NCIS. Without it’s lead-in, it’s dead. LA survived moving to another day an hour later and placed after a rookie (which turned out to be a hit, but it’s viewers are fairly incompatible with NCIS:LA).
“some viewers believe that sex and violence are just a recreational activities, that holding to a commitment is old-fashioned”
That depends on the definition applied tho these, but we’re far off topic already.
yeah, let’s not get too personal on here… we all have different views on things and that’s what I love about NCISLAFamilia… please you all be open to other views as well… thx !!
Sorry to harp, but folks who liked Rage should take a look at the coverage of the Game of Thrones latest show. While that apparently was much more graphic (I don’t watch it for that reason), the situation of gratuitous (i.e. not necessary to the plot) violence and sexual activity was addressed and condemned very cogently by the reviewers and a U.S. Senator who did see it. And she is a powerful senator.
Thank you Sindee for the review, I can’t believe it was the last one of the season! For me this one it was a good episode but not as good as a final season should be.
I love Arkady, he was great, as always, and Hetty, as a field agent, was priceless 😀 the action scenes were ok, not stunning.
I do see Anna as the new Callen’s love. I think Joelle is too conventional for him, he needs a “bad girl” who kick his ass speaking in Russian, nevertheless I didn’t like the actress, too young and a bit silly.
Personally I started to follow the show because of Callen, and little by little the rest of the team won my heart over. Now I miss the old Callen, the rebel who never follow orders (he leaves a bleeding Arkady! and the other day he ate tofú for a girl, for God’ shake!!!), the thief that stole Hetty’s resignation letter from the director’s front pocket (he leaves the only picture he has ever seen of his father hanging on a wall just in front of him!) and the leader (it was Nell who lead the team!). I think the writters missed the opportunity of a huge cliffhanger if at the end of the episode Callen goes lone wolf in Moskow to look for Arkady and more clues for his past and get in trouble.
COD interpretation was amazing.
This season I liked the evolution in Kensi and Sam, we learned more about the characters and we can see how they unfold, but I was dissapointed about the new tamed Callen, the lack of information about Deeks’ case, and how little this character changes.
For next season I hope for even more action, more answers, more Hetty, and more Callen being Callen.
Amen to all of that. That is exactly what I think and what I want and wanted. “Callen goes lone wolf in Moskow…” I love him as lone wolf, rebel… all of this YES.
I hope we will see some of that in the next season.
Thank you for the prove that I am not alone.
You’re not alone Skippy 😉 It’s great to know that we agree!
Good to know that the whole tofu incident isn’t just bothering me 😉
I agtee with those who feel this season has been a disappointment. I put my hand up to admit I watch for Deeks but I’m aware he’s not the ‘star’ of the show and has no problem with that as long as his character is given reasonable screen time. Like others, I was unimpressed with S1 and only started watching when Deeks arrived. He brought some much needed humour and a younger outlook to the cast that was much needed. Suddenly I was hooked. I enjoy Densi but I’m not wanting romance to wreck the show. I actually enjoy UST more than the coupling but I felt the writers have dealt with their relationship quite well in that they’ve let it develop quite normally. What I haven’t enjoyed this season is that each week has been so predicatable: Sam and Callen get the interesting cases/suspects to interview, while Deeks and Kensi are ‘Team B.’ Team B gets to crack some jokes, shoot a few bad guys but they NEVER get to be the ones involved in the final scene, other than to be their for support of Team A. Sam and Callen always get the main action at the end and they’ll shoot the bad guys and be the heroes. The writers don’t seem to realise that it’s the cast working as a team is the most interesting and dynamic. Callen, as a character, is almost one dimensional. His response to situations is predicatable. That’s okay, but his character needs to be balanced by shining the light on other characters as well. In past seasons, this was done reasonably well but episode after episode I’ve been disappointed with the constant focus on Callen. I barely bothered to watch the finale. I found myself reaching for my iPad while it was on I was so bored. The writers are really going to have to lift their game. Deeks has a huge following and a lot of us watch for episodes that showcase the four main characters working as a team, not just Callen.
I didn’t reach for my ipad, but felt about the same, just hung around for what SB promised would be a big reveal….enjoyed trying to understand conversational Russian again, but how about a big flop that destroyed almost everything else in the story ? That one view of the old man in the cafe was it? After Hetty directly told him his father was dead and told him where the cemetery was? Over the summer, the production team really needs to get their act together. Episodes 1 and 2 are already in the can, and I’m afraid that even DiNozzo can’t save that one (and I have no idea what it is about) because they were still stuck in season 6 when they filmed them.
Deeks and Kensi both have a huge following and we definitely watch for shows that have all four equal partners in a case. We don’t want one that is all Densi nor do we want one that ignores everything that has gone before and just makes Deeks and Kensi another support staff.
I say again, Callen is wearing on me. I hope COD (who is a fantastic actor) can come up with something new to do with him.
That would be wonderful if COD was able to give (more) input into his character! Callen isn’t getting any younger and can totally see COD “refreshing” his role as G. Callen but still keeping many aspects of him the same. By gosh I think we just agreed on something 🙂
I think we did… 🙂
I have decided to stop watching the show. I have been bored by the cases and bored by the characters. I just don’t care anymore. I stopped watch NCIS during season 6, as well. It is just lather rinse repeat and a waste of an hour. Looking for a new show on Monday nights in the fall.
Best of luck with the site, you do a great job.
I am curious to know why fans of the same show are so divided over who like want to see have more time on air. We’ve all become fans due to the characters and yes, it’s natural to have favourites. I’ve loved the show from it’s pilot, Legend and continue to enjoy it to this day. The characters have all grown and the writers have left more for us to learn about them in the future, because the show is continuing on. It’s good to hold things back, to keep the viewers interested. As a Callen fan, I won’t hesitate to say, I love the Callen centric episodes, however, each character on the show adds something special to the show that completes it and it’s important to involve backstories on each of the characters now and then, as the cases are the main drive of the show. We have been waiting for a real long time for Callen to find answers and a family. Which is why the ending of the s6 finale left me a little frustrated. Gina Callen’s Crossing the Bridge FanFiction story has expressed all that I felt was missing in this finale. There is so much more to be deal with and I think it’s time to have Callen meet his father, not be alluded to his father being dead. Like his sister, I wonder if he will truly accept this news however. Like the “What’s in the Box?” it’s been played out for way too long. It’s time to wrap these storylines up and delve into other character backstories. Time for fans to unite on the show and not divide on the characters, they are all important to make the show what it is.
Been a couple of days since you posted this, but I did want to comment… usually do!
There are many of us who don’t want just a Callen&Sam show. We want to see all the team, including Hetty&Granger, and definitely Nesl&Eric participate. For most of season 6, and especially over the last quarter of the season, it was all Callen angst and the story lines fell apart. Densi is just the focal point for our unhappiness – the production team have spent 4+ years developing their relationship, but it seems to have gone by the wayside as season 6 finished up.
OK, episode. I thought they let the tension they created in “Beacon” and “Kolcheck, A.”, fall to incorporate the Anna story. Someone I don’t know nor care to know about. Her being related to Arkady is not enough to make me care.
The character is very phony and her attitude to convince me of her toughness was over the top and forced. I still question her truthfulness of her involvement in the oil tanker.
If the teases are to be believed, Anna was to come in the last episode and return later in the season. (I hope they change their mind.) I do believe she is the ” New love interest” mentioned. She will come up against Joelle and Callen will be torn and have to make a decision between them.
With DiNozzo coning the IA investigation, will have to be brought up. I think they were setting up the investigation in this season to be explored and developed in season 7.
Thanks Sindee for the pic recaps they are always fun to read!
I really enjoyed the episode overall, but was disappointed that they didn’t let Callen meet his dad. Callen is my favorite character, but I do think the identity storyline is drawing out to long. Its time for Callen to meet his dad, find out what his name is, and then learn that his sister is alive. Then Callen can finally start to develop more of a personal life.
I really enjoyed the episode. Thank you Sindee for all you do for this magazine. I hope Anna is not the new “love interest” for Callen. I didn’t care for her character or the actress’s acting. If I have to choose between her and Joelle, I’m going with Joelle which surprises me. Anyway it was a great season and I can’t believe its over already! Thanks again!
To get back to this thread – Chernoff, K – Picture Review (not a review from me but more random thoughts)
Firstly, thank you Sindee for another awesome job and the captions. I enjoyed this episode – I wouldn’t say it is one of the classics but it did make a change not to have a dramatic cliffhanger – will they get out alive/be rescued etc. I also wonder if the producers had a serious concern as to whether they would be renewed as the episode provided for Callen about his past. Clearly now there are still options to explore that further when the writers / Callen remembers the card left on his sister’s grave “To my dear daughter…” Many people never find out their family roots if they were abandoned, so like it or not, I’m sure this will return at some point.
To move straight into the action was unusual for NCISLA and I was a little surprised that they build the bad guy up to be intensely psychotic, only to have him killed so easily by Anna.
It was interesting to see Arkady in his home country, and the clear ‘exceptions’ to him not being popular. There was little comic relief and most of that came of course, from Arkady – especially his singing, which was random, but hey…
Hetty was back in the field with her stories and (possible) people manipulation skills. She persuaded Anna to help, commenting that she is nothing like her father, and revealed she’d been married undercover in Moscow.
Kensi refusing to thank Deeks for doing his job in having her back, I took as just part of their relationship. But I was glad to see Kensi not losing her touch when she took out the two buyers in the hotel room. Seems like she’s learnt some Russian pretty quickly too!
There was a lot to cram into 45 mins and maybe this would have been better as a proper two parter to fully explore the bad guys, Anna, Arkady & the Russians, Hetty’s past life in Russia and so on. Anna was interesting and it was certainly great to have three strong female characters in one episode, who can give the guys a run for their money any day. Girl Power!
Clearly the focus was on Callen’s father, with him asking Eric to use his access to the Kremlin to find out more information. Hetty shut Eric down and continued this on her own, only to reveal that his father had died. It was heart-breaking as Callen realised he had been in Moscow during the years his father was alive, and sad to see his acceptance – and then the final shot of a man of habit, drinking his expresso in his favourite coffee shop.
This now leaves at least the early part of S7 to focus on the seeds of the IA that were planted a few episodes ago. Deeks’ time has surely come – what has he done to warrant an IA, why is DiNozzo visiting the LA office? Will they let Deeks and DiNozzo be in the same room together (chaos may well reign). Will the mole storyline ever be revisited.
My personal resolution for S7 is to avoid reading articles when Shane Brennan is interviewed, press releases and promos. Or if my will power is too weak, remember they are truth re-imagined to pull in viewers and frustrate us avid fans!
Ana wasn’t anything like I expected and I don’t see her and Callen together in a relationship. Maybe a few nights together but nothing more.
I think this show deserved a 7th season based solely on the ratings. The show is still making money for the network and it looks like syndication is turning a heft profit as well. This season had the most incomplete story lines of any crime procedural show I have ever watched. I think even binge watching the entire season wouldn’t be helpful in clearly up my very confused brain. I think what is most concerning to me is the quality of the acting in the last 6 or so episodes. There seems, as least to me, to be a very bored and lethargic attitude from all the characters but specifically in Eric Christian Olsen, he looks disinterested, bored and almost looks like he hates his co-workers and he certainly doesn’t look in love/lust for his partner. Perhaps he has an itch to do other things and is tired of not getting that “star” story line or maybe this is all part of a bigger master plan by their fearless leader Shane Brennan — who knows—-You Densi lovers must be twirling like tops— talk about having a storyline disintegrate — Holy Crap—I guess what they say is true the chase is way better than the catch at least in these writers eyes!!! Have a great summer see you in the fall ====
I get the sense that ECO’s seeming detachment is the result of the lousy writing, not boredom. ECO seems to do best when he is given broad direction re scene intent and needed dialogue points, then is allowed to ad lib within those parameters. When Densi gets a chance to show, it is still zippy.. but unfortunately that has been far and few between since Expiration Date, especially. The talking detective scene and the ladybird line in Fighting Shadows clearly showed their involvement; the short sugar daddy exchange in Kolchek, A also pointed out their togetherness… otherwise they are depicted as interchangeable team B players and mobile gun platforms. I think the love does show, but not in words… the lust – Hey, they are living together most of the time; lust is now great but not novel. Plus, they agreed to “can it” on the job. If the writers give them a chance in season 7, their relationship and acting will increase by a factor of “X”.
I’m here, I’m here…I’m finally here 🙂
I’ll try to keep it short.
All in all the Season finale left in quiet a nostalgic place. It was a very good episode,indeed. The action, the undercover, the story line, the introduction of a new character (C’mon! We all know Hetty will get Ana a job in the US )
– Arkady, as always, has done his part. In fact, I busted out laughing trough the day bc I couldn’t get his singing out of my head!
– Ana ….well, she is a piece of work. I like her sass 😉 She comes off as a very tough person which might make her seen unfriendly or unlikable but I’m pretty sure that it’s just her guard. I want to see her again!
I wished there had been a conversation between Callen and her but maybe it is yet to come.
– There was something that surprised me and kinda made me angry at the same time. Kensi’s /Daniela’s Russian was damn good! Bravo! We’ve never seen her use those lingual skills. It a great opportunity to create more undercover aliases for her…and yes, I’d love to see her go undercover with Callen again,not bc I’m playing match-maker, I just like it better if two agents pretend to be a couple instead of a couple, since it’s Densi official, pretending to be a couple. Sorrynot.sorry
– the last scenes were heart-breaking….. maybe that’s were the nostalgia comes from. Callen believes that his father is dead and it seems like he missed him only by a few moments…
My biggest fear is that he MIGHT give up the search for his identity after this.
Which if give it another thought, will happen. I’m pretty sure ( I want to be wrong! ) they’re going to rest the Callen story line and work on other topics such as Deeks’ investigation.
We’ll see. I’ll definitely re-watch the episode and comment again. We have a long summer ahead of us.
Thank so much,Sindee! Not just for the review,which was awesome as always, but for everything. Thank you for giving ncislafamila a home.
There are very few occasions where they need a couple on an undercover assignment. I actually hope they bring in another female agent so Kensi isn’t the only one. But I also think that an established couple, like Densi, could pull off an extended undercover assignment much better than an ad hoc one. Ad hoc could work for one day, but not for extended. An existing couple know each other, have developed ways of communicating without talking, and have none of the awkwardness shown in the first Deeks and Kensi couple assignment… cute, but awkward.
The only way they can destroy Densi is if they simply write it that way or if there is a contract dispute ala Cote de Pablo. And at that point the show is over; NCIS LA does not have the resilience that NCIS had. While Gibbs is the leader, the show is not all about him now, they have fully explained his background. He is definitely the leader, but getting kind of old to be a field agent ( I wonder if NCIS has a mandatory retirement age like DOJ does for field LEOs?). I would like to see Callen develop into that kind of leader if he can control his personal demons.
First, thanks to Sindee for all her hard work! Now to business. I did not like this episode much. I’ve never been intrigued with Callen’s backstory. They’ve stretched it out too far with no resolution. I’ve always felt Callen was pretty one dimensional (how he’s written, not a ding on COD). His emotional IQ is low-how long has he been partners with Sam and he doesn’t realize they have nothing (well, except Monet) in common? Anyone else wondering if Hetty “married” Callen’s dad on that undercover assignment? Callen has a family with his team. We saw a glimmer of that at the end of Humbug but then it is kind of an after thought.
The whole big bad Karposev villain potential was literally killed off quickly and easily. I was expecting him to be a long running bad guy like Sidorov. Ana is ok. Pretty coincidental that she has dual citizenship and was a cop. She may have future potential, but it is too soon to tell. Arkady steals the show every time he’s on.
Sam was good, showing genuine care and concern for his partner. His interactions with Arkady were funny too. Hetty was great, and I like the wonder twins and Granger, despite the improbability of them running the op from LA.
There was next to no Kensi and Deeks. Chasing the shooter down was a waste of what could have been used to move the plot forward. I liked them taking the Cameroon crew, and the team fight scenes were great. I’m an admitted Densi fan, and I think this post has more words in it than their collective dialog this episode.
The preview/spoiler write ups said they would take on multiple undercover roles. I miss the team using their wits and humor to get what they want. Specific examples include Callen’s Mr. Carl, Sam’s Kumani, Densi’s Max and Fern or Justin and Melissa, etc. The writers seem to have exchanged humor for gun fights and straight solving the case of the week, with no thought to continuity.
I’m glad they have Season 7 to share more stories with us. I just hope they take these comments (and others I’ve seen on other sites) into consideration. Just my two cents.
Good writeup – and not just because I agree with you on most.
I hope Max Gentry never comes back! He is Callen without a badge. Smart, cunning, attractive, totally amoral; one real friend, Ray. He is what Callen would have been had not Hetty interceded.
I hope they let ECO and DR ad lib more next season… although I have read that Frank Military is a control freak re his scripts.
I like that comparison between Max Gentry & what Callen would have become…and Frank Military only writes about three episodes per season so stifled ad libs should be limited.
I’m not a big Max Gentry fan either. It’s more to the point about them getting to have fun getting answers. I think each set of partners have their own innate language, understanding, unwritten synchronicity (sounds kind of cheesy as I write it) that comes through when they seamlessly go into these undercover characters. One that immediately comes to mind is when Deeks pretended to be a Brit and Kensi came up late, walking into the cover story that she was Ines, one of Brazil’s most famous topless models. I can’t remember the episode title, but it was hilarious. I like it when there is balance in an episode and we get all the partnerships doing something. Those little chats as they go into those situations are great places to learn more about the characters.
Someone help me out here. didn’t the mole issue get resolved? They locked down the Mission building and put the suspected moles in the Armory, Eric included, after the woman was found hanging in the Blast Furnace room? It was a man, I remember, and I swear he was the mole. Tell me what I missed, cause I think I’ve seen that episode twice and both times I thought we were done with that storyline
The “mole” said you have no idea who he worked for, and why. Giving the impression there is much more to that story. Plus there was the woman who woke up with Granger, a blond who’s face was hidden. Again felt as there was much more to that story.
Roll on Sunday so we can see it in the UK. Can’t wait!!!!
Fantastic job, sindee – as always 🙂
I see that opinions are divided about this episode but I must say, I really liked the season finale. It might not have been a big cliffhanger ending but it left me pondering about how things are going to evolve now. Last year, with Callen and Sam stuck in the sub, it was clear that they would be rescued, the only question was how. This year left me wondering what turn Callen’s search for identity is going to take now. Will he give up or will he continue his search ? Even if he believes his father to be dead, he still doesn’t know his first name. Will he find out his father is still alive, maybe through Arkady? Did Hetty lie to him on purpose? I am not sure about this – information seemed to confirm that Chernoff, K is dead and since there is a grave, Callen’s father seems to have taken on yet another identity – but would Hetty know that? I sincerely hope not because lying to Callen about something that serious must cause servere damage their relationship in case he finds out. I still enjoyed the Hetty moments in this episode. I feel we have seen too little of her throughout the season.
I reckon that Callen’s search will be „put on hold“ for the moment and that most part of S7 will focus on other storylines before we get some new input on Callen’s history / identity. I mean, last time we had to wait for about one and a half season before this storyline got picked up again after Reznikov, N. Waiting is ok with me as long as we get answers in the end because Callen’s story still is my main interest in the show. I like all the characters and the team dynamics but Callen’s character was what drew me to the show in the first place and that hasn’t changed.
Nevertheless I would like to see the mole story as well as Deeks’ IA investigation being picked up again (early) in Season 7 because these stories carry a lot of potential and haven’t been addressed properly yet, especially the investigation. We are still waiting on input of Deeks’ backstory so maybe we’ll get some information on that in the course of that storyline. Also, I hope we get to see Janvier again at some point.
I think we saw some great teamwork in the season finale, from the team in Russia as well as the team in ops, especially in auction scene at the hotel. That was pretty cool!
And Arkady… having him sing was one of the funniest scenes ever!
I didn’t care much about Anna, to be honest. I found her character and actions exaggerated and phony. Where Kensi’s fighting scenes came across as badass and tough, Anna’s just seemed articifial. Plus, she reminded me strongly of Paris (Red Team) in her behaviour as well as her looks and I wasn’t a fan of Paris at all. However, I have a strong feeling that we will see her again in S7…
Overall I enjoyed S6 much more than S5, it had more of an „early“ NCISLA feeling to it. Nevertheless there was quite a number of „filler“ episodes and like many others I am not happy that there are so many loose ends and unanswered questions.
Despite all that NCIS LA is still my favorite TV show by far and therefore it’s going to be a looooong summer 🙂
Thank you to you Sindee for doing such a good job. I am a dedicated Callen fan so I loved the final episode. We had everything here: action, feelings and emotions, humour with the whole team in play. Eric and especially Nell were wonderful in their backup role in Los Angeles. They were right there with the information that the others needed. Even Granger seemed to be helping out the team this time. It was great to see Hetty out in the field and really involved. Anna is a wonderful character. Smart and sassy. A good match for Callen. For a time at least. Kensi and Deeks were terrific as partners and Kensi can sure handle herself well in a fight. The humour of Sam’s one liners and Arkady as a whole was a joy to watch. So glad that Arkady is still alive! As a Callen fan, I was very sad about his dad. I , like many others, cried right along with him. COD does these scenes so well. He is a very accomplished actor. However, there is hope for the future as we find out at the very end. I enjoyed season 6 and am looking forward to seeing all these characters back in season 7.
Something just popped up that blew my mind… where did the episode 4-7 Skin Deep surfing pictures now (5/21/15 @ 7:45pm EDT) posted on leafoflegends and wingsofnight Tumblr pages come from? The scene shown was NOT in the released episode, and the Densi kiss predates Descent by quite a bit!
I think they’re behind the scenes photos. I have no idea, where they were posted (maybe someone’s instagram, who we’re not following). The kiss scene in the last picture is photoshopped IMO, thewingsofnight likes to do such pictures, I think I already saw a few of them.
wingsofnight is one of the best fanart creators out there… the pic is an edit – two different people kissing… 😉
Thanks for the recap, sindee 🙂
Can I just say: I don’t think I have ever seen this many and this many looong comments on one episode!
But I really did not like this episode. I feel like I didn’t get a lot of stuff and I’m also not a fan of the whole Callen’s background story (I know, I know, feel free to complain). I don’t know, it just wasn’t for me.
I thought, Karposev suddenly being killed was totally unreasonable, I don’t know what happened to the oiltanker or what auction they were all talking about and why they had to put a virus on whose laptops and why the buyers were suddenly in the garage without being seen by Nell or Eric and why there were Irish men also trying to kill Karposev. Just didn’t get it.
Also, I really liked the cliffhangers of the previous season finales, and although this episode left some questions open, it just wasn’t the same for me.
Sorry for so much complaining…
However, what I DID like was the camera shot of Hetty sitting behind that laptop, Arkady singing, the Nell/Eric/Granger scene in OPS and their active participation in the case, the team fighting in the hotel rooms (although, did anyone else think it was pretty brutal?), and the Hetty/Callen scene in the church at the end (yeah right, Hetty, didn’t mean anything 😉 ). And the russian speaking (I like the language and am trying to learn it)!
All in all, season 6 wasn’t the best by far in my opinion (except for some awesome episodes), but I will be patiently waiting for season 7! See ya!
Like you I liked the action , the Russian language, and Arkady. Don’t where Kensi picked up hat Morgenstern (Morning Star) on was it a rope? Usually they came on a chain and have a whole bunch of nasty points. Hotel scenes got pretty graphic with all the team members having a go, but I don’t recall anyone getting explicitly killed. Hand to hand may have killed somebody, but since the team couldn’t use firearms in the hotel it wasn’t so obvious. Want to bet that the Russians don’t have the rooms bugged for sound and video in a foreigner’s hotel? Thy sure did in the bad old days. That the security types didn’t see some of that was TV skipping over the details, but that didn’t play into the plot, so ok with it.
Totally agree with the over-emphasis on Callen and Sam this season… writers and producers really, really need to work with the other cast members next season, especially Deeks and Kensi – I want to see where Deeks comes from and how his backstory led to Densi – and how Kensi helps him through what is coming. I’m sure she had to do some bad things while living on the street and she is not going to desert him if a few of his personal skeletons surface in the investigation. Now let’s hope the production team sees it the same way!
Sindee: Leave the one that is posted… I had no intention of getting personal, nor did I view the age thing as personal – it’s true. I’m really trying to understand, and failing, why opposition to unnecessary nudity (ECO made that comment on at least one occasion) and unnecessary semi-graphic sex in a family show (and it still advertises itself that way) is considered old-fashioned. I’m just as fond of DR’s and other actresses’ beauty as any other hetero male of any age over puberty, and in the right situations the use of semi-nudity is fully appropriate and enjoyable. Witness Skin Deep and Standoff. But DR in the laser room, in the Debt, and even in the towel while undercover (Home Watch??) or the kiss in the swinger’s dining room was just great.
Final: I was in Central Europe during the 60’s… as an American I was shocked at first at the topless sunbathing in Berlin parks, the blatant sex in the nightclubs and movies. I understand that Europe has a much different standard for acceptable behavior than does the U.S. although that is changing over time. I also recall in Japan that kissing was verboten on TV but soft core sex was not… I lived in San Francisco during the early to mid 70’s during the days of the nude beaches and had my horse startled by “sun” bathers nude in the fog along the Great Highway. Things change, I understand and approve/support, but I hope that we do lose the respect for commitment and each other as valued people in the rush to make profits.
Way too much ranting on my part on this subject… time to hope there are other areas in our favorite TV show that we can agree on….. and wait for late September. There will be other shows to argue about, I’m sure, but perhaps not so passionately.
Before I go, Sindee you do a fantastic job of moderating this forum with all the disparate folks and viewpoints that are expressed. Your efforts are deeply appreciated.
Norm