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POLL: How did you like NCIS Los Angeles ‘Active Measures ??
Due to my vacation there won’t be a review for the NCIS Los Angeles Season Seven Premiere so let’s hear your thoughts about the ep in the comments on here…
Exelente primer capitulo tenia todo romance , accion y comedia
VirtualFriend
This was an exiting morning to watch al these shows starting the new season.
NCIS:LA however was, for me, a disappointment although I already new it was an Callen centric ep. I dont find the character Callen very interesting and even worse, I think COD is not a very good actor (no offence intended for his fans). Every time the script is asking for some type of drama, EOD fails to deliver with his puppy face. It’s just not believable (IMO). In his defence, he doesn’t get much support from LL showing his limits being an actor. They should stick to the funny bromance, stay away from drama.
One more thing, the sexual oriented chit chat between Deeks and Kensi should not stand on it’s own but be backed up by some (not to explicit please) scene’s. Hoping DR overcomes her reservations towards her brother in law…
Richtsje
I loved it – but probably because Callen is my favorite character. The storyline was okay, and I can imagine how Callen wants to find out about Arkady.
amyabn
I enjoyed it overall, but need to rematch it. Loved the Party Marty and IA discussion scenes. Eric and Sam were funny up front, and I enjoyed Nell and Eric. Hetty and Granger were great. I loved all the banter, the throw backs (that’s my girl, etc). I think this was one of LL Cool J’s best performances as Sam. I’m just kinda lost on the plot and need to rematch. So Callen is hunting for info on Arkady so he gets Sabatino to give him info on Kirkin; he steals a painting for information, only to essentially get Kirkin and the Gargoyle guy arrested. Hetty and Granger essentially give him the info he was looking for? Again, I hope to make more sense of this after a re-watch, but am I missing something? I never bought that Callen was rogue and knew from the preview that Sam saved him.
auntlisa21342
I’m with you. I don’t understand the storyline. What was the big secret? Why couldn’t Callen tell Hetty/the team what he was doing? i was hoping someone here could tell me what he was trying to accomplish. Was it getting Kirkin arrested? Exposing the other Russian, who had the stolen painting? Was it getting the painting? I’ll check back here later to see if anyone will explain it to me.
On the other hand, I’m so glad the show is back. I love when the recurring characters pop up. Sabatino this week, the DEA girl next week. I can’t wait to see my favorite Arkady Kolchek again!
Spokoze
Great to finally have Season 7 underway!
While I know it’s almost blasphemous so say—wish the whole Callan orphan story arch could be put on the shelf and brought out only like once a season….
Loved that Kensi and Deeks used the world love….and it actually didn’t end up on the cutting room floor this time. (Perhaps the YouTube deleted scene from the season 6 final we have all seen can come back as a flashback or something?) Made me optimistic that the very best part of the show, Densi, will have a much better S7 after a somewhat disappointing S6.
Linda
I really enjoyed the episode. Its clear that Callen is haunted by the fact they left Arkady in Russia. His plan was to get information from Kirkin to get Arkady back, hence the envelope from Hetty at the end of the episode. Callen didn’t want to cause an international incident by having a federal agency involved in trying to secure Arkadys release.
I Feel Possessed
Wow – someone else that understood the episode 🙂
DixieBelle
I liked the episode, but Callen is my favorite character. I was a little confused with the storyline, I’m not really sure why Callen told Hetty he was protecting her and the agency.
It was nice to see the team back and working together. I think my favorite scene was Hetty and Sam at the end.
Overall, I thought it was a good start to the season.
Norm
Overall, good show to start season 7. The beach scene was great, even if I did have to replay it to hear her say the three magic words…not at all sure why the show runners dropped her words out there so matter of factually after avoiding them for 2+ years. He said them to reassure her after the catcalls from the beach bunnies; perhaps she uttered them to reassure him that she understood. Something we don’t know about has happened since the non-scene in the Russian woods.
The IA discussion was excellent as a reminder of its existence and to give some small background to Deeks… did he kill the original partner – nah, that isn’t in his character. But the LAPD had suspicions at the time and may still have. I also liked the way Callen just matter of factually told Kirkin that Deeks was taken; a sign that the Densi relationship is accepted. That was made more openly when Deeks loudly says “That’s my girl” in the bullpen.
We knew going in that this show was about Callen continuing to try to find info on his father. And we know that Arkady is probably the only one who has the crucial data. Callen reverting to “lone wolf” and Hetty’s dismay at it happening look to be the cornerstone for this season…but not a surprise to those of us who have had doubts about the Callen character for some time – here Callen borders on creating an international incident for his personal gain. A couple of days ago, SBrennan was reported as saying fans should watch the last few seconds of the episode… I thought it was telling that when Hetty gave him the envelope with Kirkin’s contacts she also told him that if he used the names without her permission he would be terminated with extreme prejudice – and she wasn’t laughing. That phrase is CIA – speak for assassination. There is a lot of fence mending to be done before it’s all said and done.
I also saw the loopholes in the story line… why would Callen go to Sabatino for help? And why would Sabatino help him? Why would Callen so easily agree to steal the painting? Exactly what did the team arrest Kirkin for? Maybe those will be cleared up in the following episodes.
Next week should be a fun one with Deeks trying to decide what to tell Kensi (and us!) about his mother at the same time Talia is back to her teasing ways. I also wonder how Deeks is going to introduce Kensi… partner, friend, lover, what?
I Feel Possessed
Yes – someone else that spotted Hetty’s words to Callen, that he would be terminated with extreme prejudice – assassinated….So I was disappointed Callen wasn’t suspended or given some other form of punishment, but the threat from Hetty is as serious as it can get!
Linda
Callen thought he had to protect Hetty and the agency because he is essentially trying to pull Arkady out of Russia, if a US government agency were involved with something like that it would be a big problem. I did not find the storyline confusing at all.
Deeks Fan
I enjoyed the episode.
Everyone was well represented.
I hope the season is not going to be as Callen and Sam centric as last season.
Glad they are back!
Claire
This was in my opinion one of the best episodes ever! I loved it. Hetty had an important role in the episode, which is always good. Her conversation with Sam was great and then her discussion with Callen… I hope that Arkady is alright, he’s such an interesting character.
sosou
I’m so tired of the Callen going lonewolf and rogue routine. And like always, no repercussions, at all. The guy was stealing a painting for a russian criminal ! That kind of episode makes me dislike Callen even more, I really seems to care about no one but himself. At the end of the episode he is acting like if was just a little joke, he doesn’t care at all about the very bad position he put the team in.
But densi was cute and serious, really nice. I liked that
skippy
At first I was not sure about this episode. It was strange to see a premiere without the proper finale (no cliffhanger).
But then I realized it is an opener for all the follow up stories that might or should come this season and not only because of that I liked very very much.
It was good to see some tension within the main characters in this team though it is only for one episode which is kind of sad. It sets up something different something new which I loved.
Still the question why was Callen the only one who wants to help Arkady. Sure he is important to Callen but Arkady was the one who helped the team finding the bad guys in Russia and he helped to bring them down. Because of that I think all of them should help and find Arkady and rescue him.
But Callen did it alone so the team would be save and if anything would have happened he was the only one responsible for it. That is what he meant at the end I guess.
Some more thoughts:
Callen as lone wolf is and will always be my favorite.
Sam and Hetty had a dispute but at the end they praised each other. I think that will come up later this season when we will get the Sam episodes, in what way I don’t know.
Why did Callen ask Sabatino for help? The last encounter wasn’t really a good one (Sabatino wants to shoot Callen because he let the girl go to give the Taliban a message).
Does Hetty really believe that Callen will use the information from Kirkin and tell her about it? I would love to see what will happen. Will she terminate him like she said incl. the consequences?
One of the saddest thinks to see was the bed in Callens house. So they domesticated him and made him kind of normal. I hoped that this would never happen and in one of the last episodes last season Sam said that Callen sleeps on the floor (on his bedroll).
The ratings were pretty bad. I hope they will get better but I don’t think so.
And sindee I am missing the picture review. I loved it but I understand that this is a lot of work. But still I love the magazine. Thank you for all your work and passion you put into it.
Mogorva
It was a lot better than I expected, I’ll give it a 6. As a normal episode it’d be around 8, but as a season opener it just wasn’t enough.
Callen’s daddy issues, he acts on his own, we all saw that a thousand times, plain boring.
Story was OK, with the usual holes, but that’s a show, not a reality.
I liked, how Sam and Hetty clashed and Granger played the moderator.
The geek pair was funny, they had little to do with the story, but I enjoyed them.
Kensi and Deeks was again funny as hell, the I love you bomb was also dropped, they had serious conversation too, they were the best part of this episode.
Ratings are low, but a little better than Castle and not so much lower than the last few eps of last season. Let’s see, what comes up later.
diane
I liked it. even the Callen storyline, which usually bores me. I watched the entire thing and I did not fast-forward anything (I watch on a dvr delay).
As for the ratings, I expected this. The new show Blindspot had dynamic promotion and LA is an aging show. Still I think it should be moved back to Tuesday and CBS should have a whole NCIS franchise night. I really think it was crappy for CBS to do that to NCISLA, after all the good ratings it gave them and positive support/promotion the cast and crew has always done.
I Feel Possessed
I did enjoy this episode but it did a bit disjointed.
* The conversation about Deeks IA investigation felt a bit “out of the blue”, probably as it hadn’t been mentioned for a few episodes.
* The LAPD were suddenly in a car chase with a highly trained Federal Agent – Callen would not allow himself to be caught like that – seems like a missed scene somewhere.
* Callen suddenly has a bed (bedroll in corner of shot) when towards the end of last season Sam says Callen still sleeps on mattress on the floor.
* Callen does not even get suspended for his actions (although Hetty does threaten him with death)!
I loved how Callen went all out lone wolf in an attempt to find and extract Arkady Kolchek from somewhere in Russia. He deliberately distanced himself from Sam & Hetty, was downright insubordinate to Hetty, turning his back and walking away from her twice. His reasoning being after, to Hetty, that he wanted to protect Hetty and the agency (as Granger said, Callen extracting Arkady could cause an international incident and ruin everyone’s career). That may be his external reasoning, but we all know that was to find Arkady, a friend and connection to his past, to his father.
We saw Callen desperate, especially when Sam had him in a choke hold. He wasn’t quite ready to sell his soul to Kirkin, but he was prepared to break the law and steal a painting in exchange for info on Arkady. And with the orders to apprehend Callen, I was disappointed that when they arrested Kirkin, Callen wasn’t also arrested or at least some comment made. It partially made me question as to whether it was a ruse to arrest Kirkin, but I think not….
The closing scenes with Sam and Hetty were very touching, and shows just how honourable Sam is. He accepted he disobeyed Hetty and offered to accept any punishment she though the deserved. Callen, in stark contrast, tried to use his relationship with Hetty. The both offered fake apologies and called each other out on them. Callen knew he’d gone too far when he thought Hetty was serving him his termination papers. Instead it was the type of info from Kirkin that he was after. The fact that Hetty threatened to assassinate him, if he used the info without her prior consent, she would terminate him with “extreme prejudice” is very serious indeed. Callen sort of seems to accept that threat, but still tries to play on their relationship by suggesting they talk about things over a drink, which Hetty refuses.
The dynamics of their relationship have changed, and it will be very exciting to see this develop throughout the season. The repercussions may be far reaching, especially as we know Arkady’s daughter Anna is returning at some point, and this premiere plays out around mid season (as per Shane Brennan).
Other characters – Nell, surprisingly not too annoying, Eric, quite amusing with Sam especially, but I don’t like it when they make him too goofy. Kensi and Deeks, fine for the most part, some amusing and endearing scenes, and nothing too OTT on the romance side. All in keeping.
Granger – had an awesome part in this episode and some great lines, especially about telling Hetty to go drink some tea or something.
skippy
You should write official reviews. This is so good.
I didn’t know the meaning of “terminate him with “extreme prejudice””. Thank you the the explanation.
But do you really think Hetty would go that far?
I agree with you that Callen didn’t face any instant consequences was hard to believe. At least Granger would have to suspend Callen for his actions.
I Feel Possessed
Maybe I should – NCISLA fanfic and reviews! Just goes to show a degree in film & English studies can eventually be put to use after many years!
skippy
You should!
Crystal
Hetty didn’t threaten Callen with death. “You will be terminated with extreme prejudice” meant let go from NCIS with a HUGE mark against his name. At least that is how I understood it and she wasn’t threatening him, she was stating a fact –one more of these “incidents” and you’re gone. She was serious but I don’t think Callen knew how much … well not until he went home and had a drink .. alone.
Linda
I agree with Diane. CBS has treated this show badly. With all the dynamic promotion NBC gave Blindspot, CBS should have done the same here. CBS promotes its other shows much more. I love NCIS:LA but am preparing myself for the end. It feels like CBS has given up on this show. I wish they would move it back to Tuesdays. I sent an email, but know it won’t do any good. If more fans contacted CBS to save the show maybe they would listen, but people don’t like to do that for some reason.
skippy
I agree with you. But not only CBS seems to have lost the interest in the show but all the others (cast, crew, PR…) too. Like Pauley P was in the latelateshow one or two days earlier than COD and it was promoted by the PR department. COD not at all. And also the that they squeeze one episode in 7 days instead of 8 this season. LL invested big time last season in his music show (I don’t know about this year). It is sad but I am with you and prepare myself for the worst.
Mogorva
Unfortunately I have to agree with you in the “prepare for impact” part. I’m not happy about it, but can’t do anything against it. I’ll just try to enjoy what’s left of the show. And hope, it’ll be more than 1 season. The shorter filming time brings production cost savings, so that just might be the way into one or two more seasons. I don’t live in the us, so I don’t know anything about the promos, but the moving of the show into the black hole of monday 10 pm was an execution. And I’d very much like to break a few noses over that, but that does’nt change the facts.
diane
I’ll write them too.
VirtualFriend
Why is NCIS:LA after 6 years still running this old story with Callens past?
All the other shows (Blindspot, Minority Report, Limitless and even Castle) started the season with strong episodes full of excitement. NCIS:LA has it’s new timeslot for a second season, so dear writers; rewrite the ep’s in something more suitable for adults.
Deeks Fan
I have been worried about the show since CBS screwed them and us over by moving it to Monday night. Ratings should improve once new show sampeling is done and…..Monday night football is over. Maybe not enough though!
The fact that the show CBS is airing in NCISLA’s old time slot is absolutely awful makes it worse.
Keeping my fingers crossed!
densidream
Sorry, I’m not gonna stop watching the show, but this episode – as many before – just didn’t do it for me anymore. Poor storyline, no arc, it didn’t lead anywhere for me to see at least. I can only hope that there will be better episodes.
debbie
Interesting thoughts all over in the reviews.
But I have to agree: the Callen personal history storyline should be put on the shelf only to be retrieved once a season if at all. Certainly not in a premiere episode!!!!
Bad planning!
I am done with that storyline, it just bores me and I am much more interested to hear about that background of the other characters, heck even a bit on Granger would be more exciting.
Or give me team episode.
But networks or even producing teams develop certain reflexes when it comes to rousing an audiences interest – mostly bowing to what they believe appeals to the so called demographics (story-wise or character-wise) .
Years ago Star Trek-TNG turned into the Data & Picard show (and I admire Patrciks Stewarts work a lot) as those characters were the most preferred only to rush and put the other characters into the spotlight during the last season – which ended up in a very disjointed storytelling (show-wise) even if it produce single eps that were interesting.
Or look at Castle: they introduced what they dubbed the Beckett mythology early in the show, and that arc, though very interesting in the beginning, just took so much center stage that the show might have been called Beckett, if we didn’t know otherwise.
The writers just lost touch and the arc grew out of proportion, only for the show runners to realize belatedly last season, that they totally forgot to give pertinent and comprehensive information on the title character Castle, especially his motivation to become a mystery writer.
Back to starting point.
Hope the production team on NCIS-LA gets their bearing again and look forward to an entertaining new season.
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Exelente primer capitulo tenia todo romance , accion y comedia
This was an exiting morning to watch al these shows starting the new season.
NCIS:LA however was, for me, a disappointment although I already new it was an Callen centric ep. I dont find the character Callen very interesting and even worse, I think COD is not a very good actor (no offence intended for his fans). Every time the script is asking for some type of drama, EOD fails to deliver with his puppy face. It’s just not believable (IMO). In his defence, he doesn’t get much support from LL showing his limits being an actor. They should stick to the funny bromance, stay away from drama.
One more thing, the sexual oriented chit chat between Deeks and Kensi should not stand on it’s own but be backed up by some (not to explicit please) scene’s. Hoping DR overcomes her reservations towards her brother in law…
I loved it – but probably because Callen is my favorite character. The storyline was okay, and I can imagine how Callen wants to find out about Arkady.
I enjoyed it overall, but need to rematch it. Loved the Party Marty and IA discussion scenes. Eric and Sam were funny up front, and I enjoyed Nell and Eric. Hetty and Granger were great. I loved all the banter, the throw backs (that’s my girl, etc). I think this was one of LL Cool J’s best performances as Sam. I’m just kinda lost on the plot and need to rematch. So Callen is hunting for info on Arkady so he gets Sabatino to give him info on Kirkin; he steals a painting for information, only to essentially get Kirkin and the Gargoyle guy arrested. Hetty and Granger essentially give him the info he was looking for? Again, I hope to make more sense of this after a re-watch, but am I missing something? I never bought that Callen was rogue and knew from the preview that Sam saved him.
I’m with you. I don’t understand the storyline. What was the big secret? Why couldn’t Callen tell Hetty/the team what he was doing? i was hoping someone here could tell me what he was trying to accomplish. Was it getting Kirkin arrested? Exposing the other Russian, who had the stolen painting? Was it getting the painting? I’ll check back here later to see if anyone will explain it to me.
On the other hand, I’m so glad the show is back. I love when the recurring characters pop up. Sabatino this week, the DEA girl next week. I can’t wait to see my favorite Arkady Kolchek again!
Great to finally have Season 7 underway!
While I know it’s almost blasphemous so say—wish the whole Callan orphan story arch could be put on the shelf and brought out only like once a season….
Loved that Kensi and Deeks used the world love….and it actually didn’t end up on the cutting room floor this time. (Perhaps the YouTube deleted scene from the season 6 final we have all seen can come back as a flashback or something?) Made me optimistic that the very best part of the show, Densi, will have a much better S7 after a somewhat disappointing S6.
I really enjoyed the episode. Its clear that Callen is haunted by the fact they left Arkady in Russia. His plan was to get information from Kirkin to get Arkady back, hence the envelope from Hetty at the end of the episode. Callen didn’t want to cause an international incident by having a federal agency involved in trying to secure Arkadys release.
Wow – someone else that understood the episode 🙂
I liked the episode, but Callen is my favorite character. I was a little confused with the storyline, I’m not really sure why Callen told Hetty he was protecting her and the agency.
It was nice to see the team back and working together. I think my favorite scene was Hetty and Sam at the end.
Overall, I thought it was a good start to the season.
Overall, good show to start season 7. The beach scene was great, even if I did have to replay it to hear her say the three magic words…not at all sure why the show runners dropped her words out there so matter of factually after avoiding them for 2+ years. He said them to reassure her after the catcalls from the beach bunnies; perhaps she uttered them to reassure him that she understood. Something we don’t know about has happened since the non-scene in the Russian woods.
The IA discussion was excellent as a reminder of its existence and to give some small background to Deeks… did he kill the original partner – nah, that isn’t in his character. But the LAPD had suspicions at the time and may still have. I also liked the way Callen just matter of factually told Kirkin that Deeks was taken; a sign that the Densi relationship is accepted. That was made more openly when Deeks loudly says “That’s my girl” in the bullpen.
We knew going in that this show was about Callen continuing to try to find info on his father. And we know that Arkady is probably the only one who has the crucial data. Callen reverting to “lone wolf” and Hetty’s dismay at it happening look to be the cornerstone for this season…but not a surprise to those of us who have had doubts about the Callen character for some time – here Callen borders on creating an international incident for his personal gain. A couple of days ago, SBrennan was reported as saying fans should watch the last few seconds of the episode… I thought it was telling that when Hetty gave him the envelope with Kirkin’s contacts she also told him that if he used the names without her permission he would be terminated with extreme prejudice – and she wasn’t laughing. That phrase is CIA – speak for assassination. There is a lot of fence mending to be done before it’s all said and done.
I also saw the loopholes in the story line… why would Callen go to Sabatino for help? And why would Sabatino help him? Why would Callen so easily agree to steal the painting? Exactly what did the team arrest Kirkin for? Maybe those will be cleared up in the following episodes.
Next week should be a fun one with Deeks trying to decide what to tell Kensi (and us!) about his mother at the same time Talia is back to her teasing ways. I also wonder how Deeks is going to introduce Kensi… partner, friend, lover, what?
Yes – someone else that spotted Hetty’s words to Callen, that he would be terminated with extreme prejudice – assassinated….So I was disappointed Callen wasn’t suspended or given some other form of punishment, but the threat from Hetty is as serious as it can get!
Callen thought he had to protect Hetty and the agency because he is essentially trying to pull Arkady out of Russia, if a US government agency were involved with something like that it would be a big problem. I did not find the storyline confusing at all.
I enjoyed the episode.
Everyone was well represented.
I hope the season is not going to be as Callen and Sam centric as last season.
Glad they are back!
This was in my opinion one of the best episodes ever! I loved it. Hetty had an important role in the episode, which is always good. Her conversation with Sam was great and then her discussion with Callen… I hope that Arkady is alright, he’s such an interesting character.
I’m so tired of the Callen going lonewolf and rogue routine. And like always, no repercussions, at all. The guy was stealing a painting for a russian criminal ! That kind of episode makes me dislike Callen even more, I really seems to care about no one but himself. At the end of the episode he is acting like if was just a little joke, he doesn’t care at all about the very bad position he put the team in.
But densi was cute and serious, really nice. I liked that
At first I was not sure about this episode. It was strange to see a premiere without the proper finale (no cliffhanger).
But then I realized it is an opener for all the follow up stories that might or should come this season and not only because of that I liked very very much.
It was good to see some tension within the main characters in this team though it is only for one episode which is kind of sad. It sets up something different something new which I loved.
Still the question why was Callen the only one who wants to help Arkady. Sure he is important to Callen but Arkady was the one who helped the team finding the bad guys in Russia and he helped to bring them down. Because of that I think all of them should help and find Arkady and rescue him.
But Callen did it alone so the team would be save and if anything would have happened he was the only one responsible for it. That is what he meant at the end I guess.
Some more thoughts:
Callen as lone wolf is and will always be my favorite.
Sam and Hetty had a dispute but at the end they praised each other. I think that will come up later this season when we will get the Sam episodes, in what way I don’t know.
Why did Callen ask Sabatino for help? The last encounter wasn’t really a good one (Sabatino wants to shoot Callen because he let the girl go to give the Taliban a message).
Does Hetty really believe that Callen will use the information from Kirkin and tell her about it? I would love to see what will happen. Will she terminate him like she said incl. the consequences?
One of the saddest thinks to see was the bed in Callens house. So they domesticated him and made him kind of normal. I hoped that this would never happen and in one of the last episodes last season Sam said that Callen sleeps on the floor (on his bedroll).
The ratings were pretty bad. I hope they will get better but I don’t think so.
And sindee I am missing the picture review. I loved it but I understand that this is a lot of work. But still I love the magazine. Thank you for all your work and passion you put into it.
It was a lot better than I expected, I’ll give it a 6. As a normal episode it’d be around 8, but as a season opener it just wasn’t enough.
Callen’s daddy issues, he acts on his own, we all saw that a thousand times, plain boring.
Story was OK, with the usual holes, but that’s a show, not a reality.
I liked, how Sam and Hetty clashed and Granger played the moderator.
The geek pair was funny, they had little to do with the story, but I enjoyed them.
Kensi and Deeks was again funny as hell, the I love you bomb was also dropped, they had serious conversation too, they were the best part of this episode.
Ratings are low, but a little better than Castle and not so much lower than the last few eps of last season. Let’s see, what comes up later.
I liked it. even the Callen storyline, which usually bores me. I watched the entire thing and I did not fast-forward anything (I watch on a dvr delay).
As for the ratings, I expected this. The new show Blindspot had dynamic promotion and LA is an aging show. Still I think it should be moved back to Tuesday and CBS should have a whole NCIS franchise night. I really think it was crappy for CBS to do that to NCISLA, after all the good ratings it gave them and positive support/promotion the cast and crew has always done.
I did enjoy this episode but it did a bit disjointed.
* The conversation about Deeks IA investigation felt a bit “out of the blue”, probably as it hadn’t been mentioned for a few episodes.
* The LAPD were suddenly in a car chase with a highly trained Federal Agent – Callen would not allow himself to be caught like that – seems like a missed scene somewhere.
* Callen suddenly has a bed (bedroll in corner of shot) when towards the end of last season Sam says Callen still sleeps on mattress on the floor.
* Callen does not even get suspended for his actions (although Hetty does threaten him with death)!
I loved how Callen went all out lone wolf in an attempt to find and extract Arkady Kolchek from somewhere in Russia. He deliberately distanced himself from Sam & Hetty, was downright insubordinate to Hetty, turning his back and walking away from her twice. His reasoning being after, to Hetty, that he wanted to protect Hetty and the agency (as Granger said, Callen extracting Arkady could cause an international incident and ruin everyone’s career). That may be his external reasoning, but we all know that was to find Arkady, a friend and connection to his past, to his father.
We saw Callen desperate, especially when Sam had him in a choke hold. He wasn’t quite ready to sell his soul to Kirkin, but he was prepared to break the law and steal a painting in exchange for info on Arkady. And with the orders to apprehend Callen, I was disappointed that when they arrested Kirkin, Callen wasn’t also arrested or at least some comment made. It partially made me question as to whether it was a ruse to arrest Kirkin, but I think not….
The closing scenes with Sam and Hetty were very touching, and shows just how honourable Sam is. He accepted he disobeyed Hetty and offered to accept any punishment she though the deserved. Callen, in stark contrast, tried to use his relationship with Hetty. The both offered fake apologies and called each other out on them. Callen knew he’d gone too far when he thought Hetty was serving him his termination papers. Instead it was the type of info from Kirkin that he was after. The fact that Hetty threatened to assassinate him, if he used the info without her prior consent, she would terminate him with “extreme prejudice” is very serious indeed. Callen sort of seems to accept that threat, but still tries to play on their relationship by suggesting they talk about things over a drink, which Hetty refuses.
The dynamics of their relationship have changed, and it will be very exciting to see this develop throughout the season. The repercussions may be far reaching, especially as we know Arkady’s daughter Anna is returning at some point, and this premiere plays out around mid season (as per Shane Brennan).
Other characters – Nell, surprisingly not too annoying, Eric, quite amusing with Sam especially, but I don’t like it when they make him too goofy. Kensi and Deeks, fine for the most part, some amusing and endearing scenes, and nothing too OTT on the romance side. All in keeping.
Granger – had an awesome part in this episode and some great lines, especially about telling Hetty to go drink some tea or something.
You should write official reviews. This is so good.
I didn’t know the meaning of “terminate him with “extreme prejudice””. Thank you the the explanation.
But do you really think Hetty would go that far?
I agree with you that Callen didn’t face any instant consequences was hard to believe. At least Granger would have to suspend Callen for his actions.
Maybe I should – NCISLA fanfic and reviews! Just goes to show a degree in film & English studies can eventually be put to use after many years!
You should!
Hetty didn’t threaten Callen with death. “You will be terminated with extreme prejudice” meant let go from NCIS with a HUGE mark against his name. At least that is how I understood it and she wasn’t threatening him, she was stating a fact –one more of these “incidents” and you’re gone. She was serious but I don’t think Callen knew how much … well not until he went home and had a drink .. alone.
I agree with Diane. CBS has treated this show badly. With all the dynamic promotion NBC gave Blindspot, CBS should have done the same here. CBS promotes its other shows much more. I love NCIS:LA but am preparing myself for the end. It feels like CBS has given up on this show. I wish they would move it back to Tuesdays. I sent an email, but know it won’t do any good. If more fans contacted CBS to save the show maybe they would listen, but people don’t like to do that for some reason.
I agree with you. But not only CBS seems to have lost the interest in the show but all the others (cast, crew, PR…) too. Like Pauley P was in the latelateshow one or two days earlier than COD and it was promoted by the PR department. COD not at all. And also the that they squeeze one episode in 7 days instead of 8 this season. LL invested big time last season in his music show (I don’t know about this year). It is sad but I am with you and prepare myself for the worst.
Unfortunately I have to agree with you in the “prepare for impact” part. I’m not happy about it, but can’t do anything against it. I’ll just try to enjoy what’s left of the show. And hope, it’ll be more than 1 season. The shorter filming time brings production cost savings, so that just might be the way into one or two more seasons. I don’t live in the us, so I don’t know anything about the promos, but the moving of the show into the black hole of monday 10 pm was an execution. And I’d very much like to break a few noses over that, but that does’nt change the facts.
I’ll write them too.
Why is NCIS:LA after 6 years still running this old story with Callens past?
All the other shows (Blindspot, Minority Report, Limitless and even Castle) started the season with strong episodes full of excitement. NCIS:LA has it’s new timeslot for a second season, so dear writers; rewrite the ep’s in something more suitable for adults.
I have been worried about the show since CBS screwed them and us over by moving it to Monday night. Ratings should improve once new show sampeling is done and…..Monday night football is over. Maybe not enough though!
The fact that the show CBS is airing in NCISLA’s old time slot is absolutely awful makes it worse.
Keeping my fingers crossed!
Sorry, I’m not gonna stop watching the show, but this episode – as many before – just didn’t do it for me anymore. Poor storyline, no arc, it didn’t lead anywhere for me to see at least. I can only hope that there will be better episodes.
Interesting thoughts all over in the reviews.
But I have to agree: the Callen personal history storyline should be put on the shelf only to be retrieved once a season if at all. Certainly not in a premiere episode!!!!
Bad planning!
I am done with that storyline, it just bores me and I am much more interested to hear about that background of the other characters, heck even a bit on Granger would be more exciting.
Or give me team episode.
But networks or even producing teams develop certain reflexes when it comes to rousing an audiences interest – mostly bowing to what they believe appeals to the so called demographics (story-wise or character-wise) .
Years ago Star Trek-TNG turned into the Data & Picard show (and I admire Patrciks Stewarts work a lot) as those characters were the most preferred only to rush and put the other characters into the spotlight during the last season – which ended up in a very disjointed storytelling (show-wise) even if it produce single eps that were interesting.
Or look at Castle: they introduced what they dubbed the Beckett mythology early in the show, and that arc, though very interesting in the beginning, just took so much center stage that the show might have been called Beckett, if we didn’t know otherwise.
The writers just lost touch and the arc grew out of proportion, only for the show runners to realize belatedly last season, that they totally forgot to give pertinent and comprehensive information on the title character Castle, especially his motivation to become a mystery writer.
Back to starting point.
Hope the production team on NCIS-LA gets their bearing again and look forward to an entertaining new season.