sindee: I’m curious about your opinion regarding the handling of Hetty’s hearing and the lack of mentioning thereof in this week’s episode… What happened to that whole storyline (the (fake/forced) hearing, the mole, Mattias, Arkady…) ?? I’m confused… I can only hope they bring it up again later in the season…
Mary: I was a bit confused as well. I expected there to be a lighter feeling to this past episode. (The first four, particularly the first three, were very intense.) I was ready for a more “fun” episode. But it felt a little like it was a random story just stuck in there to fill a spot. I was looking for some continuity, or at least some answers. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed “Black Budget” very much. (Of course I did. It was Sam/Callen centered.) But the DOJ just packed up very quickly last ep. And even thought the hearing was staged, Hetty left DC without being properly excused by her accuser. And what about the mole? And Mattias breached the sacred OSP… and lived to tell about it. And is our beloved Arkady out of danger now that Mattias is behind bars? See??? I have questions, too.
Richtsje: Well, just watched last night episode and I liked it for being a more light one. The storyline with the hearing and the DOJ was mysterious too IMO. And at first I thought maybe the fraude was somewhere to be linked to some fraude thing that might lead to the exposure of Hetty’s addresses, but no-way… Nevertheless I liked it, why not?
The second, third & fourth ep however were better, deeper too. All in all, the start of season 6 feels so much better than all of season 5 if you’d ask me!
ChrisDaisy: Haven’t watched it yet sorry… Due to vacation I only watched ep 1 to 3 so far which I really liked. I enjoyed having some episodes with an overall story arc so I was hoping they would continue that which apparently they haven’t with this week’s episode. After the first three eps I was a little confused with the hearing, though – from what I get it was initiated by Director Vance but still a real hearing? At least that was my impression. Or was it just a set-up, a fake hearing? However, I am hoping they either end this storyline somehow or use it as a continuous one in this season. Also, from the images I saw (and from what I read here), Mattias was in the OSP headquarters? And he still alive? Aren’t they compromised now? Even if he is in prison? I also actually wondered how someone could just “buzz in” the DOJ guys. They just wave their badges in front of the camera of a highly secure building and get buzzed in (or did I get that wrong)? Anyway, I don’t want to complain – so far I really enjoyed the season and I hope that it is going to keep its pace!
sindee: Well, thank you, ladies, for your thoughts on this topic. Now let’s see what our readers think about this matter.
Leave your thoughts about the NCIS Los Angeles Season Six start in the comments…
I want more Kensi and Deeks. So far this season they have not had very many scenes or been to involved in the case. It’s always Callen and Sam who gets the action. They are not the only ones who make the show. If this doesn’t change I will be switching to Castle.
I completely agree. Deeks and Kensi have gotten only one scene of any substance, none of the bad ass action and very little screen time. I love Sam, I like Callen, but I watch for Deeks. Lately I’ve been wondering why I bother watching at all.
While I do agree that the hearing and the DOJ investigation did wrap up too abruptly, overall I have enjoyed season 6 so far. I feel like all of the characters have had a fair share of action. The stories have had a season more familiar to the earlier seasons of the show which I like. I felt like the show lost itself a little last year. I do hope we get some more closure for the DOJ investigation stuff, but I will still be a loyal fan anyway. I think there are enough episodes in a season for every character to be represented. I think its silly when fans pinpoint a specific episode and say there was not enough of this character or the other. Every character has value to the show. The Densi fans need to remember that there are Callen/Sam fans and vice versa. It takes them all to make a great show.
6×01: 7/10
6×02: 9/10
6×03: 10/10
6×04: 8/10
6X05: 6/10
I do think so far every character had it’s fair share of the show. Maybe not precisely the same amount of screen time, but I don’t think any of them were left out too much. There will be other episodes where other characters will be in the front.
6X05 was a disappointment. For a filler it wasn’t funny enough, and it wasn’t dark enough either, any of which could oppose the fact, it wasn’t connected to any of the other episodes. There are always less spectacular episodes in a season, this was one of them, hopefully no other episodes will generate so much sour faces at the end credits.
My questions:
The hearing story was abandoned, not even mentioned, will it be brought back later?
Will there be other long-term stories besides Callen’s origin and the “Deeks made mistakes and goes back to LAPD” (I think this will be a multiple-episode story arc)?
Are we going to get further glimpses into the private life of the characters?
This season is better than last, so far. I guess that is not really saying much, but it is an improvement. Last episode I fell asleep half way through.
I agree that it is Sam and Callen (who has been a total grump so far) heavy, Deeks and Kensi are not doing much, and I think Eric has had very few lines.
Well, that were my thoughts as well.
They know there is a mole, but nobody seems to care. And Mattias now knows about the OPS location. He is alive and greedy. So he is the best bet to get the whole team compromized. I mean they know what he wants but still nobody seems to care about it and he was not working alone, no way.
Usually they are very secretive about it and now it doesen’t matter anymore? Also Callen handing his business card all over in LA. Very strange at least for an undercover agent.
So I really don’t know what to think about this season right now. The Kensi arc last season they had it all over in each episode (which was more than annoying to me) so we know that they can add some information into an episode even if it is not case related. So why not doing it now? But they also did it last season with Callen finding the information that hs father could still be alive. But we never got any clue, not the smallest, that he is searching for him. And that is pretty unlikely for his character. Yes I know they still can bring it up but it won’t be cogent to me.
I can understand the disappointment of some Deeks and Kensi fans due to the lack of screen-time, just because the fans of the other characters felt the same last season. Season 5 was all about them with only a few exceptions. So maybe this season it is more about others (Hetty and Nell already took the center stage in some eps). Also Callen and Sam are the main characters of this show (clearly to be seen in payment and DVD covers over the last 5 seasons), so they should have more screen time.
So I guess we have to wait what will come. I just hope that they will avoid some mistakes they did last season, that they become better in directing/cutting/editing and that they don’t change the characters too much.
Thank you for the idea of the round table discussion. It is always fun.
S5 was good, at least it had something to connect the episodes, not just random case-of-the-week episodes thrown one after another with 2 or 3 episodes dealing with some longer story and basicly without any significant character improvement. Things happen, people change, even in a TV show the characters should change in time, because if they don’t, it will become boring. (Kinda like NCIS)
Personally I find the Callen originstories not so enthusiastic lately. And while Callen and Sam might be the lead characters (of which I’m not that convinced), without Kensi and Deeks and they realtionship/partnership/thing/whatewer it would be just another one-of-a-dozen police procedural. In other words: it would be boring.
I wouldn’t consider myself a “fan” of any character, or any kind of shipper, though it is very entertaining to see, how they evolve from work partners to friends and maybe something more (both the Kensi/Deeks and Nell/Eric duo).
I also like the episodes with a bit more deeper thoughts than just shooting and putting bad guys in jail. And those episodes usually (but not always) originate in the Kensi/Deeks relationship.
I really would like to see longer story arcs (which last through at least 4-5 episodes, but with a proper ending ending and/or continuity) and sometimes the longterm storylines like the mole, Callen’s origin, and the others.