Episode 253 "High Society" - Callen Under Pressure
This episode was more interesting to me for what it said by inference than the main case of the episode which was convoluted and not a case that OSP would normally handle because it had the slimmest connection to the Navy imaginable.
The episode begins in the middle of another investigation, as have several others since season 9. It begins in a yoga class which is interrupted by a man "dropping in." Kensi and Sam burst into the yoga studio and shoot the suspect once. This has no effect on him and they then shoot him four more times, killing him (the comic monologue by the yoga instructor before the shootout contrasts sharply with the violent death of the suspect). After the suspect's death Kensi takes his phone and heads back to the boat shed to meet Callen and Deeks while Sam finishes up at the crime scene. When Callen escorts a pregnant FBI agent into the boat shed, Kensi and Nell are waiting--no Deeks. It's when the suspect's phone is given to the FBI agent that we learn about the case just resolved: a Naval officer was tying to sell information about FBI undercover agents to pay for his online gambling debts; however, NCIS recovered the encrypted file before he could sell it, so all the undercover agents remain safe. The fact that it took five bullets to bring down the suspect makes Sam suspicious, and the next day he and Kensi visit the county coroner for information. During this scene (and I again found the behavior of the coroner who was seen in "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" painful to watch), it's discovered that several deaths due to overdoses of veridol, an opioid, have occurred in L.A. recently, and because this drug is often tied to terrorists who sell it to raise cash and to addict their recruits, NCIS investigates. Following several leads, the agents discover that a businessman from Bangladesh is the intended target of an assassination, and they prevent it.
One of the major peeves I had with this episode was the partner exchange. There was never an explanation of why Sam requested the partner change up, and that was a question that gnawed at me through the entire episode. Just one sentence to explain it would have been more than enough. It's almost as if the writers sometimes forget that just because they know what's in their mind when they write a scene, the viewers don't unless they actually share what they're thinking through the characters' words or deeds. But one of the special treats of the episode was the appearance of Mama Deeks, and her scenes, especially her final scene with Kensi and Deeks, held special meaning.
As to what the episode said by inference, that happens in the very first boat shed scene. A very pregnant FBI agent arrives to receive the phone with the encrypted file, and Kensi offers her congratulations on her pregnancy. Her congratulation is heartfelt and not merely polite. This seems very much in sync with her recently stated desire to have children. The other thing is Callen's answer to the FBI agent's question she asks him as they enter. She asks, "Do you babysit?" and Callen replies, "Well, more than you think."
Hetty has been absent since "Mother," and with no one being sent from DC to take her place, Callen has assumed her responsibilities while still serving as the lead agent. This is the first time Callen has made a remark that suggests he might be slightly irritated with the added responsibility of being in the field and acting Operations Manager. And although Callen isn't on screen much in this episode, his demeanor and sharpness of tone is noticeable. And it's likely that it's not just taking on Hetty's responsibilities that are getting on his nerves. He's also focused on finding Anna. We see this in the beginning of the episode when he sends Kensi and Nell home but stays behind in the boat shed and opens his computer to work. The most obvious inference is that he's searching for Anna.
Later on, Callen is partnered with Deeks and Deeks asks Callen a hypothetical question about what he would regret if this was his last year on earth. Where, in earlier seasons, Callen might have engaged in friendly banter, now his tone indicates he's not in the mood. He tells Deeks with a certain sharpness to just ask, and when Deeks asks him if he regrets the way things turned out with Anna, Callen tells him that if he finds her and patches things up, he won't have to. This is the first time Callen has said anything to Deeks about Anna--that we've seen--and it's another indication of how serious Callen is about finding her because Callen values keeping his personal relationships private. A little later when Callen and Deeks are questioning a suspect, the suspect mentions that he acquired the illegal drugs when he met someone in the parking lot at the Bang For Your Buck. Deeks is shocked that Callen knows this is a motel and wants to know more, but Callen hits the brakes. He's still not in the mood to indulge Deeks humor.
In fact, I don't remember one instance in this entire episode where Callen smiles or lightens up. His mood is serious and professional, almost heavy, throughout. At the fashion show, when he tells Deeks to cause a distraction so that the team can apprehend the assassins, Deeks responds in typical Deeks fashion, but Callen's reaction is to tell Deeks to just do it. Even when he meets Eric and Nell as they are leaving OSP, Callen greets them warmly but there is no smile in his eyes. And the final scene explains why--Callen is focused on finding Anna, and the information he's been able to gather so far is not encouraging.
This is a stark contrast to the other team members in this episode with the exception of the scene when Sam questions a suspect and his anger, pain, and sense of guilt over Michelle's death comes out. But at the end of the episode, we see that Sam is beginning to move on in his life as he mentioned in "Answers." He obviously enjoys Katherine's company, and this looks like a relationship that has possibilities. Kensi and Deeks show their usual affection for one another, as well as for Mama Deeks, and Eric and Nell's relationship seems to have stabilized since his return from San Francisco.
It's no coincidence that this episode included Mama Deeks. Her admission that she has come to accept that she has more years behind her than ahead of her offers a parallel to Callen because the same might be said to be true for him, and perhaps now more than ever he's feeling the pressure to do something about what's missing in his life. There's not much time left for him if he ever wants to have a family of his own, especially given the dangers of his profession and that he isn't even in an intimate personal relationship. For him, time is also running out, but not so much because of his age--a natural phenomena--but because of how he's spent his life. And perhaps now more than ever, he's feeling the emptiness of his life and some regret about his personal choices.
We've sort of seen this building in Callen's character through conversations in this season and last: his inability to sleep, his thinking that he's stayed in one place too long, his avoidance of "permanent" things in his life. It's too bad that the writers seem to have forgotten how to write powerful scenes for a character alone. Lately, all the emotional scenes are between couples or pairs or team members. There are no more scenes like the earlier seasons when Callen was exploring his past, alone in his home or sitting at his desk; no phone calls by Sam to his dad or his children; no solitary Kensi practicing in the firing range. It's a loss, in my opinion, because some scenes really do work better without words, and Callen's recent experiences offered the writers a plethora of opportunities to let the viewer see the pressure building up inside which they let slip away. Either this pressure will be released or it will be ignored and fizzle away as the writers move on to another story arc. Here's hoping that this story arc reaches a conclusion that does justice to Callen and the personal struggles he's been through and that the writers begin writing emotional scenes that once again explore the solitary struggles of the characters.
The episode begins in the middle of another investigation, as have several others since season 9. It begins in a yoga class which is interrupted by a man "dropping in." Kensi and Sam burst into the yoga studio and shoot the suspect once. This has no effect on him and they then shoot him four more times, killing him (the comic monologue by the yoga instructor before the shootout contrasts sharply with the violent death of the suspect). After the suspect's death Kensi takes his phone and heads back to the boat shed to meet Callen and Deeks while Sam finishes up at the crime scene. When Callen escorts a pregnant FBI agent into the boat shed, Kensi and Nell are waiting--no Deeks. It's when the suspect's phone is given to the FBI agent that we learn about the case just resolved: a Naval officer was tying to sell information about FBI undercover agents to pay for his online gambling debts; however, NCIS recovered the encrypted file before he could sell it, so all the undercover agents remain safe. The fact that it took five bullets to bring down the suspect makes Sam suspicious, and the next day he and Kensi visit the county coroner for information. During this scene (and I again found the behavior of the coroner who was seen in "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" painful to watch), it's discovered that several deaths due to overdoses of veridol, an opioid, have occurred in L.A. recently, and because this drug is often tied to terrorists who sell it to raise cash and to addict their recruits, NCIS investigates. Following several leads, the agents discover that a businessman from Bangladesh is the intended target of an assassination, and they prevent it.
One of the major peeves I had with this episode was the partner exchange. There was never an explanation of why Sam requested the partner change up, and that was a question that gnawed at me through the entire episode. Just one sentence to explain it would have been more than enough. It's almost as if the writers sometimes forget that just because they know what's in their mind when they write a scene, the viewers don't unless they actually share what they're thinking through the characters' words or deeds. But one of the special treats of the episode was the appearance of Mama Deeks, and her scenes, especially her final scene with Kensi and Deeks, held special meaning.
As to what the episode said by inference, that happens in the very first boat shed scene. A very pregnant FBI agent arrives to receive the phone with the encrypted file, and Kensi offers her congratulations on her pregnancy. Her congratulation is heartfelt and not merely polite. This seems very much in sync with her recently stated desire to have children. The other thing is Callen's answer to the FBI agent's question she asks him as they enter. She asks, "Do you babysit?" and Callen replies, "Well, more than you think."
Hetty has been absent since "Mother," and with no one being sent from DC to take her place, Callen has assumed her responsibilities while still serving as the lead agent. This is the first time Callen has made a remark that suggests he might be slightly irritated with the added responsibility of being in the field and acting Operations Manager. And although Callen isn't on screen much in this episode, his demeanor and sharpness of tone is noticeable. And it's likely that it's not just taking on Hetty's responsibilities that are getting on his nerves. He's also focused on finding Anna. We see this in the beginning of the episode when he sends Kensi and Nell home but stays behind in the boat shed and opens his computer to work. The most obvious inference is that he's searching for Anna.
Later on, Callen is partnered with Deeks and Deeks asks Callen a hypothetical question about what he would regret if this was his last year on earth. Where, in earlier seasons, Callen might have engaged in friendly banter, now his tone indicates he's not in the mood. He tells Deeks with a certain sharpness to just ask, and when Deeks asks him if he regrets the way things turned out with Anna, Callen tells him that if he finds her and patches things up, he won't have to. This is the first time Callen has said anything to Deeks about Anna--that we've seen--and it's another indication of how serious Callen is about finding her because Callen values keeping his personal relationships private. A little later when Callen and Deeks are questioning a suspect, the suspect mentions that he acquired the illegal drugs when he met someone in the parking lot at the Bang For Your Buck. Deeks is shocked that Callen knows this is a motel and wants to know more, but Callen hits the brakes. He's still not in the mood to indulge Deeks humor.
In fact, I don't remember one instance in this entire episode where Callen smiles or lightens up. His mood is serious and professional, almost heavy, throughout. At the fashion show, when he tells Deeks to cause a distraction so that the team can apprehend the assassins, Deeks responds in typical Deeks fashion, but Callen's reaction is to tell Deeks to just do it. Even when he meets Eric and Nell as they are leaving OSP, Callen greets them warmly but there is no smile in his eyes. And the final scene explains why--Callen is focused on finding Anna, and the information he's been able to gather so far is not encouraging.
This is a stark contrast to the other team members in this episode with the exception of the scene when Sam questions a suspect and his anger, pain, and sense of guilt over Michelle's death comes out. But at the end of the episode, we see that Sam is beginning to move on in his life as he mentioned in "Answers." He obviously enjoys Katherine's company, and this looks like a relationship that has possibilities. Kensi and Deeks show their usual affection for one another, as well as for Mama Deeks, and Eric and Nell's relationship seems to have stabilized since his return from San Francisco.
It's no coincidence that this episode included Mama Deeks. Her admission that she has come to accept that she has more years behind her than ahead of her offers a parallel to Callen because the same might be said to be true for him, and perhaps now more than ever he's feeling the pressure to do something about what's missing in his life. There's not much time left for him if he ever wants to have a family of his own, especially given the dangers of his profession and that he isn't even in an intimate personal relationship. For him, time is also running out, but not so much because of his age--a natural phenomena--but because of how he's spent his life. And perhaps now more than ever, he's feeling the emptiness of his life and some regret about his personal choices.
We've sort of seen this building in Callen's character through conversations in this season and last: his inability to sleep, his thinking that he's stayed in one place too long, his avoidance of "permanent" things in his life. It's too bad that the writers seem to have forgotten how to write powerful scenes for a character alone. Lately, all the emotional scenes are between couples or pairs or team members. There are no more scenes like the earlier seasons when Callen was exploring his past, alone in his home or sitting at his desk; no phone calls by Sam to his dad or his children; no solitary Kensi practicing in the firing range. It's a loss, in my opinion, because some scenes really do work better without words, and Callen's recent experiences offered the writers a plethora of opportunities to let the viewer see the pressure building up inside which they let slip away. Either this pressure will be released or it will be ignored and fizzle away as the writers move on to another story arc. Here's hoping that this story arc reaches a conclusion that does justice to Callen and the personal struggles he's been through and that the writers begin writing emotional scenes that once again explore the solitary struggles of the characters.
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