Episode 2, Season 12 - "War Crimes"

Oh, boy, a Jordana Jaffe script is not something I look forward to, and my trepidation about her writing proved to be warranted yet again. This episode was as poorly written as most of hers have been the past few seasons. It's hard to imagine how much more boring an episode about a SEAL being tried for a war crime could be than this mess. 

This episode was the sequel to the Season 11 finale, and there was the potential for an episode that explored the fallout--emotional and legal--when those trained to be the ultimate warriors step outside the accepted behavior of armed combatants while in the field and commit acts that are considered war crimes, but that is, evidently, a focus that's not in Jaffe's wheelhouse as a writer. So, instead we got a rather boring, ill-conceived, and trite story about simple witness intimidation. 

While quickly reviewing the storyline, such as it was, there was a great deal that made this episode forgettable. I read somewhere that Jaffe has a law degree--and that may be the reason she's allowed to write "courtroom" episodes (she also penned the preposterous "Pro Se" episode in Season 10), but having watched what she's written, I wonder if she practiced corporate law rather than criminal law. If she practiced corporate law, it's likely she never set foot in a courtroom which would explain why her courtroom scenes are so poorly written; if she practiced criminal law, I have no idea why her courtroom scenes are so bad. Whatever her training, legal expertise is not evident in her episodes.

Let's start at the beginning. The focus on Argento wasn't a bad way to begin since his trial was the center of this story, but since this is NCIS:LA, it would have been nice to have seen the team members preparing for the trial since it was such a "big day" for them, as well. Once everyone arrives at the courthouse, the story becomes mundane, illogical, and plodding with the usual Jaffe silliness thrown in because . . . well, it's Jaffe.

The trial takes place in San Diego, and all three of the agents who were on the ground in Afghanistan when Argento was arrested--Sam, Callen, and Rountree--are going to attend but won't be testifying, although why they aren't potential witnesses is unclear. After all, they were present when Argento ordered his team to kill them along with the Afghan men who were holding them, and they accepted the original statements from Argento's team members who accused him of his crime. Regardless, Callen and Sam drive down together while Rountree makes his way on his own. At the courthouse, they meet the prosecuting attorney in person for the first time, which again seems strange since San Diego is only a few hours drive from L.A.. We're also introduced to Argento's defense attorney--a private attorney who arrives the day of the trial to replace his court-appointed defense attorney. Really? A Navy SEAL who's charged with a war crime whose trial is being covered by all the media gets a private civilian attorney to lead his defense the day his trial begins? Undoubtedly, she was able to catch up on all the testimony and evidence the night before and is also able to practice law in California since she flew in from New York. (And speaking of the media, where were they? There wasn't even a reporter from Stars and Stripes.)

Meanwhile, back at OSP, Fatima needs to "relax," and so turns OPS into her private meditation room complete with scented candles. Nell, upon entering the room, is understanding. (I guess this is a "normal" way of dealing with stress at work for the gals working at this office. I'm sure I could do this at my job without any repercussions.) Instead of suggesting Fatima put out the candles and allow the other NCIS employees to get back to work, Nell is more concerned about Fatima's mantra. It seems that only food and beverages are banned from OPS; multiple lighted candles in a room with sensitive technology are fine. (I confess: I like Fatima better when she acts like a federal agent than when she acts like a spoiled rich girl from B.H.)

After the prosecutor's opening statement, she calls her first witness, Kendricks, a member of Argento's SEAL team, who promptly recants his earlier signed statement and now testifies that he committed the war crime. Strange that when confronted by a witness who contradicts his signed sworn statement, the prosecutor neglects to remind Kendricks about the penalty for perjury. Nevertheless, she doesn't nor does she request that she be allowed to recall him to testify later in the trial. Instead, the judge grants her request for a recess of several hours to figure out what has happened. Once outside the courtroom, Callen offers his team to investigate why this witness changed his testimony and what's happened to her second witness who hasn't shown and whom she's been unable to contact. Because this trial is vitally important, particularly to his partner, Callen decides to stay at the courthouse basically doing nothing other than keeping the prosecuting attorney company (because phones don't work in San Diego, evidently) and sends the rookie agent--on his own--to find the missing witness. That makes zero sense.

In the meantime, Fatima and Nell discover that Argento was receiving messages from couriers employed by a courier service while he was in the brig, so Kensi and Deeks are sent to the courier service to find out who sent the messages. Now, let's talk logistics for a minute. The trial is being held in San Diego, Argento was held in the brig on Camp Pendleton (there is no military brig in Los Angeles), and yet Kendricks' family lives in Los Angeles and the courier service that delivered messages to him in the brig is also located in Los Angeles because it is Kensi and Deeks--who, as far as we know, have remained in Los Angeles--who check on both. This makes as much sense as most of the episode.

If there was one episode where I thought Jaffe might refrain from the inane comedic caricature, I thought it would be this one, but alas, the courier scenes proved that to be a false hope. The first scene with the two Martins was cringe worthy, compounded by the fact that neither Kensi nor Deeks specifically asked courier Martin for video footage of the person sending the messages. Both are completely aware that businesses use video cameras rather than still cameras for security purposes having asked for video footage in countless episodes, so not asking for it in this instance was merely a means for Jaffe to continue their idiotic conversation. (It's when writers make characters stupid, who actually aren't, to create "humor" that they lose me as a viewer.)

Regarding the messages Argento received (all the way from L.A.) while awaiting trial, communication from anyone who wasn't Argento's attorney of record wouldn't be privileged and so would be checked by authorities (if written) or recorded (if a conversation). In either case, the details that threatened the testimony of trial witnesses would be relayed to the prosecutor and certainly investigated long before the trial commenced, especially as these messages had been delivered so often. And when the SEALs received threatening messages about testifying, how they handled the threats made absolutely no sense considering they'd already taken the drastic step of accusing the leader of their SEAL team of war crimes. And then we had Cole's reaction. His breakdown was difficult to watch for all the wrong reasons. 

The final partner scenes were blah, and Jaffe should know that simply having the characters repeat the mantra about this being "a really big day" doesn't make the episode big or better. The final scene would have had more meaning, in my opinion, if the phone call Callen received at the end had been from Anna rather than Sam. The idea that Sam would have called Callen--after just spending three hours or more in the car with him from San Diego--just to, once again, mention how important this day had been, was unlike Sam, and to have let Callen make a small connection with Anna, who is now supposed to be an important part of his life, would have been a better use of the time. The writers continue to have difficulty working connections between these characters--especially Callen--and their lives outside NCIS into storylines even though doing so would take less than a minute. This lack of attention to character detail is something I don't understand.

All in all, the episode was another disappointing effort in Jaffe's growing collection of poorly written scripts. Whatever the reason Jaffe's allowed to continue to write for the series, it isn't because she's a decent writer. The quality of the writing on the series continues to deteriorate from the earlier seasons with poorly written episodes becoming the norm, and as a viewer who genuinely likes these characters--Callen being one of my all-time favorite characters--it's painful to watch these fine actors slog through scripts that are mediocre or simply awful. Here's hoping that this season's offerings improve.