"Subject 17" (Season 13, Episode 1)

 

I wasn't planning on writing reviews for season 13 since I found season 12 disappointing, but I found the premiere quite a change from the previous season, so here I am. I'm not sure if I'll write reviews for every episode this season, but if the remaining episodes are like this one, I just might.

First things first: Callen's birthdate was revised. For those viewers who haven't watched the series since the beginning or maybe aren't that interested in Callen, this may not seem like a big deal. They may not have even noticed. For others, it is a huge deal. I fall somewhere in between. I thought making Callen the same age as Chris O'Donnell--and keeping him the same age--was one of the few mistakes Brennan made as showrunner. Seldom is a character's age or birthdate given for the very simple reason that it places artificial limits on a character. For instance, Mark Harmon is 70. If Leroy Gibbs was 70, he would have retired as a field agent from NCIS years ago, but Gibbs isn't Mark Harmon; Gibbs is a fictional character. The same is true of Callen and all the other characters in NCIS:LA. While age and time are chronological in any "regular" procedural drama, they also proceed at a pace that doesn't reflect real time. A one-hour show covers several hours or several days. A series may skip several months between episodes that are only one or two weeks apart, or it may continue in the same year for more than a season. Time--and the age of the characters--are not anchored to real time. So for me, I can live with this change in Callen's age.

I realize the change in Callen's birthdate throws off some of the events in earlier episodes, but it doesn't mean they didn't occur. This isn't the first time there's been a discrepancy in his past and probably won't be the last. I found the retcon Callen flashbacks in season 12 more of a problem because those didn't reflect the essence of his character; this change keeps the essence of his character intact--at least, for now. When, and if, it does change that essence, that will prove problematic. And all of the major characters have been victim to inconsistencies resulting from the writers' whims: in season 4, Sam met Michelle on a joint task force while an NCIS agent, but in season 12, he met her while he was still in the Navy; Deeks didn't have any next of kin, but then his mom appeared; "Party Marty" was alive and well in season 4 but had been dead 20 years in season 12, and even Kensi described herself as having only one close friend early in the series, but in season 10, the friend had morphed into the fabulous five. At this point, it seems safe to say that math and maintaining consistency are not particular strong points with these writers. Since this is true after 12 seasons, it's doubtful they ever will be. Putting aside the change in Callen's birthdate, this was an episode that was successful in almost every other way, and the most pleasant surprise for me was seeing the Callen of earlier seasons.

In seasons 11 & 12, the writers mellowed Callen out so much that he'd become a rather boring character, and Callen is anything but boring. It's understandable that he would grow more comfortable; after all, he's been in the same job for over a decade, so that gives him a certain sense of stability. But, he's also faced enormous change and stress in his personal and professional life during the past few seasons and yet, these seemed to have had little impact on him. The writing for his character was disappointing, and worse, it changed his essence. Instead of being fiercely loyal to Anna after she shot Sokolov and was being investigated, he stayed on the sidelines. Instead of trying to bring her back to the States and commute her sentence after the Cuban operation, he forgot about her, and instead of confronting Nikita about deserting his own children while raising a Comescu, he simply "understood." We saw none of the power or the passion that lies just beneath the disarmingly calm surface and can explode without warning and did when confronting Hetty or challenging Granger. The writers snuffed it out and made Callen a shadow of his former self. So, in this episode, it was gratifying to see Gemmill bring back the sass, the stubbornness, the cynicism, the emotional angst, and the defiance that exemplifies Callen--along with the professionalism and the training that make him a top NCIS agent. Regardless of his age, this is the Callen Brennan created, now older, wiser, and more at ease with himself, but still capable of fiery anger while also susceptible to emotional pain and intense personal doubt and confusion. Callen was, in this episode, a complex character who exhibited the strength of a leader and the vulnerability of a lost child. And Chris proved, once again, more than capable of bringing this Callen to life.

The plot itself worked, deftly tying in characters from season 12 and the continuing search for Katya while also moving the "baby" saga forward without it overwhelming the other storylines in the episode, the most important one being the thread between Callen and Hetty. The justification for Joelle taking Zasha captive was plausible--to force information from her since she worked for SVR (Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service)--although how Joelle knew about Zasha was never explained. Still, most of the little things were taken care of: Zasha's car being towed, the way Callen contacted Joelle, the escape from the boatshed and slashing of tires, the rescue without the use of deadly force. Even Callen sending Zasha to Syria to spy on Hetty made sense in the storyline.So, kudos to Gemmill for writing a plot that was coherent, cohesive, and made good use of the characters while moving the stoylines forward.

One thing about this episode that I personally found gratifying was that Gemmill finally put Joelle in her place. For far too many seasons, the writers have treated Joelle as some sort of misunderstood, victimized warrior with extraordinary skills who often outwits and out-thinks the NCIS agents. And for far too long, the writers have held out the hint that there remains some strange, unspoken emotional bond between Callen and Joelle. Both those views of Joelle took a well-deserved beating in this episode. She came across as selfish, arrogant, spiteful, and not nearly as adept at her craft as she has been in earlier seasons. Bogush is a joy to watch--a remarkable actor with talent to spare and her interactions with both Chris and LL are a treat--but the Joelle character has definitely worn out her welcome with NCIS, and in this episode, she epitomized Hetty's earlier description of her. Still, it's a little sad that the writers couldn't have managed to make Joelle into more of a Sabatino-like character where she could work with the team instead of often at odds or trying to manipulate them. She could have been an interesting character, but the writers always found a way to let her past relationship with Callen muddy the waters. Which brings up something else that was missing, and rightly so--a warm, heart-to-heart talk between Callen and Joelle. Thank goodness. Their talk in "Through the Looking Glass" was nauseatingly awful because it was in such conflict with what Callen should have been feeling for the woman who put his girlfriend in a life-threatening situation again through her own incompetence. And that Gemmill would include a talk between Callen and his ex while ignoring the much-needed conversation between Callen and Anna was mind boggling. But that's in the past (hopefully), and when Joelle appears in a later episode this season, Callen and Sam should treat her just as they did in this episode because it's precisely the level of "respect" she deserves.

And finally, there's the Callen-Hetty relationship that has been unraveling slowly since he learned of her role in his mother's death, and soon may be hanging by a single thread or snapped entirely. The revelation about Hetty's "program" may upset the viewers who have seen her as a "mother figure," but for others--myself included--that image of her was tarnished back in "Raven and Swans" when Callen learned about the other "children" she'd taken in and "guided" just as she had him. He started putting the pieces together back then, but finding out now that her manipulation and training of him had begun many years before--when he was a vulnerable child and through a program that included many others--does serious damage to the image of Hetty as a loving, caring "mother figure" to her team and especially to Callen. This is a dark turn to Hetty's character, but it began during Brennan's tenure, so it's not entirely unexpected. While Hetty has been, as Kensi told Deeks, "willing to do anything for us," this "us" does not seem to include Callen. Hetty hasn't shown a willingness to help Callen for a very long time, and her past with him may be one reason. 

What does this revelation, that Callen was Subject 17, ultimately mean for his relationship with Hetty? Where will this take them? It could be a very dark journey for both of them, but that depends on the path Gemmill takes. Whatever path he takes, their scene together in this episode was heart-wrenching. Callen's anger, confusion, and sense of betrayal after his discovery was palpable, and when he confronted Hetty, someone he'd always seen as having his best interests at heart, but now began to see as someone who saw him as just another "subject," a child to be trained and manipulated to serve her purpose, his raw emotions took over. And Hetty, it seemed, confronted by his accusations, tried to deflect them but eventually wilted, perhaps knowing that he finally deserved the truth. It wasn't only Callen who lost something--and someone--precious in this exchange and by this truth. Hetty did too. What future revelations bring will determine how difficult it will be for Callen to move on with his life and leave his past behind, but will Hetty be able to do the same? This revelation may do irreparable damage to her image amongst her other agents and the intelligence community itself, but more than that, it has damaged, possibly beyond repair, the relationship that she said is most important to her--that with her "son." Both Linda and Chris were remarkable in this scene, and as unconscionable as Hetty's program was, I found myself feeling the weight of her past crushing her when Callen left her to confront Joelle. It was a powerful scene that began with anger but ultimately ended with regret, distrust, and heartbreak.