"Sorry For Your Loss" (Season 13, Episode 4)

 

This episode stuffs a lot of information into 42 minutes and provides some new and interesting details about our team. The episode opens with the agents in the middle of a case and a chase (it was actually the end of both, but viewers didn't know it was until almost the end of the episode). Opening an episode in the middle of the action has happened before; two episodes that come immediately to mind are "A Line in the Sand" written by Military and "Smokescreen" written by Bartels. This opening scene promised an action-packed episode, and in some ways, it was, but it was more than just another case.

Following the credits, the scene shifts to the boatshed where Sam is waiting for Rountree. When Rountree arrives, he immediately pours himself a cup of coffee while Sam informs him that he is both late and that their run will be only 9 miles instead of 10 because he and Callen have to get ready to leave for D.C. later that day. Michelle's alma mater is creating a scholarship in her name and has asked Sam to give a speech. This is a nice way to remember Michelle who, though she died in season 8, still holds a place in Sam's heart. Even so, I couldn't help but wonder 1) why would Rountree pour himself a cup of coffee right before a 9-mile run and 2) when Rountree offers to help Sam with his speech because he's closer in age to college kids, did he forget about Kam and Aiden? From this conversation, we cut to Callen approaching a young woman at her home. When he calls her name, Angela, she immediately panics and hides in her backyard, but he finds her there. She tells him to leave, but he introduces himself and tells her that he wants to talk to her about her former girlfriend, Kate Miller. The scene then cuts to OSP and Kensi and Deeks enter the bullpen having a conversation about a new neighbor. The confusion over her name is cute (Rachel versus Raquel), and it seems so like Deeks to get involved in the marital problems of someone else.

Also during this conversation, the difference in job titles is brought up when Deeks refers to himself as "Special Investigator" and Kensi corrects him by reminding him that his title is simply "Investigator" and that she is a "Special Agent." This irks him and he wants to know who he needs to talk to about changing his title, at which point Kilbride enters and informs him that he's the person but he doesn't give "rewards" without work being put in. (The interesting thing is that, according to the actual NCIS website, there is no such position as an NCIS "Investigator," so why Gemmill created this imaginary position is a mystery.)

Once these opening conversations are over, the work on the case begins. Like last week, OSP is "helping" ATF with a cache of weapons (in this case, stolen), and like last week, these weapons are going to be sold illegally. What seemed strange to me was the complete absence of ATF agents in any capacity during this case.

The original partners are great, but it's always a treat when partners switch up. Both Kensi and Sam have been paired with the newest agents several times (while neither Callen nor Deeks have been paired with either of them for an entire case), but this time Kensi and Callen are partnered, Sam again works with Rountree, Deeks is on his own until the funeral, and Fatima is in OPS, working the case while also trying to find an apartment so that she can move out of her parents' home. The suspected buyer of the stolen guns, Anders, has been murdered, so Kensi and Callen go to the coroner to get the details about his death, Sam and Rountree go to question the truck driver from whose truck the guns were stolen, while Deeks goes to question Ander's stepmother, Miriam, who's also the widow of a reputed crime boss who died three years ago and was Ander's father.(Why send two agents to the morgue and only one to the home of a widow who might be involved with a criminal organization?)

One thing that seems to happen more often now is writers giving minor characters with no relationship to the team or the actual case more screen time which takes time away from the team and the action and adds little. It happens here with the coroner who appeared first in "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" (written by Mazero and Jaffe). Unlike Rose, who had a tentative relationship with Nate, this coroner has no relationship with the team. But during his scene with Kensi and Callen, we learn that he's marrying the cousin of Zoe Morris, that his fiancee likes diamonds, and that he takes on extra work to buy her things she likes, among other things. It's time wasted on irrelevant details.

While Kensi and Callen investigate Ander's last hours, Sam and Rountree find the truck driver and after flinging him to the ground, learn that he was in contact with Anders, but since then has been in contact with someone else. They use his phone to find the contact: an insurance agent. Meanwhile, Deeks--who Miriam initially mistakes for the pool boy--finds her to be cold, calculating, and a liar. During their conversation, which is crisp and handled well by both actors, Deeks gets her to admit that she met Anders the night of his murder. Miriam claims she tried to convince him to not buy the guns. Deeks then switches gears and asks why she said she was in hurry when he first arrived, and she tells him that Ander's funeral is that afternoon. Thinking that some other family members might know about the guns and will be attending the funeral, Deeks tells Miriam he'll be there. This seemed strange. Why, given her connection to a crime family, would Deeks work the funeral when she can identify him? What seemed even stranger was that, at the funeral, it turns out Miriam knows the identities of both Kensi and Callen who are also working "undercover." Why would agents identify themselves to a potential suspect? That made no sense.

At the boatshed Sam and Rountree have the insurance agent brought in and during questioning convince him to call the sellers to let them know that he'll be coming to get the guns. Of course, he won't be the one meeting them.

Back at the funeral, Miriam's son from a previous marriage, Dominic, is there and knows about the guns, and after Miriam points out the undercover NCIS agents, he knows about them. He takes off which takes us back to the chase scene that opened the episode. It seemed weird that the dialogue heard in the opening scene was absent during this "replay." It also seemed weird that once the hearse was blocked in, the bad guys didn't open fire on it and its occupants with their automatic weapons. Because they didn't, the agents had time to work out a plan and take them out, so the scene seemed anti-climactic because the threat was over so quickly with so little effort.

While Kensi, Callen, and Deeks apprehended the buyer, back in the warehouse, Sam and Rountree engaged the sellers. (It's convenient that these warehouses often have large crates that provide cover.) I know some viewers liked the use of slow motion in this scene, but I didn't think it was effective. The slow motion scene in "The One That Got Away" was a wonderful use of the technique because the slow motion was juxtaposed with Arkady's speech about Anna. In that instance, the slow motion added to the drama of the situation, but in this instance, it added a cartoonish element to the fight scene (like 💥POW! in comics). Maybe that's the effect the director wanted.

Once buyer and sellers are in custody, we see the kinder side of Kilbride again as he helps Fatima find an apartment, something she's been unsuccessful at doing throughout the episode. There's also a final scene between Deeks and Miriam in the boatshed to wrap up the episode because it turns out that she was more involved in the buying of he guns than originally known. And then Callen is back at Angela's. She's called him, and during this scene, she explains that she stole for Katya and was subsequently disbarred; that's why she doesn't trust anyone, but she thinks she can trust him. Now she wants him to find Katya. She gives him a safe deposit key that Katya left with her when they were together. She hopes it helps. A car horn is heard outside and he tells her it's for him. As he leaves, he thanks her, and when she closes her front door, she doesn't throw the deadbolts. The final Sallen scene had the usual banter and some questionable logistics. Sam's waiting for Callen outside, and Callen tells him he didn't order an Uber which made me wonder, how did Callen get to Angela's? Did he walk? Did he take an Uber? If he drove, is he going to leave his car parked on the street outside her house while he's in D.C.since Sam's picking him up? And when Sam notes that Callen has no luggage, Callen tells him that whatever else he needs, he'll buy in D.C. He also offers to help Sam with his speech because Sam admits he hasn't written it yet and offers the same suggestion as Rountree: start with a joke (I don't see Callen telling Sam to start a speech honoring Michelle with a joke, an anecdote yes, but not a joke). But when Sam asks Callen how his meeting with Angela went, Callen is noncommittal and doesn't tell him about the key she gave him. Which brings me to the most important--and probably most overlooked--conversation in the episode: the first conversation between Callen and Angela.

In the beginning of the episode and after the Densi conversation in the bullpen about their neighbor and job titles, we're back at Angela's. Callen and Angela are now inside her house, and describing Kate, Angela says, "She's like a virus. You have no idea how hard it is to get rid of her once she takes hold." Callen replies, "You'd be surprised." Angela says she doesn't understand why he's talking to her since she and Kate broke up a long time ago. Callen then tells Angela Kate's real name and identity and asks if their breakup had anything to do with Katya being in prison. Angela tells him it didn't. He notes that she chose to go to Katya's arraignment, and Angela wonders why he thinks she had a choice. Callen then says, "She [Katya] does have a way of getting people to do what she wants." When he asks Angela if she's been in contact with Katya, she tells him that when she heard Kate had escaped, she moved, changed her phone number, and deleted her online presence. She wants to forget Kate/Katya. Callen tells Angela he'd like her help in finding her, but Angela isn't willing to do that. She asks him why he's so interested in finding her, and then realization dawns. "She got to someone close to you, didn't she?" Callen hesitates before replying, "Like you said, she's a virus."

To me, this was a hugely significant conversation because this entire conversation hints that the relationship between Callen and Anna is not as "good" as Sam and others believe it is. This conversation and Callen's comments and facial expressions during this scene suggest that, in some way, Katya might have some sort of "hold" on Anna and that this is affecting her relationship with Callen. This would be a major reversal in Anna's relationship with Katya because in earlier episodes Anna seemed in control, but Katya--like Anna--is a "noble maiden" and has significant training in the art of deception and control. The main difference between Anna and Katya is that Anna has a conscience while Katya is ruthless. If this is what's happening, it would put Callen under even more stress and increase the pressure to find Katya. Maybe Callen feels as if Anna's not only in danger physically, but that he's in danger of losing Anna which would give the episode title a completely different meaning. This could also explain why Anna hasn't been involved in the search for Katya. Then again, maybe this is a red herring and this idea is one that won't be explored or developed further. Whatever the writers decide, I hope they don't continue to use the Callen and Anna relationship for more cheap drama. If this is a new direction in the Katya arc, it makes Katya a much greater danger and a much greater challenge, and this conversation raises some serious questions about how both Anna and Callen are coping with the threat Katya poses and the state of their relationship, questions that can't be answered until we see them together again..