"Lost Soldier Down" (Season 13, Episode 7)

 

I'm happy to see the cast of NCIS:LA back and in an episode ably directed by Daniela Ruah. I'm just sorry that the series began 2022 with a bore instead of a bang. This review is going to be short because there wasn't a lot to the episode.

The first thing this writer seems to have forgotten is the "action." The word "action" doesn't mean car chases, gunfights, and explosions exclusively. But "action" is definitely NOT one conversation after another, no matter how sincere or silly. Unfortunately, that's what this episode gives us far too much of. One definition of boring is watching characters talk for 30+ minutes, even characters you like--Callen, Sam, Deeks--and especially characters you don't care about. But beyond being boring there was so much that didn't work because the writer seemed to forget about the U.S. Navy.

Vargas, a naval intelligence officer dies--evidently after committing suicide. He's taken medical leave, but none of the agents speak to his commanding officer or the naval doctor who authorized his medical leave? Why wouldn't our agents be interested in getting his medical history from the Navy? Given Vargas was traumatized earlier by an onboard ship fire, we're to believe the navy kept him in his intelligence position and did not require him to submit to a medical or psychological evaluation or that he passed both.  And then we're to believe that the elderly strip mall doctor was the person who diagnosed him with PTSD even though she saw him only twice. Does the writer realize that diagnosing PTSD involves several steps, including a physical exam, and can involve multiple assessments? Also, sharing medical information with an investigation is routine when a person dies under suspicious circumstances.

More unbelievable is that NCIS agents simply threw up their hands when they couldn't find the supplier(s) of LSD to the most powerful aircraft carrier in the U.S. fleet. But Callen and Sam were able to solve that mystery in less than a day. Makes one wonder why the OSP agents weren't brought onto the case of the drug smuggling earlier since the danger was so great and why the other NCIS agents hadn't at least interviewed Davis when he had ties to the Navy and had actually served in naval intelligence, a section that included officers currently involved in drug use, including one who had been arrested and charged. (I'm very disappointed in the San Diego office and Agent DesChamps especially.).

While the pairing of Deeks and Rountree worked, there was little "investigating" by any of the agents. Most of the information was just given to them, and the guest characters were a stretch, especially "Reverend Tilapia." It was so convenient Vargas' boyfriend lived in the same building and happened by. It would've helped the pace if the writer had Callen and Sam do more than basically hang out and talk to people in the boatshed until the final five minutes. Why didn't they go visit the doctor? Why not visit Vargas' commanding officer and the naval medical doctor? The ship was in port. Also, all the cultural references were just too much for a 43 minute episode. One or two, okay, but an over reliance on them becomes gimmicky and often is used to distract from the uninteresting dialogue and/or the weak story.

The conversations between Fatima and Rountree were okay, but did his sister graduate from college? As someone who has an older brother, I can totally understand what he did especially if she grew up in a small town and is now living on her own in L.A. (That's not to say I agree with it, but I understand it.) It was also strange that none of the other agents--or Kilbride, for that matter--mentioned Rountree's absence during the initial briefing (and how did they know there was a case?). And why does Kilbride hand out the assignments? That's Callen's job as team leader. Does Kilbride not trust Callen to be able to do that simple task?

It's now the 7th episode of this season and Kilbride's been with the team since last season. It's time the writers settle on his character. This doesn't mean he can't be both hard-nosed and understanding--like both Hetty and Granger, but nobody has the extreme mood swings he has without being prescribed medication. In "Subject 17" he threatens to kill Callen, but here and in other episodes, he's very lenient and understanding toward Fatima and Rountree (nothing suggested he showed any anger or disappointment with Fatima or Rountree in "Divided We Fall" even though they were ultimately responsible for Laura Song being "captured" by the Chinese).

And then there's Leah, likely another totally unnecessary "twist" in the "Subject 17" storyline. So Callen finds Leah, who was also one of Hetty's "subjects" and decides to meet her as "Greg" in the final scene. To what end? Callen didn't know he was a subject. Does he think Leah knows she was? She used to work for Homeland, but her Homeland file is missing! Oh, no! That must mean there's something sinister afoot. Maybe she knows about Hetty's little experiment--which would mean either she was also investigating her own childhood or Hetty told her. My guess is that Callen's trying to befriend her to get her to talk about her childhood and see what she knows, if anything, but that could take a long time, especially if she was "mentored" by Hetty. So, why wouldn't Callen just introduce himself and ask her? If she knows something, is it more likely she'll tell "Greg" or share what she knows with a fellow "subject"? And if she doesn't tell him, she's not the only "subject" out there. Whatever they do, I don't have a lot of confidence that the writers know where this thread is going, or even if they do, that they can pull it off. They made a HUGE mess of the Anna-Katya storyline by introducing Joelle into it (meanwhile Zasha must still be in Syria watching Hetty), and now they're introducing Leah into the Callen-Hetty storyline It seems the writers will do ANYTHING to avoid giving Callen scenes between him and the characters that matter to him, Hetty and Anna (see my earlier post). I have to admit, I was surprised--once Sam knew that the woman was another of Hetty's "subjects"--that he didn't ask Callen how Anna felt about him trying to find out about his past or if this search was interfering with his search for Katya, but then it seems Anna's only mentioned to keep up the appearance that she and Callen are still a couple and maybe Callen's given the Katya search over to Joelle.

Given how writers tend to drag things out and mess threads up, it's questionable if either the Katya-Anna thread or the Callen-Hetty thread will conclude in a satisfactory, logical, well-conceived conclusion that remains true to the characters, especially Callen. After all, the Katya-Anna thread began 29 episodes ago when Anna's conviction was expunged, and we haven't seen Katya since. I hope I'm wrong, but only time will tell.