"Where Loyalties Lie" (Season 13, Episode 10)

 I didn't review "Under the Influence," so I'm picking up with this episode after that ridiculously long hiatus. This is the first episode written entirely by Matt Klafter who co-wrote two earlier episodes with Kyle Harimoto ("Smokescreen Part 2" and "A Fait Accompli"). Neither of those had particularly strong case storylines, and unfortunately, this episode doesn't either, but if you're a Densi fan, it had a few scenes that might have made up for the weak case.

NCIS:LA is known for its humor and banter between characters, but as of late, the case around which an episode used to be built is now secondary to writing scenes for characters. It's not that there haven't always been scenes for the main characters; it's just that those scenes used  to be more seamlessly interwoven into the main case, and the main case was more tightly constructed. Now, the writing of the main case is either mediocre or just plain bad which is unusual for a show in its thirteenth season. But the showrunner and the focus have changed, and with these changes, so has the quality of the writing. One would expect that, whatever the changes in focus, the "personal histories" of the characters that've been established over the preceding 8 seasons and the events that occurred in those seasons would be respected . . . and one would be wrong. But even though the case is secondary, I'll focus on that first and what works and what doesn't.

The basic premise of the case is workable: a civilian scientist is working with the military (Marines) to develop an x-ray goggle that allows soldiers to "see through" walls and identify the enemy and weapons. The prototype is being tested in a warehouse (not on a military base) by a small, selective group of Marines. After the most recent test, the scientist is working alone when she hears a noise, goes to investigate, and is killed. The prototype is stolen and the team is given the job of finding who murdered the scientist and recovering the prototype. But while this basic premise is workable, the execution falls short.

We learn a little later on in the episode that the scientist's assistant is involved in the theft which makes the theft, as written, unnecessarily complicated. In the episode, the thief enters the warehouse while the test is being conducted and hides. Later that evening, when the testing is over and the Marines have left the warehouse, the thief emerges from hiding, kills the scientist, and steals the goggles that are unsecured. Then, because the Marines are hanging around outside in the warehouse parking lot, he goes back into hiding for almost an hour until the Marines leave. Why such a convoluted scenario? If the assistant is involved, he could enter the warehouse--or let his accomplice in--after the Marines leave the parking lot, steal the goggles, and kill the scientist, if necessary. But a simpler theft wouldn't give us the extended conversation between Kensi and Deeks about turning the garage into a man cave (or warehouse) while they're inspecting the crime scene or let Kensi find the threads and so share her knowledge with Deeks, Fatima, and Kilbride about Japanese sedge (raw denim) or let them know that she was a denim head in college. Both of these conversations, while interesting to some, were completely pointless in the overall plot and used time that could have been spent improving the case storyline which, unfortunately, doesn't get any better.

As mentioned, the assistant is involved, and shockingly, disappears. It also comes to light that he's a member of a loosely organized white supremacist gang out of Venice. Lucky for our team, only one manufacturer in Hollywood carries the jeans identified by the threads Kensi found, and so Kensi and Deeks head to the manufacturer which is also a retail store. Weird. On their arrival, they get the list of clients who purchase the jeans from Ruby, the owner--which leads nowhere--but they return shortly to find out what she does with her seconds. This leads to a too-lengthy conversation about her sister's addiction (unrelated to the theft), but she does provide the name of the center where she donates her seconds. Kensi and Deeks then visit the center and discover nothing useful. Meanwhile, Callen and Sam visit the assistant's home and discover his empty closet and tattoo tracing paper that ties him to the white supremacist gang. Eventually, a Chinese national academic who visits the U.S. frequently is identified by Fatima as a person of interest. She's questioned by Callen and Sam and admits that she offered the assistant money for the goggle technology, but her purpose in stealing the technology was altruistic--to help the people living in her village back in China who are victims of industrial pollution. Seriously. So, in a story about stolen military technology and a murdered scientist, the writer works in two completely unrelated issues: drug addiction and industrial pollution. Anyway, this woman who committed military espionage for altruistic reasons, tells Callen and Sam that the thieves also wanted specific explosives that are unstable and undetectable in addition to the $2 million she offered them as payment for the goggle technology, and she gave it to them. So, she cares about the people in her village but not so much about the people who might be killed by the explosives she's given the assistant. The assistant's accomplice is identified as an ex-con (naturally), and Kensi and Deeks recognize him as a volunteer leaving the center they recently visited (what a coincidence) where there's a ceremony for 10 students and their families (all immigrants) that afternoon. So, while Kensi and Deeks evacuate the center, Callen and Sam search for and locate the two white supremacists, kill them, and prevent the attack on the center. It might sound more exciting than it was because of the casual pacing and the issues that were distracting and frankly, annoying.

One of the main problems with this episode was the ending. True, the team identified the scientist's murderer and prevented a bombing which would have killed some civilians, but they did NOT recover the goggles, something vital to national security. And yet, at the end, everyone packs up and prepares to go home. Even Kilbride is calm and unconcerned and has a philosophical attitude. There were other issues with the main case. For instance, it's discovered the white supremacists had fake passports and were preparing to leave the country. This, and the fact that they target a small, local center, is illogical. As mentioned in "Rage" (season 6), the goal of white supremacists is to "reclaim" America, so why would they leave? And they were just given $2 million dollars along with undetectable explosives and out of all the targets in the L.A. area--including federal and state agencies--they choose a small, local community center where probably fewer than 100 people will be attending a ceremony? Why not the subway or the airport or a government building? In addition, they use a detonator instead of a timer, but they're not within view of the center to confirm that everyone's arrived (or notice that it's being evacuated). But the weak storyline and leisurely pacing weren't the only problems. Two issues that have plagued the show for several seasons showed up again: the lack of consistency in characterization and a disregard, intentional or not, about what's happened in earlier seasons, including season 12. 

The conversation Deeks has with Sam at the beginning is an example of ignoring what's happened earlier. Both know Callen's personal history, so both know he's moved a lot in his life. Is this move going to be more difficult for him than any others? Doubtful. And why do neither Sam nor Deeks mention Anna when talking about Callen having to move? After all, she's been living with Callen since "The Circle," at least, that's what's been implied. The way the Callen-Anna relationship is treated (maybe mistreated is a better word) seems to depend entirely on the writer. And the conversation at the end of the episode between Callen and Deeks, while sweet, is another example of ignoring past events. Anyone who's watched the series knows that Callen lived in the home he bought in season 2 until season 9 (many more years than he's lived in the room above the bar). Also, when Deeks invited Callen to live in the room (way back in season 10), Callen accepted because Deeks offered it rent free. It's possible Callen paid rent, and if so, that would've been easily handled with a line or two of dialogue--if the writer cared as much about consistency as he did about a man cave and raw denim.

Kilbride, unfortunately, has been a prime example of inconsistent characterization since he arrived. He gets upset about trivial things--like hazelnut-flavored coffee--but is totally cool with the fact that the team has failed to find an item vital to national security. And his "I hate L.A." comment in response to Kensi's info about raw denim was silly since raw denim wasn't an "L.A." thing. After all, the best raw denim was made in Japan. But those weren't the only instances of inconsistent characterization or ignoring events in earlier episodes. During the interrogation of the Chinese academic, Sam states that he grew up working with his hands. When was that? As we learned long ago, his dad was a Marine, so he grew up a Marine brat and likely moved around quite a bit until he attended Keating, a military academy, and taking a shop class doesn't qualify as manual labor. Callen's lack of concern about the mix-ups with his doctor and bank was very out of character considering how he reacted when Finn stole the identity of one of his covers (not even his actual personal identity) and especially since he knows about the effort to create a Callen "deep fake." And why would Callen's annual physical be conducted virtually anyway? In addition, the fact that someone got the name of Callen's physician and bank would be enough to start an investigation because it would indicate a possible serious security breach for the entire OSP, and imitating a federal agent is also a federal crime. But he simply shrugs it off.

I still like the main team members enough to watch the show (and can even accept the newbies), but if the show's renewed and the writing continues to disappoint, season 13 may be my last. It's commendable that Gemmill is giving new writers a chance to write; it's a shame they're efforts are not more successful. This case storyline had potential, but like too many episodes the past few seasons, the writing got in the way.