Season 14, Episode 3 -- "The Body Stitchers"

 

As always, this review includes spoilers, so if you haven't watched the episode, you may not want to read this. Having said that, if you also thought this episode was one of the best you've seen, you also may not want to read this. I'm not making apologies, but as I've stated before, the two most important elements for me in a show--including NCIS:LA--are the writing and the acting. Unfortunately, while the acting by the main cast (and usually the guest actors) is up to par, the writing too often isn't, and this is one of those episodes where the writing isn't.

Even though NCIS:LA is drama, because it's based on an actual government agency and because viewers are familiar with basic criminal and investigative procedures, the writer needs to be especially conscious of those when writing for a show like this, particularly if the episode--like this episode was--is almost entirely focused on the crime, its execution and investigation. This is a sequel to an episode from season 9, "The Monster," and that episode also had some writing problems, and the writing problems continued in this episode, but there were also some things that worked.

One of the things that worked had nothing to do with the case. It was Sam's dad. His character is a wonderful addition, creating a nice window into Sam's personal life and introducing a storyline that is both complex emotionally and fairly common: dealing with an aging parent. And so far, the writers have done a good job of integrating this character into episodes. The actors play off each other well, and the new wrinkle--Raymond's friendship with Arkady--seems natural given their temperaments and offers writers the opportunity for some memorable scenes. I only hope the writers give us a chance to see the two men together, maybe having a night out at Vldlena's.

Once the case got going, we saw several familiar faces and some new ones. "The Monster" was the last time we saw Agent Rand and the four killers, and it was nice to see that the producers were able to get most of the actors for this sequel (the actor playing the female killer, Cindy, was new). Rand's always worked well with the team and she did again in this episode. She's also always been a serious, professional agent, but then, she's always worked with the team on disturbing cases. This time she partnered with Kensi while Deeks partnered with FBI Agent Collins, a new character. Meanwhile, Callen was out of town for an unknown reason. (It's a little annoying that the writers have Kensi out of town on assignment, Deeks out of town training or in Guatemala, Sam out of town taking his dad to a specialist, but the only reason they send Callen out of town is to be with Anna--multiple times--or, in this episode, for no specific reason. Do better, writers.)  Since OSP doesn't have a regular technical operator, Fatima and Rountree spent most of the episode in ops which was okay because somebody had to do that work and they work well together.

The directing also added to the mood of the episode with a variety of shots and angles and lighting. But while some viewers found this episode especially creepy--and the crime and the criminals are definitely creepy--I had too many questions while watching it to feel creeped out.

My questions (and these are not in any particular order):

• Sam noticed freezer burn on a body part, so where and how did the criminals freeze body parts when needed, especially when they were "performing" in different places, even different countries? And nobody tried to followed up on this information?
  
• Sam and Deeks questioned Mike Jeffries, who had already been investigated by LAPD because he was a suspect in the death of a woman (Stacy). He became a suspect when he was seen with Stacy the night she was murdered. This was confusing: If Jeffries murdered her for body parts to use in creating the body in the opening scenes, wouldn't the DNA from some of the body parts confirm that Stacy was murdered and make Jeffries the prime suspect? If her body parts weren't used in the created body or the DNA hasn't been identified yet, her body must've already been found by LAPD for them to begin a murder investigation which would mean Jeffries killed her for no particular reason unless parts of her body were missing when her body was found.
• The murder investigation gave the LAPD a warrant to tap Jeffries' phone, and they recovered a text message and photo about the "performance." I wondered why the LAPD or FBI didn't do a phone dump on his phone to see if there were earlier incriminating messages. Jeffries didn't have a personal computer law enforcement could search for incriminating information?
  
• It was unbelievable that the LAPD wouldn't know about Jeffries' mother who'd recently moved in with him (after all, the manager knew she'd moved in and the LAPD surely would've questioned the manager when determining whether or not Jeffries had an alibi for Stacy's murder and done a background check). And it seems likely that LAPD would've done a wellness check since they'd want to speak to her.
  
• Jeffries tells Sam and Deeks that he bought a ticket for the "performance" but didn't attend; his mother did. Later, when Kensi and Rand speak to the manager, he tells them Jeffries' mother recently had a stroke and is an invalid, but they don't share this detail with Sam and Deeks.If they had, wouldn't Sam and Deeks have had a clue that Jeffries was lying? There needs to be better communication.
• Neither the LAPD nor the FBI could get a search warrant for Jeffries' home, even after finding the text message and photo and even though the FBI has been searching for this group of killers for at least 5 years? That didn't make sense.
• Do BAU agents work alone? It seems unlikely, but if Collins was the only BAU agent working this case, how did he help the criminals kidnap the living victim the FBI and NCIS agents rescued? The victim was only kidnapped after Rand and Collins arrived in L.A. (because Collins was present at the kidnapping). Was Collins simply able to slip away unnoticed for an hour or two? 
• The NCIS and FBI agents arrive at the location of the upcoming "performance," but SWAT won't be arriving for 30 minutes. There are LAPD officers in Woodland Hills and the surrounding areas (same with LA Sheriffs). Was there a reason the FBI didn't request LAPD assistance, at least to setup roadblocks? And why not block all the outside emergency exits before beginning the search since the general public isn't inside, so the killers and their paying audience can only leave by the main entrance?
• The method of searching the premises didn't make sense. The agents know the killers will be putting on a "performance" and the photo shows they've setup on a stage. Why check the areas behind the theater auditoriums like Deeks and Collins did before finding the theater they're using?
  
• When the NCIS agents are questioning the man they've rescued from the killers, he tells them there was a man in charge whose voice he heard but whose face he didn't see, but it doesn't occur to any of the agents to ask Collins--who's sitting right behind them--to ask if he might have insight about this leader based on his study of this group?
• In the deal Rand makes with Justin, the FBI will take him into custody and let him call "Vincent," but nobody thinks to shoot him with a taser when the elevator doors open? He doesn't have a hostage, so nobody's in danger if they do. And who pushed the button that sent the elevator to that floor? Justin was standing several feet away, so it wasn't him, and elevators don't run between floors automatically.
• And since when is kaleidoscope used to find something in surveillance footage? Sam knows when the agents went to the theaters; he would look it up by time code.
  

These weren't the only questions I had, but the ones that bothered me the most while I watched the episode. I realize these questions might seem minor to some viewers, but when things in the plot or with the characters don't make sense to me, it's not easy to ignore them. I also had a problem with Sam's comments about the killers "manipulating" the investigation in their earlier encounter with NCIS because they didn't manipulate as much as the agents didn't do a very good job of investigating (a problem with the writing). Boy, did Fatima crack that password quickly and without using any tech tool. And if it wasn't obvious to a viewer earlier in the episode that Collins was "Vincent," it became glaringly obvious when he called out, "This is FBI Agent Collins."  Why include your name unless you're trying to let someone know who you are? It also seemed odd that when Kilbride got a report of a possible domestic terrorist attack on Seal Beach, he only had one NCIS agent respond, but when it turned out that only information from a previous case was being requested, I wondered why Sam didn't show up at the theaters to participate in the search. How long could it take to share details of a case that might not have been in the case file? Did he have to go to Seal Beach? And the comment by the woman in custody about no one forgetting what they've done somehow justifying their actions was when I wished Sam had replied that remembering something doesn't mean that the something is worth remembering (Sam would know that's true because he'll never forget Michelle's death). As I mentioned earlier, it was nice the producers could get three of the original actors from "The Monster" to reprise their killer roles (and, of course, Agent Rand), but it really wasn't necessary. The individual members of the group never really mattered; after all, the writer killed two of them and the third was captured, so when/if we next see them, the group will likely have a few new members.

The cast of NCIS:LA has been the most reliable element of the show during its fourteen seasons, and the writing in the early seasons was consistently good. After season 7, the writing's been uneven--often episodes have been excellent in both plot and character depiction and development--but there have been many episodes in recent seasons that don't meet that threshold. This episode had the possibility of being a terrific sequel or an exciting stand alone episode on its own, but fell short.And regardless of the level of experience a writer has, it's not a lot to ask that writers who are paid to write an episode for a show on a major network produce work that stands up to scrutiny by viewers.

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