Season 14, Episode 19 -- "The Reckoning"

I'd love to say this was a perfect episode--and in many ways, especially the acting by Chris and Jere--it was excellent, but it wasn't perfect, and the element that kept it from perfection was the writing--again. While the scenes between Callen and Pembrook worked and the dialogue and Chris's acting brought out the anger and anguish and trauma Callen's lived with--much of it the result of the "training" in the Drona Program, the plot involving the other Drona "graduates" was muddled. So, while this led to some inconsistencies in the characters and confusion about what was going on outside the Callen--Pembrook action, the scenes between Callen and Pembrook remained the heart of the episode.This episode was  a continuation of "Sleeping Dogs," and, for all intents and purposes, wraps up the Drona story arc. The acting by Chris and Jere in their scenes made this one of the best episodes of the past few seasons, so while it wasn't perfect, it was far better than the majority of episodes have been lately. 

It wasn't entirely Military's fault that the plot had problems. "Sleeping Dogs," an episode earlier this season written by Bartels introduced the Beltran character and so needlessly complicated the plot. (This type of complication didn't happen under Brennan's tenure as showrunner; he kept story arcs focused on the characters involved in the conflict: Sam & Tahir, the team & Sidorov, Callen & the Comescus. This laser focus kept the actual plot of the story arc simple and focused on the main characters, and keeping the plot simple adheres to one of the recognized canons of drama: keep the plot simple and the characters complicated. The characters and how they react to each other and events, are the real drama.) Military was obligated to continue this plot, and he did a fairly good job, clearing up the role of Beltran and his reason for going after Pembrook which had nothing to do with a lawsuit or revenge for being a Drona subject. But Military's plot had a few problems, the very first being the meeting of former Drona subjects where 4 were killed. It wasn't that they met in a public space; it was that they met in a wide open public space surrounded by tall buildings that would give an enemy a clear shot at each and every one of them--which is exactly what happened. That was dumb and nothing a well-trained operative would do. Heck, even I wouldn't do that. (The helicopter seemed simply a convenient way to send Deeks out of L.A.) Kilbride knowing the football coach at USC was a stretch (How convenient that he just happened to know that college coach in L.A.) and completely unnecessary because as law enforcement, he could've gotten the information about the former player just as easily. I was also surprised Kilbride didn't already have a gun pointed at Cortes when he came into his office. It seemed unlike Kilbride to be unprepared when he knew Cortes was lying. And while it was dramatic to have Fatima kill Cortes, it might have been as productive to keep him alive and try to get a few answers. But Military might've written it that way to show Fatima was badass.

But these were minor issues, and there was plenty that was right with the episode. Aside from the initial deadly attack in Pershing Square, the rest of the action flowed fairly smoothly. It was nice to see Callen and Kensi work together; they've always had a special friendship, but that's been a casualty of her relationship with Deeks. (One of the aspects I like about other shows is that partners change up more often or the team works together more often than has been the case for the past few seasons of NCIS:LA, and Callen simply hasn't worked as much in the field as he used to.) In this episode, Kilbride and the rest of the team worked well together, and this was one of the very few times that Kilbride actually had Callen's back which was a nice change. CIA Officer Cortes was sketchy from the start, so Fatima was right to feel he wasn't being completely honest with them. The directing and editing were smooth and I was glad to not see any slow motion sequences. The pacing worked throughout and everyone--except Deeks--had nice scenes, Kilbride and Fatima having the most screen time after Callen and Pembrook. (It was nice to see Kilbride direct his snarky comments at someone other than a team member.)

The best scenes were the ones between Callen and Pembrook because they carried the most emotional weight; the other scenes simply moved the plot along. Both Chris and Jere shone in these scenes, and the scene in the van and the final scene between them were the most effective. It's not easy to exhibit feelings without a lot of bodily and verbal reaction, but Chris was able to show intense feeling often through his facial expressions and voice. And the dialogue throughout was better than it has been in too many episodes of late. This was one episode where silly conversations and juvenile humor would have been out of place, and fortunately, Military didn't include any. Even the typical Callen - Sam banter would've been unwelcome. Military kept the focus on Callen and Pembrook which is exactly where it should've been.

Military did his best work with Callen which was a pleasant surprise because none of the writers, including Military, have been consistent in writing Callen in recent seasons. Military did an excellent job of writing Callen in "Down the Rabbit Hole" but Callen in "Through the Looking Glass" was unrecognizable. In this episode, Military showed a man willing to take chances and put himself in danger because he's driven by his obsession to know his past and the role his mentor played in it. From the beginning of the series, Hetty and Callen have shared a close bond. That bond has been stretched and began to unravel under Gemmill to the point where it was being held together by a single thread. The writers had to find a way to restore what they had spent several seasons destroying, and this episode allowed them to, at least, begin the process. Unfortunately, because the series is ending, we won't be able to see these two complete the process of restoring their relationship--not that it could ever be the same after all the lies Hetty has told and the truths she's omitted. One thing this episode did show--and I'm not sure if it was intentional on the part of Military--was it showed that Callen was strong enough himself, that his character and innate goodness and empathy survived Pembrook's "training" and all the other obstacles and abuse he'd endured, to become a truly good man. Even though it had taken him years to be able to form personal relationships with others, he empathized with people--especially children--and tried to keep them from experiencing the pain and loss he'd experienced, and if he couldn't prevent it, he did what he could to lessen those feelings because he knew what it felt like to suffer from them. In this way, Callen showed that he was, and always had been, his own man; he wasn't "created" by anyone else, including Hetty.

But while this episode, intentionally or not, showed that Callen's own character and strength had enabled him to survive and build a life after Drona, the characterization and actions of Pembrook and the other former Drona subjects was a problem. First, Pembrook telling Callen he'd been following him for 35 years didn't work. If he'd done that AND been keeping track of all the other former Drona subjects, how did he have time to run any black ops? It wasn't as if Callen stayed in one place all those years. Which brings up the black ops Pembrook ran with some of his former subjects. (To me, it seemed odd that a man who was so regretful about his past actions--torturing children to break their humanity--would then have those same former children risk their lives working black ops.) I'm not sure what Military was trying to say. Was he trying to say that the former subjects who worked the black ops with Pembrook were broken or not broken by his "training"? Had they forgiven Pembrook for and accepted what he did (because they had to know who he was and what he'd done to them)? Or was Military saying that they survived the training and were somehow stronger and better for having gone through the training? Was that what Baer meant by his final comment to Callen, "He made us, for worse and for better." Was Baer saying that he was "better" for having been in the Drona Program? Was Military suggesting that Callen was somehow worse or not as good or as strong as the other Drona subjects who continued the training, or was he saying that even Callen was "better" for having been a subject in the Drona Program? Those interpretations seems to suggest that Pembrook's actions might have, in some way, benefited the children or country, and therefore were excusable (which reminds me of the earlier episodes he also wrote, "The Silo" and "The Patton Project" and the comment Kilbride made to Callen after giving him the file on Pembrook). But none of these work because nothing about the training Pembrook did was, or should be, acceptable. As Callen mentioned in an earlier episode, many of the children in the Drona Program whose files he'd found and was able to identify were dead, and some had committed suicide. And none of those he'd identified were leading "normal" lives. There were a few other things that didn't make sense. Baer told Callen that there were a lot of former Drona subjects which means Pembrook must've been involved in Drona for years since the training was conducted in small groups. This suggests that Callen was one of the first children selected because if the program had been going on for several years, Hetty certainly would've known what the program involved. It was also unbelievable that Hetty would share some of her deepest feelings with the man who'd tortured the boy she considered her "son." What mother, or father, would have any kind of relationship with the man who tortured one of their children? And, sorry not sorry, Military, but the idea that Pembrook was the one who suggested Sam Hanna to Hetty as a partner for Callen is so farfetched as to be laughable. So, not only was he keeping track of the former Drona subjects and running black ops with a team composed of some of them, he was also searching for a suitable partner for Callen because . . . he had so much free time? This was yet another alteration to Callen's (and even Sam's) backstory. It was a ridiculous attempt to "show" that lots of people were looking out for Callen during his life, even to the point of suggesting "friends" for him. Callen just didn't know that so many people cared about him because those 37 foster homes probably made him feel alone. It's interesting how almost desperate Gemmill seems about wanting Callen to have been cared for during his life even if all the things that happened to him didn't show that to be the case. It's as if Gemmill wants Callen to have not experienced the difficult childhood originally created by Brennan, but his efforts don't work because they're not logical and a character's background that's been established for 7 seasons can't be altered so dramatically. These rewrites don't work anymore than having Hetty tell everyone except Callen that she thinks of him as her son works. (When Brennan was showrunner, Hetty didn't need to "say" how she much she loved Callen because she risked her own life to save his.) Since S8, Hetty's really done nothing to show how much she cares for Callen If Gemmill really wanted viewers to know how much Hetty cares for Callen, he should've had her do something for him that would've shown that. I don't disagree that Hetty loves Callen like a son; it's just that Gemmill has done a very poor job of showing that Hetty feels that way. (On the other hand, he has done a good job of showing that Hetty cares for Nell and for Sam and for Kensi and Deeks, so he knows how to do it; he just hasn't done it for Callen.) One last thing: Pembrook always called Callen by his first name, Grisha. To me, that didn't suggest that he'd always known Callen's first name; to me, I felt that Pembrook used Callen's first name because Grisha was the polar opposite of the name he'd given Callen when in the Drona Program, Subject 17. It was Pembrook's way of humanizing Callen and completely obliterating Callen's identity as a Drona subject.

Aside from the few things that didn't work, the episode was very successful and emotional because it gave Chris wonderful scenes that let us see the complex emotions buried beneath his exterior (scenes that have been infrequent for Callen), as well as closure to the last piece of his personal history and Hetty's role in it. It was a wonderful way to set up the finale for the entire team. I hope both parts of the finale are even better.