Monday, December 21, 2020

NCIS NEW ORLEANS SEASON 6: CH-CH-CH-CHANGES

 

  

Of the various NCIS programs perhaps none has gone through as many changes in fewer seasons than NCIS NEW ORLEANS. None of the changes have been bad and all have revolved around story elements that play out well. The end result is making this version one that involves as much the cast of characters as it does the storylines.

Team leader Dwayne Pride (Scott Bakula) this season is once more in charge of the New Orleans office of NCIS. He has stepped down from a larger position which ill-suited him and returned to where he belongs. At the same time he is plagued by dreams and visions, most likely induced by the chemicals he was injected with last season.

Hannah Khoury (Necar Zedegan) is now second in charge and adjusting. It gives her more time to spend with her daughter. Tammy Gregorio (Vanessa Ferlito) is solidifying her spot in the team. Patton Plame (Daryl “Chill” Mitchell) proves his worth. Medical examiner Loretta Wade (CCH Pounder) still worries about the whole team. Ex-forensics and recent agent Sebastian Lund (Rob Kerkovich) is proving he has what it takes to be in the field. And new agent Quentin Carter (Charles Michael Davis) though a qualified agent is still in the middle of proving himself to the rest of the team this season.

But there is a big change this season in the episode entitled “Matthew 5:9”. In this episode fan favorite agent Christopher LaSalle (Lucas Black) is shot and killed. This left the opening for Carter to step in full time. It also provided a thread throughout several episodes involving the search and conviction for LaSalle’s killer.

Sebastian decides he wants to improve himself as an agent and attends Regional Enforcement Action Capabilities Team (REACT) training. This could lead to his leaving and joining that group and was something he talked about last season. Or it could just improve him in his current position.

One thing that has made this series slightly different than the rest is the character of Pride. Each season something has affected him be it his past or position of being an honest man in a den of wolves be they the city of New Orleans or D.C. bureaucrats. This season the dreams that plague him involving a man in a red suit lead him to finding help from a psychiatrist and a possible reason for the dreams.

Another item involving Pride is his relationship with Rita Deveraux (Chelsea Field). She moved to D.C. to work in the Pentagon but by the end of this season it appears she’s moving back to New Orleans which means we’ll have more scenes involving the two this next season. With Field and Bakula being real life husband and wife this could get interesting.

The creole seasoning of the series involving locations and customs lends it a certain flavor that makes it all its own. That’s a good thing and part of the reason the show has gained a following over the years it’s been on. When I saw the cover here I was stunned to realize it had been on six seasons already. My hope is like the rest it will continue on. It’s one of the better shows on TV and one that will be revisited by fans on disc now.

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