Turmoil beset the team of NCIS: LOS ANGELES last year by the
end of the season when it was discovered there was a mole in the organization,
someone working against the team in their own group. For a series that depends
largely on the concept of team as surrogate family it was a devastating blow.
This season picked up where that left off with a number of episodes revolving
around the search for that mole and the attempt to keep the group together.
This search for the mole leads to storylines that go from
Callan (Chris O’Donnell) having to involve himself with the father he
discovered was still alive previously to Hedy (Linda Hunt) disappearing and
going rogue. But she’s not the only one as Sam (LL Cool J) goes off on his own
occasionally, especially when a terrorist from his past abducts his wife and
televises her potential death to Sam and the team.
But not all things this season revolve around the most
terrible events. Team partners Kensi and Deeks (Danieala Ruah and Eric
Christian Olsen) further their personal relationship and romance to the point
of near nuptials. As if one romance on the team wasn’t enough we begin to see
that Beale and Nell (Barrett Foa and Renee Felice Smith) are on their own
romantic journey as well, something that fans have been looking to have happen
for some time now. They both have a chance to get out from behind their
computers and into the field this season as well.
Perhaps the most disturbing thing to take place this season
though revolves around the real life passing of co-star Miguel Ferrer’s
untimely death. As Owen Granger his first appearances were more as an adversary
to the team, a fly in the soup that was Hedy’s well-oiled machine. That role
changed with him becoming more of a curmudgeonly mentor and ally with each year
he was on the show. Wounded early on this season we see him hospitalized and
eventually he disappears, a more fitting tribute to the character than a sudden
death would have been. Perhaps that’s a more fitting exit than a contrived
explanation of his passing.
Another potential change in the show that’s developed over
the past few seasons is what appears to possibly be a new addition to the team,
if not full time at least part time. Bar Paly returns as Anna Kolcheck, the
daughter of the sometimes adversary sometimes ally Arkady Kolcheck. Her skills
as an operative in the past find her working alongside the team and the
potential romance with Callan lingers just below the surface.
As with all ensemble dramas on CBS, as I’ve noted in similar
reviews, this one takes those situations where we have a group of people untied
for a common goal and turns them into the surrogate family I spoke of. All of
them seem to have damaged pasts but find a home with the team that they’ve
become a part of. It’s not just a job to them where they feel interchangeable.
These characters truly care about one another and it helps the dynamic of the
show. While difficult decisions must be made, some that may involve the loss of
life, none are made carelessly or treating those involved as simple cogs in a
machine.
Of course none of this works if the actors involved are not
up to the challenge. This series requires a certain amount of physical level on
it to work well but also requires those involved to bring across scenes of
emotion with as little dialogue as possible at times. It’s one thing for
someone like Callan to be withdrawn from the group knowing his past as fans do
but it’s another to see the walls he’s created around his life slowly
deteriorate with each passing season with this team.
While there are several NCIS series on CBS each has its own
identity and underlying theme. The original series feels like it revolves
around the usual fare of television mystery with a crime committed, more often
than not murder, which the team must solve. NCIS NEW ORLEANS revolves around
the location in a sense of history, protective attitudes of the team, political
corruption and terrorism due to the ports involved. LOS ANGELES has always been
more of an international threat styled show. In large part that’s due to the
makeup of the city, a place where people of all countries can gain access and
entry to ours. Each show has their own sense of character and style which in
the end helps keep them separate and interesting. Let’s just hope that they all
continue on for some time forward.
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