NCIS: Los Angeles

It was another case with more questions than answers.

The team finally came together and chased down Anna and her captors on NCIS: Los Angeles Season 12 Episode 14.

For the first time in a long while, they acted as a unit with everyone showing up to rescue Anna.

It was a fun change of pace, with lots of action and very little OSP angst.

But first, let's address the elephant in the room: It appears Hetty is done.

The way the team performed in her absence required Admiral Kilbride to head to his least-favorite city rather than go on vacation.

He made clear that part of that was the squad's hubbub had caused through its interactions with other alphabet law-enforcement agencies.

Much of that was on Hetty, who had her fingers in everybody's pies. She knew people everywhere and didn't hesitate to use her contacts to accomplish her goals, whatever those might be.

Whoever put Hetty in her ...
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Someone has gotten exactly the result that he or she wanted. The question remains who.

Anna did the noble thing sacrificing herself to save Joelle and was in a world of trouble when NCIS: Los Angeles Season 12 Episode 13 ended.

But the question that has yet to be answered is who exactly has her.

Someone wearing a dog/wolf mask and using a voice scrambler abducted Joelle as a way of flushing out Anna.

But so little of this storyline adds up. Why take Joelle rather than someone important to Anna such as Arkady or Callen? Yeah, that about covers the people who matter to Anna.

What did make sense was someone feeding intel to the suspicious Carlson that Callen was a Russian spy, to keep him busy while this plot was being hatched to capture Anna.

It's also likely that a mole on the American side is helping whoever is after Anna.

But I'm beginning to think that Katya is a red herring since we have y...
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It wouldn't be Callen if he weren't having woman trouble.

Not just one but two girlfriends popped up in different capacities on NCIS: Los Angeles Season 12 Episode 12.

For those keeping score, that was one ex and one ... what is Anna these days? 

Definitely trouble. Beyond that, it will have to wait until the couple has a quiet moment that doesn't involve a couple of other law-enforcement agencies.

It was amazing that the tail Callen hadn't been able to locate for a couple of episodes finally got caught by him. Did they suddenly forget how to handle surveillance?

What a convenient coincidence that on the same day that Callen nabbed his tail, Hetty popped up from her hidey-hole long enough to send Nell, who finally reappeared without explanation, a coded message of danger.

So the team was nearly immediately going in two seemingly unrelated directions, Callen on a personal mission and the rest following u...
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What was that?

Somebody attempted to out Callen as a Russian double agent on NCIS: Los Angeles Season 12 Episode 11.

It was simple to understand why the humorless DOJ Special Agent Carlson might suspect Callen of divided loyalties, especially when she laid out all his connections to Russia.

Plus, Callen's name is Russian (actually half Russian, half Romanian), but all Commie, right?

All Callen has to do to complete her mental picture of him is to threaten moose and squirrel.

But seriously. If Kilbride can accept Callen with his suspect ancestry, shouldn't anyone be able to?

A couple of disparate threads that were tossed out on NCIS: Los Angeles Season 12 Episode 1 resurfaced.

One was the ancient Russian jet that somehow snuck into U.S. airspace which Callen allowed to be blown up by its determinedly patriotic crewmen.

Callen made a judgment call that allowing two young crewmen who ...
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Kam's fate was finally made clear.

Sam was on the rampage throughout NCIS: Los Angeles Season 12 Episode 10.

Kam was abducted way back on NCIS: Los Angeles Season 12 Episode 9, which aired sometime between New Year's Day and when Tom Brady won another Super Bowl.

Count your blessings, though, as this is the first of three consecutive new NCIS: Los Angeles episodes.

It's almost like binging. OK, make that snacking. But there's a low bar for new network content this year.

So Kam's renewed appearances this season seem mainly to remind Sam of Michelle's abduction and subsequent death back on NCIS: Los Angeles Season 8 Episode 23.

Well, that's great for someone who is just starting to live life again outside of NCIS.

Oh, yeah, and to force him to realize that he doesn't know Kam at all.

Just when it seemed that she was going to become another chip off the military block.

Mayb...
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That wasn't a bad place from which to head into another hiatus.

As one storyline reached its inevitable conclusion, two other mysteries popped up on NCIS: Los Angeles Season 12 Episode 9.

Sabatino ended up leaving town largely empty-handed. Then again, he wasn't even supposed to be there in the first place.

So no harm, no foul.

Obviously, his presence was no great secret as Kilbride was aware of Sabatino's being in town and tracking down the counterfeit superbills.

He was great as the butt of jokes, both by Kensi and the goth store owner. It was possible to see Sabatino as a suburban dad going through a midlife crisis.

It was hilarious to think that Sabatino was an aspiring heavy-metal musician before joining the CIA, quite the career change.

All that time with Deeks has allowed Kensi to roll with whoever her partner is on a given day.

The superbills case certainly took a dogleg tu...
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Really? A two-parter?

Well, at least NCIS: Los Angeles Season 12 Episode 8 had a case of the week with some meat to it, unlike NCIS: Los Angeles Season 12 Episode 7, which had a lot of character catch-up with a dollop of casework thrown in.

While the storyline felt a bit inflated, carrying over into a second episode, the upside is that it means more Sabatino.

There can never be too much Sabatino, who is one of the series' best recurring characters.

It's great to have someone who doesn't take himself too seriously.

I mean, look at that hairstyle. What kind of undercover work requires a man bun?

Sabatino was brutal with everyone he ran into at OSP, most especially Sam and Callen. The humorous banter flew among the three of them.

It's simple to understand why, as a CIA officer, Sabatino doesn't surface more on the show.

First off, the CIA isn't supposed to be working domestically desp...
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It was time again for that quarterly episode detailing what all the team members are up to and/or feeling.

There was even a little case of the week tucked inside NCIS: Los Angeles Season 12 Episode 7.

Muy poco.

That's all right, though. It wasn't meant to focus too deeply on the implications of cybernetic soldiers.

This was mainly to advance the storyline that Deeks is about to become a probie.

This is too bad because Roundtree has been doing such an admirable job of being everyone's inexperienced punching bag. Even Fatima's since the concept is that she's so much older than Roundtree.

Nah, she's just been around longer and has gotten settled in at OSP. Plus, she's supremely confident, even more so than the oft-cocky Roundtree. Surviving capture by terrorists will do that for you.

Unfortunately, Martinez's interviews for Deeks' applications for FLETC weren't all they could have been. We saw h...
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Of course, this holiday episode was full of Christmas miracles.

We got to meet the former foster brother who had the most impact on Callen on NCIS: Los Angeles Season 12 Episode 6.

The rest of the team got to face challenges as well.

After hearing veiled references to Callen's 30-plus foster homes, it was fulfilling to meet someone who was there to experience young G.

Using flashbacks to young Ray and callow Callen was an effective way to explain their back story.

How pray tell did Hetty learn of Raymond and Paula's arrest for drug smuggling from whatever patch of the jungle she's been visiting? Or is that just a Zoom background?

She truly is the poster woman for remote work.

And having to supply Linda Hunt with only one outfit for six episodes has got to be beneficial for the production budget.

It was heartbreaking when Raymond didn't even recognize Callen after Callen so fondly r...
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It's change time for Kensi and Deeks.

The couple was at the heart of NCIS: Los Angeles Season 12 Episode 4 and NCIS: Los Angeles Season 12 Episode 5.

The first episode was lighthearted; the second not so much.

The life shifts are coming fast and furious at them.

First came Deeks' position as liaison to NCIS being temporarily suspended.

Then came a bid on a house, followed by talk about fertility treatments.

That's just what they need, the tension of house-hunting followed by the pressures of attempting to become parents.

Add in his unemployment and being bar owners during the pandemic and they have every reason to be tense.

Why not instead tackle one major life moment at a time, rather than a different one each episode? It doesn't take much to push Deeks into a manic episode.

Does anybody truly believe that Deeks' departure from OSP will be permanent?

W...
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