NCIS: Los Angeles Review: Angels and Daemons (Season 7 Episode 13 )

Sometimes, watching NCIS: LA is like riding a bike. Despite the ups and down, you’re sitting down, you’re comfortable, and you can go for hours.

Was this their best episode ever? No. Was it the worst? No episode that has Callen in a hover board can ever be considered the worst. After a few intense episodes and a ton of feels, NCIS: LA went back to what it does best – banter, some flirting, undercover shenanigans and light, easy, fun. They got the bad guys, saved the day, kept the explosions to a minimum.

They even had a slide.

And, in a wonderful departure from years past, they managed to maintain the team dynamic, and even build on it.

This is no longer just the Callen/Sam and Kensi/Deeks show. Though Granger and Hetty remain on the periphery, the rest of the group has now gone past assigned partners to become somewhat of a family. And that means they can all gang up on Callen when he’s been stalkerish with his ex-girlfriend. That means Kensi and Deeks can take Nell out into the field, and tease her. That means Eric can be more than just a guy who relays information.

Procedural? Yes. I guess that describes this show. There’s a blueprint, and they stick to it. But it’s hard to feel like everything’s formulaic when Chris O’Donnell looks like a kid in a hover board, and LL Cool J is pouting about his partner driving alone to work. It’s hard to be bored when Eric Christian Olsen and Daniela Ruah give off enough sparks to light up a football stadium. It’s hard to change the channel when Barrett Foa and Renée Felice Smith are looking so adorable that you just want to hug them.

What makes a show like this work is more often than not, the actors. Not the writing, not even the characters, but what the people who play them put into the role. And these people clearly put everything into it.

That’s why, seven years later, they’re still a delight to watch.

Other things to note:

• How hard is it to put on the gloves, Callen? How hard?
• Why do they always run? Why? Will we ever get a bad guy who cooperates? If Sam tried to arrest me I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t resist.
• I hope this Joelle thing is going somewhere, because, otherwise, they’ve invested too much time in making me wonder about where this is going.
• They say daemon, I think of Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials Trilogy. Apparently, it’s something else.
• Did I misunderstand what the daemon does? How exactly can you put it into Twitter?
• Callen is pretty good on that hover board.
• Sam’s angle to Jessica was pretty darn good. He convinced ME.
• I’ve been waiting for like seven seasons for someone to kill a witness/potential suspect while Kensi and Deeks flirted. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened before.
• I’m 150% over criminals explaining their thinking after they’re caught. Every procedural does this, and it needs to stop. That’s not how real life works. Ask any cop.
• Granger Watch: Still meh.
• I get the feeling I’m going to hate Hetty again as soon as next episode. She really loves playing God, doesn’t she?

What did you think of this week’s episode of NCIS: LA? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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NCIS: LA airs Mondays at 10/9c on CBS.

Lissete Lanuza Sáenz

Lawyer. Writer. Columnist. Geek. Falls in madly in love with fictional characters. Hates the color yellow, misogyny, and people who are late. Can always be found with a book. Watches an absurd amount of TV every week, often, while eating coffee ice cream. She has no regrets. You can check out her blog here: Absurday. Lissete is a senior writer for Tell-Tale TV. Follow @lizziethat