NCIS: Los Angeles Review: High Value Target/Belly of the Beast (Season 8 Episodes 1 and 2)
Rationally, I knew it. Or at least, I expected it. The one/two punch of “High Value Target” and “Belly of the Beast” was going to bring heartbreak.
I just didn’t expect it to also bring laughs, feels and make me care for members of the NCIS: LA team I’d never really valued before.
The realities of TV made it necessary for Daniela Ruah’s character, Kensi Blye, to be put in a position where the actress could go on maternity leave. Since she’d already been sent away once, to Afghanistan in a top-secret mission, chances were this time, they’d go another route.
Boy, did they. And it hurts. It hurts badly.
Obviously, Kensi is going to survive. Deeks is going to get to propose. They’re going to have those kids they’ve talked about.
It just won’t be soon.
Right now, the Office of Special Projects is in disarray. Kensi is badly hurt, and she’ll surely be out of commission for a while. Duggan and Chen are still around, being unlikeable and pointing the finger at the people we care about.
Oh, and did I mention Hetty confessed to being the mole? Because Hetty confessed to being the mole.
I’ve had my issues with Hetty, but she’s obviously not the mole. There’s a plan in place here. Before confessing, Hetty sent Nell a text message, one that Nell has trouble deciphering.
Granger gets it, however. It’s chess moves. The Queen’s Gambit, sacrificing a pawn to gain an advantage.
What advantage would that be? For now, I’m at a loss. All I know is Nell is going all mini-Hetty and Granger is suddenly likeable.
Yeah, I know. I’m the one who doesn’t like Granger. I’m the one who never did.
But I guess we can all be made to eat our words.
Last year, NCIS: LA ended the season without a cliffhanger, without anyone’s life hanging in the balance and without any big drama. That meant we were due for all of those in the season premiere.
Here it is. They did it. The dropped a metaphorical bomb in the middle of the OSP offices and told us to brace.
Now, it’s time to see how they’re going to pick up the pieces.
Other things to note:
- “What can I say? I’m a romantic,” might just be the line where Granger officially won me over. I’ve always thought Miguel Ferrer a great actor; I just never cared for the character. I’m changing my tune.
- My Arrow loving heart had a brief flashback to Lian Yu when they mentioned The Queen’s Gambit, which, consequently, is the name of the next episode.
- The shot of Callen, Sam and Deeks at the end of the episode seems foreboding. Kensi will be gone for a while. Can the rest of the team band together in her absence, aka will I finally get some Callen/Deeks love?
- Please, Deeks, never, ever tell Kensi where that ring has been. I beg of you.
- Knowing there was no way Daniela Ruah was leaving the show didn’t make seeing Kensi hurt any easier.
- Also, how heartbreaking was Deek’s insistence that he was her fiancé and he should go with her?
- There was a plot to this episode. It was even a half-decent one. But, as often happens with this show, plot takes a backseat to characters.
What did you think of this week’s episode of NCIS: LA? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Reviewer rating:
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NCIS: LA airs Sundays at 8/7c 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
9 comments
I thought it was awesome. The story had great action, great teamwork. The acting was superb. As you said, although we knew something was supposed to happen to Kensi, it still was very emotional. I really like that the writers and the show are portraying Deeks and Kensi in a real relationship with real discussions, those scenes were so well done. Overall an outstanding premiere for their eighth season.
Foot ball cut the end off my recording of the episode. They are in the desert, Kensi hurt, AHA gone. How do they get back, get the bad guy back? Is Duggan an bad guy? Who is the mole? Captivated up to the point the episode ends prematurely, and I am desirous to know ,
This “review” isn’t one. One of the best things about this episode was that “Densi” took a backseat and the plot was finally more important. While some viewers are obsessed with “Densi,” the majority are not. Kensi is a terrific character and Deeks is so-so, but the BEST team members by far are Callen and Sam. Hetty is perfect, Granger came through, and the “secret squirrels” are the NCIS secret weapon! Looking forward to more good episodes, getting rid of Duggan and the mole, and the return of Hetty and Granger. If “Densi” gets married, okay; if not, okay–it’s really not a big deal (Callen and Anna are a more interesting couple).
I have to take exception with your comment that Deeks is “so so” and “some viewers are obsessed with Densi the majority are not”. I do not see how you can make a blanket statement like that without data. I started watching the show for Eric Christian Olsen ( Deeks) and I really like Densi. I have many friends both personal and on line who watch the show for Deeks and for Densi and they would stop watching if those characters left the show. I think the fact that the couple is getting engaged and they were featured prominently in the premiere ( in the past not so much) indicates TPTB understand Densi contributes a large number ( have no idea how much) to the fanbase.
The data that Densi is NOT the big viewer draw are the ratings. Densi has lots of fans, but many are not viewers in the US audience–which means little to advertisers who pay for the show. The ratings for Season 7 that focused on Densi were in the toilet–and Densi would, logically, be one of the primary reasons for the dismal ratings., so if the Densi fans stopped watching, there are probably plenty of other fans who stopped watching because of that BORING couple who would return as viewers (especially guys). As for Deeks, he’s a sexist jerk most of the time and a major bore IMO (obviously), and Hetty is “perfect” as a character, which means she has flaws but is “perfect” in the role as Operations Manager.
Well once again, I do not know where you get your data . In season 7, “Internal Affairs” had 9.52 million viewers, this was a Deeks centric episode and “Come Back” had 10.06 million viewers, which featured a Densi story. There were 24 episodes in season 7, and 17 of those episodes had ratings lower than the two I just mentioned. As a matter of fact in season 2, “Personal” which featured a Deeks centric episode was one of the highest watched NCIS episodes of all seven seasons . To your other point there are many international viewers of this show and that is a credit to all of the cast of the show. There are many Deeks/Densi fans that are in the US, like me.You can check out Tumblr ( use #densi) and also check WikiDeeks , for Deeks fans. I really do not understand your hostility, it is a great show, with a great cast, and something for everyone.
As for being featured “prominently I the premiere,” the biggest takeaway from that was that Deeks is basically useless; if not for Callen and Sam, Kensi would be dead.
I agree with Stefanie that Deeks is my favorite character, and I wouldn’t watch the show without him. I also love Sam and Granger, but they’re not enough to keep me coming back week after week. Ironically, I was just starting to warm up to Callen after all these years when they paired him up with Anna, whom I can’t stand.
By the way, I am not a shipper. I have no idea how many of us Deeks fans are not Densi fans, but I suspect there are plenty of us who would like to see more character development for Deeks totally independent from his relationship with Kensi.
Also, I have to disagree with NCIS Fan’s assessment that Hetty is perfect. Her actions over the years show her as the self-centered manipulator that she is, even toward the team that she is supposed to be protecting and supporting.
Alluded to above….why is it that my TV signal provider (Directv) can’t record the shows I want WHEN THEY ARE ON? Why are they stuck with some version of “The network told us the show was going to be on at eight o’clock, so that is when we recorded”???
All season long, we are forced to record 8 p.m. CBS shows from 8 until 10; the 9 p.m. show from 9 until 11, etc. to be reasonably sure to get the whole recording. Sometimes, we watch the end of the 8 p.m. show at the beginning of what was supposed to be the 9 p.m. show. etc. etc.
Then, to compound things, CBS wants you to go to their ‘all access’ site and pay for the privilege of watching these episodes online. But, wait, it doesn’t work if you computer or browser has ‘ad-ware’ blockers or ‘pop-up’ blockers….What a crock.
I know that making websites work for all the different browsers has been, and continues to be, I suppose, a major programmer’s headache. Still…
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