NCIS: Los Angeles Review: Glasnost (Season 8 Episode 9)
G (Grisha) Callen is many, many things. Relatable is not typically one of them.
And yet, on NCIS: LA Season 8 Episode 9, titled “Glasnost,” that’s exactly the one word I’d use to describe our previously-mysterious, somewhat aloof and closed off team-leader.
Because, after eight seasons, it’s very, very easy to understand the betrayal and the hurt. It’s hard not to feel for the little boy who was left alone or for the man who grew up without knowing who he was.
However, it’s also next to impossible to leave it like that. To not want more for him.
Callen has never had a real family. He’s made one for himself out of the people who love him, Sam and his family, Hetty, even Kensi and Deeks, but he’s never had anyone who was only his.
Now he’s got a father. He’s got a sister. He’s got a nephew.
Where he goes from here is anyone’s guess, but if …having people means something. Sometimes, it means everything.
This the wisdom of Eric Beale. Yes, I did say Eric Beale.
We rarely get to see Eric do two things he does wonderfully in this episode – go out into the field and get to say the deep, important things. But, he is not only effective as something other than an intelligence analyst; his speech to Deeks might as well apply to everyone on the team.
Kensi’s got Deeks, and she’s got her mother and the team (her family), and that’s why she’ll pull through. Callen’s always had the team, but now he has something else, and he’s going to be just fine.
And so is NCIS: LA. In fact, they’re going to be more than fine. They’re going to be here telling important stories, emotional stories, for a long, long time to come.
Before, you might have dismissed this show as a mere procedural. You would have been wrong even then, NCIS: LA was always more than the case-of-the-week, but you’d be especially wrong now.
This show has heart – more heart than most shows on TV. This show has banter and laughs and deep, poignant moments, and you can relate, and yet not relate, because these people are better and worse and you’re on a journey with them, a journey that you hope never, ever ends.
How many seasons is this for the original NCIS? Fourteen? Let’s hope NCIS: LA keeps going for at least that long, if not more.
The writing’s good, the actors are superb and the characters are real people we care for, so why not?
Other things to note:
- Kensi might be feeling frustrated, but she’s walking, and considering how she started, that feels like a big thing.
- She’s also being her own goofy self in her interactions with Sullivan, another good sign.
- Which, was anyone saying thanks to the Gods old and new for the way the show handled the conversation between Deeks and Kensi about Sullivan? He’s not jealous, but in a way, he is. She’s not dismissing him, but in a way, she is. And yet, they still brought talked about it. Because that’s what mature, adult couples do.
- It’s very easy for a show in a situation like this to go for creating drama out of nothing. This show had, however, refrained from doing that in every opportunity when it comes to the Densi situation, and I couldn’t be happier with the way they’ve handled it.
- Eric’s never going to let go of the saving Deeks’ life thing. Never ever.
- Arkady’s a bastard. He was laughing in the background when Callen came face to face with his dad the first time.
- “Didn’t you do crossfit?”/ “That was Kensi, but she talked so much about crossfit it made me feel like I did it.” – Been there, Deeks. Been there.
- Hetty’s back and doing underhand and well-meaning things. I sorta missed her.
- Granger’s sick. Anyone surprised? I just hope he’s being dramatic about how serious it is. I suddenly can’t imagine this show without Granger.
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
12 comments
Great episode, great review, great season!!!!!
You summed it up perfectly, “the writing’s good, the actors are superb and the characters are real people we care for” . I look forward to your weekly reviews.
Thank you so much! It’s great to be loving the show so much and getting comments from people who feel the exact same 🙂
This was a terrific episode and I liked your review, but people often use “aloof” to describe Callen, but that’s not a word I would ever use for him. Aloof carries with it the connotation of being cold, unsympathetic, unfriendly, haughty. Callen has always cared about his team: he was the first to welcome Deeks, he risked his life in Syria to save Kensi, you could see how much he cared for Sam when he went to identify the body in Sudan, he gave all his money to save Hetty. Callen is definitely not aloof. He’s been hurt and felt alone all his life and had to build his own family. As for having a father, I wouldn’t describe Garrison as his “father.” What has Garrison ever done that a father would do? Nothing. He wasn’t even going to tell Callen that he was in L.A. He couldn’t come when Callen was shot and on life support, but he came for his lover and their daughter. Sorry, I think Garrison provides Callen with information but no emotional connection. And he has a half-sister and nephew he doesn’t know. It’s a start, but a very, very tiny start and one that may not lead anywhere.
I think you make a fair point re: the word aloof – I do think Callen cares, I just think he comes off as distant. And I also agree about his father – it’s not the same sense of family that Callen gets from the team, or even the possibility of his sister/nephew, but it’s answers, and I’m glad he at least gets that.
I think your reviews are much better than others that I’ve read. You seem to put a lot of thought into them and that’s wonderful. Thank you for taking the time because I agree with you that this show is much more than simply a procedural drama. 🙂
FYI, I just noticed that the tagline on your site shows NCIS: LA as airing on Mondays at 10. :-O
Oops! Thanks for that. I fixed it!
Nice review, but I don’t agree with your statement: ” . . . he’s [Callen’s] never had anyone who was only his. . . . Now he’s got a father. He’s got a sister. He’s got a nephew.” These people aren’t only his. Garrison came for Katarina and Alex and her son, not for Callen. And Alex and her son don’t even know Callen. How can they be only his? We don’t know yet if they will become part of Callen’s family–like Sam and Hetty and the rest of the team. Even Arkady is more family to Callen than these people.
I agree that the team – and even Arkady gets to be called family before his father – and even before the sister/nephew he’s never known. And I do think that one is ever just one person’s when it comes to affections – but this man, who’s biologically Callen’s father, is not someone he has to share with the team. Whether that results in a close relationship or not (and I’m not sure it will), they’re still a connection that I feel Callen needed.
What I love about NCISLA, though, is that it makes clear, time and time again, that family is the people that love you and choose to stick by you, not necessarily just your blood relations.
I agree with you about what NCIS: LA says about family. That’s one of the things I love about Hetty–she’s family to all of her people. Do you review episodes of NCIS: LA regularly?
I’m here talking NCISLA every week! 🙂
I love that about her too!
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