NCIS: Los Angeles Review: Golden Days (Season 8 Episode 22)
Next week it’s going to get intense on NCIS: LA. This week is just fun.
NCIS: LA Season 8 Episode 22 “Golden Days” contrasts our three old-timers with Callen, Sam and Kensi just as it sets up a story-line for Deeks that will probably not pay any dividends till next season, and it does so without being over-the-top or getting preachy.
Because yes, we understand Callen, Sam and Kensi’s reticence. We even share it. And yet, as an unbiased audience, we can also see the appeal of having more people at your disposal, especially when you’re down one.
Sometimes you just have to find a happy middle – especially with Hetty’s friends.
And yes, we see Whiting’s game. We don’t like it, but we see it. And though we’re not really crazy about Deeks being a spy – we know this is a long game, we know this probably ends with Deeks in the OSP for good.
Which, let me just say, is long overdue.
I’ve always enjoyed NCIS: LA, even in the dark pre-Deeks days, and though I’ve felt the show has had its up and downs, like any long-running show, I can now say unequivocally that it feels like, eight seasons in, they’ve finally figured out how to exploit all characters, shine a spotlight on every relationship and advance plot without sacrificing characterization.
Yes, I am saying it – NCIS: LA is the best it’s ever been, and though I know eight seasons look like a steep climb if you’ve never watched this show, I can only say this: You’ll fall in love with these people if you give them a chance.
Not just because the actors are good (which, they are) or because the chemistry is on point (and it’s visible to the naked eye), but because the show’s foundation is something so rare in the current TV landscape that, when you say it, you just need to hang on to it, you need to support it.
Good writing.
And not just that, but consistent writing, respectful writing, writing that can shine the spotlight on and OTP without fearing that makes the show less and can give a female character a difficult and emotional journey without painting her as just the victim.
Writing that can make you re-discover love for characters you’d once dismissed, or even for characters you actively disliked. Writing that can make you excited to tune in every week.
The hiatus is coming. NCIS: LA will close out its season eight with a two-part season finale that’s bound to make me feel all the things. After that’s done, while we all suffer from the long wait, you can make a smart choice – you can start binge-watching this gem of a show.
Just a warning – at first, it’s going to seem like just a procedural. Just stick with it and you’ll discover it’s truly so much more.
Other things to note:
- “We’re just like that couple in Flip and Flop” “Aren’t they divorced” “Yeah, but our love is so much stronger than their love, just like our flipping abilities.”
- Over seven years as partners and more than two as a couple and Kensi and Deeks still make each other laugh.
- I’m gonna be honest, Deeks not lying about Whiting makes him even more attractive, and he was wearing that muscle tee so he was already very attractive.
- Times sure have changed, and I’m kinda glad. I like my federal agents worrying about my rights, TV or not.
- I just realized how much Callen/Chris O’Donnell favors blue. Can’t say I blame him, the color looks good on him.
- Kensi and Deeks are relationship goals. Did I mention that?
- I’m pretty sure Kensi did mean it about breaking him out of prison and living life on the lam. I’m also pretty sure this is the beginning of a storyline that’ll take a huge hunk of Season 9 and will end up with Deeks finally leaving the LAPD and becoming an NCIS: LA agent, which, let me tell you, it’s about time.
- You know what’s also about time? THE PROPOSAL.Is this really going to happen in an episode that’s all about Michelle Hanna?
- The 2-part season finale looks INTENSE.
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 Sundays at 8/7c on CBS.
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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
7 comments
I thought this was another great episode, I agree with you season 8 is really wonderful. I thought Eric Christian Olsen was awesome in his scenes with Daniela Ruah and Karina Logue. The Deeks/Kensi relationship has been developed so well this season, I cannot wait for the proposal. I also think the dynamic between Deeks and Whiting works so well, it is wonderful to see the show hire a competent woman who can act, and make the scenes with Eric Christian Olsen so intense.Good job show! I I am looking forward to season 9 and the implications of Deeks having to do work for Whiting.
Season 8 has been great, with such character development for Kensi. I really don’t care about Deeks and Kensi’s engagement (I’m sure it will happen soon I just don’t want it to detract from the crime procedural the show is).
This show frequently hires extremely competent women who can act so Karina Logue is not the exception to this, but a consistency in the quality of guest actors that appear every episode.
I agree about the development of Kensi and to me, the engagement is no big deal (it’s a crime show not Days of Our Lives). It’s also true that the show has hired many competent actors–men and women–for guest roles (I think that was a not to subtle jab at Bar Paly), including the roles of Talia and FBI Special Agent Rand (although FBI Agent Morris in Battle Scars was just too cutesy for my taste).
I couldn’t disagree more. This episode had horrible writing. These old geezers (and those are the only polite words that come to mind to describe them) are worse than annoying; they demonstrate no respect for the law, NCIS, or the residents of LA. Maybe they’re too old to remember, but they’re not in Vietnam anymore; they’re in a major U.S. city and they put the word out “on the street” that a guy has $40 million in gold–knowing full well the havoc and deaths this will cause. They feel they deserve respect because of their past deeds and service? Fine, but they deserve to do more than community service if they continue to act as irresponsibly as they do in this episode. I’m all for fun–and NCIS: LA has had plenty of “fun” episodes–but to consider copious amounts of dead bodies and the horrific torturing of a person to death “fun” indicates . . . I don’t know what.And ignoring them just indicates “selective” criticism. I do love Whiting; I think she is a great antagonist because she gets the better of Deeks so often (she really had him going this episode), and although she’s not likable, she’s professional and seems to be a good cop. IMO, Deeks is getting off easy if Whiting is willing to close her investigation of him if he helps her. And I hope they don’t start a storyline with Deeks until they finish the others they already have going. As for Kensi and Deeks, there’s no question they’re in love, but this is the third or fourth time this season Deeks has talked about doing another job. Looking forward to the last two episodes (super intense), Anna coming back next season, and COD wearing blue every episode!
If Whiting doesn’t drop the case, then Deeks will go to prison. And if he went to prison then
that would mean Deeks left the show. The only way for Deeks to stay on the show is for him to stay out of prison. With his confession he would not win in a trial. Gibbs on the mother ship was let go by Macey.
I like all the actors who played the vets (especially the character of AJ), but the story was abysmal. I guess the writers were trying to highlight the differences between the “old ways” and the “new ways,” but they did a much better job of this in the scenes between Callen and his dad in Old Tricks. In those scenes, Garrison didn’t come off as a caricature; in this episode, the old guys did. Some of the partner scenes were good (the promise between Callen and Sam was the best), but those were too few. The reminiscences about Granger were good and the final toast was a fitting tribute; he always enjoyed sharing a glass of scotch with Hetty. I, too, love Whiting as an antagonist and hope this IA thing doesn’t just drop off (the way Garrison did). If, however, the writers continue the IA story in season 9, I don’t want to see that take away from the NCIS cases; this is, after all, a show about NCIS in LA not Deeks working for the LAPD. I thought it was good that Deeks wasn’t around with the three vets; he tends to be too over-the-top and the combination would have been more cartoonish than it already was. Here’s hoping for a great two-parter to end season 8 which has had some definite highs and definite lows, but will, with good writing and good directing, come back stronger in season 9. And here’s hoping for a REAL shocker to end it all this season (saying goodbye to one of the team members would be one way to reboot).
I don’t understand why CBS is doing this. What do they mean, “we can also see the appeal of having more people at your disposal, especially when you’re down one”? Where do they get that? I thought we had one show we could depend on. NCIS: NOLA, and NCIS have both had personnel changes. I don’t understand, but I’m not pleased. Olsen is one of the show’s highlights.
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