NCIS: Los Angeles Review: Uncaged (Season 8 Episode 23)
Just because you see something coming doesn’t mean it hurts less.
NCIS: LA Season 8 Episode 23, “Uncaged,” makes it clear, pretty early on, that Michelle Hanna will not survive. And yet, the nature of this show directly contradicts that conclusion. After all, she’s been in pretty dire straits before, and she’s always pulled through.
Not this time.
And though, narratively, it all seems to lead up to that final, heartbreaking scene, a big part of me kept hoping I was wrong, kept hoping that, in the end, they’d save her, just like they saved Sam’s kid last year.
But that wouldn’t be the dramatic ending they promised us, now would it?
Can TV do drama without killing characters? Yes. This show has done it before.
Is it believable for a high-stakes show like NCIS: LA to let characters get out of impossible situations every season finale? No.
Was there any way for them to kill any of the core group and continue on with the show? Unlikely.
And so, that leaves us with important, yet tangential characters like Michelle Hanna, and with storyline that we should have known was not going to be left hanging, like that of Tahir Khaled.
It just so happens that, like in real life, sometimes the bad guys win.
Not for lack of trying, though. Deeks and Kensi run around all episode with intense faces and the motto of: Whatever it takes. They, Nell, Eric, Callen and even Hetty would really and truly do anything and everything to save Michelle.
They just don’t get the chance.
NCIS: LA is, first and foremost, a procedural, and the fact that it is might trick you into believing they can’t pull off an intense emotional episode that leaves viewers a puddle of feels in the floor. Sam is, also, the most emotionally stoic of all the characters, and we’ve seen him with the same no-nonsense look for so long, it’s hard to believe he can break.
But he can. We all can. And when he does, we break too.
“I want more time with you. I want more time with you and my children,” Michelle says at some point, because they have to twist the knife. She won’t get that, and as she and Sam reminisce about their first meeting and how much they love each other, we’re perfectly aware something bad is probably coming.
But when Deeks runs into that freezer and there’s no frantic call to Sam, when the ambulance is empty, when there’s a white sheet on the floor, and later, when everyone walks away to give him some space and Sam bursts into tears, we burst into tears too.
And not some dignified tears, either; I’m talking full-on sobbing.
We knew it was coming. We thought we could handle it. We were wrong.
I’m used to crying my eyes out over Game of Thrones and the like. I’m not used to NCIS: LA making me feel love, anger, pain and despair, all in one episode.
I’m not used to all the feels.
But I wouldn’t trade them for anything. The day I stop feeling is the day I turn off the TV. And NCIS: LA is in no danger of that happening anytime soon.
Other things to note:
- I will miss you, Michelle. I wish you’d been around much more than you were.
- Though I don’t think this show deserves the panning shows got last year for killing female characters left and right, I kinda wished they’d killed a someone other than the only POC woman on the show.
- Tom Olsen is – once again – played, ironically, by David Paul Olsen, who just happens to be Daniela Ruah’s husband, and Eric Christian Olsen’s brother and stunt double.
- “Actually I don’t give a damn what they’re saying, because I’m not taking no for an answer.” – It’s actually possible I’ve never loved you more than I loved you at this line, Hetty.
- If you think this is enough to make me trust you Sabatino, you’ve got another thing coming.
- “You didn’t have to do that, Miss Jones. Destroying one career would have sufficed.” “I’m good with my decision.”
- I might have cheered out loud at that line.
- “Take care of him, G.” “I always do.”
- But now he’s going to have to, really have to. He’s going to have to be the strong one; he’s going to have to be Sam’s partner in more than just taking out the bad guys, because Sam will now need the team – his family – more than ever.
- I’m not emotional, I’m not. I always cry like this at the episode before the season finale of any show.
- But, I promise you, I’ve never cried like this over this show.
What did you think of this 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
19 comments
I thought this was an incredibly powerful episode. I totally agree with your review. I was in tears by the end of the episode.
I was truly hoping to see a happy ending, but alas I was in tears at the end, especially since Deeks and Blye had been at the seen earlier; so close, yet so far. I really think that it would not have taken Michelle so long to figure out that it strange not to hear ANY traffic at all and surmise that they had not really gone any where. Even with all her fear, helplessness, etc, she is always depicted as a very sharp, capable person. Of course, even such persons may not always figure out the problem in time.
I love this show because, aside from the police and stealth work which is well done, these people reflect who we all are in some way–real people with feelings and problems. However, I HATE CBS FOR KILLING MICHELLE. THERE WAS NO NEED. I cannot decide if I will continue to watch because I am so angry with CBS. Any decent writer can write a cliff hanger closing episode–it didn’t have to be killing Michelle Hanna — it’s not even original. They killed Vance’s wife leaving a young daughter on NCIS and now they killed Sam’s wife and leave him with a 12 year old. It’s been done in the NCIS family so there was no need to do it again. Especially stupid was the way they did it. Michelle is a fighter and she didn’t even have a fighting chance. Sam showing emotion is no surprise–he showed it in his love for Jada–which took nothing away from Michelle, and he shows it all the time in his concern and bantering with Callen. Killing Michelle was nothing more than a waste of a good character and plenty of future plots. An angry, hurt Sam is not a story line–we know he will go nuts after this. He’ll have tog et over it or leave the show because you can’t have a rogue agent, so what was the whole point of killing Michelle–there wasn’t one. Killing her served absolutely no purpose unless, like Ziva leaving NCIS (a really selfish move), had to do with something like money. I almost stopped watching NCIS after Ziva left (and the baby didn’t sway me later on–who didn’t know Tony and Ziva were secretly having an affair–obvious to everyone who ever worked in an office with personalities like theirs), but I definitely stopped watching NCIS when Tony up and quit after 13 years saying something like he was tired of the show! Really? How rich are you from it exactly? His selfish departure shut me down even though he was my least favorite character (dated a lot of corporate jerks like him) and I was an NCIS junkie–now I won’t even watch the reruns or my DVDs. As for Bull, it is well named–Weatherly is full of it–and I will NEVER watch anything he or Cote de Pablo are in ever again. I also think it’s a black eye to run it after NCIS on Tuesday. Tom Harmon has worked tirelessly for years to make NCIS what it is. He deserves better than what those two jerks gave him. I HATE selfish, greedy actors, and Network executives with dumb ideas. Good job CBS, you may have lost another viewer. If you get rid of Hawaii Five-O I’m done with your entire lineup. Screw you for this horrible plot on NCIS LA.
I Couldn’t agree with you more i never really liked NCIS the only NCIS i liked was NCIS LA and i hated some episodes and about Hawaii Five-O i stoped watching that when Catherine left.
Im not to happy with this ending and i think a lot of other people are also disappointed with this ending let me know what you think!.
I know this episode was supposed to be based around Sam and his wife but it would have been nice to see some more funny Kensi and Deeks moments .
The only thing what is keeping me hyped for episode 24 is this comment from Daniela Ruah in an interview with TVLINE |
He still owes Kensi a proper proposal, right?
There is a proposal owed, and there is a proposal by the end of the season — but I’m not going to give you details, because it happens in quite a lovely way. Deeks didn’t want Kensi to expect whatever the proposal would be, and I can tell you that the way it is definitely surprising.
In my opinion a lot of people are only watch NCIS LA because of Kensi & Deeks i really miss Granger RIP. The Callen and Sam banter is getting really old for me.
I get that it’s a TV show but in my option it would be very awkward for Deeks to purpose to Kensi right after losing a very close friend/coworker’s wife but i hope that he will purpose just because everyone has been waiting for Deeks to purpose to Kensi for a very long time.
I think the whole idea was to show consequences, with, at times, this show has failed to convey. I’m not exactly happy with Michelle being gone either – I enjoyed the actress and the relationship. I do think this was their idea of shocking without messing with the core group, especially since they saw how well that turned out when they did it on NCIS.
We love NCIS LA here in the UK.
I will miss Michelle, she was a breath of fresh air.
As for David Olsen, i did have to take a second look. He us so like his brother and so tall.
This was such a sad episode.
But let’s not forget,
The love story of Deeks and Kensi.
Please don’t just leave it hanging.
NCIS lost its way because they didn’t listen about Ziva and Dinozzo.
Don’t let’s do same to this brilliant show.
It will work. Promise you.
I do wonder how it would play out if Michelle joined NCIS LA. I don’t think they are going to forget the Love story just because a lot of people are only watching the show because of them. But you can never know what CBS with the writers will do. as for NCIS with Ziva and Dinozzo i really didn’t like the show i think i only watched the first and second session.
I’m gonna go out on a limb and say they learned their lesson there. Of course, there’s a lot that goes into making a TV show, contracts, actors, etc, but I’m confident the idea is not to break up Kensi and Deeks.
Sadly i don’t think anyone learns there lesson LOL 🙂
I think Military is one of the best writers in TV today, and he’s matured so much since he began writing for this show. Some of his earlier episodes were not as good, but now he’s one of the few writers on this show who actually writes character-driven episodes; there’s no need for flashy special effects or convoluted plots. The stories are clean, simple, and powerful. I was impressed with LL; Aunjanue I knew could do it. The strongest scenes for me–other than the ones between Sam and Michelle–were the scene in OPS when Michelle tells G to take care of Sam and he says, “I always do,” and the silent drive to the warehouse when she’s been found. This will definitely change the relationship between G and Sam as partners and create new dynamics, and I’m looking forward to that. G will have to step up and be Sam’s anchor, at least for awhile, but you know he will do whatever needs to be done. The fact that Sam was able to spend the last four hours of her life with Michelle–even by computer–will mean a lot and will help him heal, in the long run (not being able to say goodbye makes it a hundred times worse). As for Kensi and Deeks (and this is no disrespect to the actors or their fans), Sam and Michelle just showed what chemistry is in a romantic relationship. The relationship that is Densi can’t compare; none of their scenes this season came anywhere close to the emotional impact of these two throughout this episode–which is remarkable since Michelle has only appeared sporadically and both Kensi and Deeks are regulars. There will be a proposal next episode (Kensi promised one this season), but after this episode, it may be anti-climatic, and that’s okay. I hope this is the beginning of the reset Gemmill talked about, and that in season 9 there will be more drama and less silly antics and cutesy talk. And I wouldn’t discount the possibility of another character leaving; in an interview, LL said a cast member would be “checking out” (or something like that) in the finale–and that’s May 14.
I certainly agree with you that LL Cool J and Aujanue Ellis have incredible chemistry and the actress did an incredible performance. I respectfully disagree with your statement that Deeks and Kensi do not have as much romantic chemistry. The scene in “Glasnost” where they are playing checkers, and their hands intertwine was incredible. The rescue scene in “Payback” where all they have to do is touch foreheads exudes chemistry. Both of these scenes were blogged ,made into gifs, put on Tumblr, reblogged, and retweeted, hundreds of times both nationally and internationally. They have romantic chemistry and have been in scenes with great emotional impact.
I agree with you 100% Just look at what Kensi and Deeks went thru even before they were dating in session 5 and after they were dating in session 8 what they went thru was crazy . I really liked Sam and Michelle they were really sweet but in my option Kensi and Deeks went thru much harder times until now when Michelle died. I said this somewhere else i really never thought i would see Sam go off the rails. I always thought Callen would go off the rails for Anna if something should happen or the opposite and sam goes for Kensi and Deeks.
Let me know what you think i love see other peoples perspectives
Kensi and Deeks have many, many fans, but having fans isn’t any indication that someone is the best or even very good. The internet has proven that hundreds of times. I’m not saying that Dani or ECO are not very good. For many viewers who watch the show, Kensi and Deeks are good characters but they have no romantic chemistry together. It’s not a slap at the characters or the actors; sometimes you have actors who just–for whatever reason–don’t have chemistry. For some of us, that describes Densi. Those scenes you mentioned were good, but IMO they don’t even come close to any of the scenes between LL and Aunjanue in this episode no matter how many times they’re blogged, made into gifs, put on Tumblr, reblogged, or retweeted. Dani and ECO also have more fan sites, pics posted, and selfies than any of the other cast members. Does that make them better? Hardly. It’s about quality, not quantity.
I have to disagree with you that Kensi and Deeks don’t have romantic chemistry but everyone is entitled to their own opinion and i respect that 🙂
We can agree to strongly disagree. I believe Deeks and Kensi have incredible on screen chemistry. As far as I am concerned they are the TV couple with the most romantic chemistry on a show.
100% agree with you
Thank you for agreeing with me!
I Love Michelle. Hana. Maybe. They Want The Bad Guy To Think She Is Dead Because Hana Looks. Up. In the Air While Holding Her !! The. Blacklist Brought Back Agent Keene Back While Getting You To Think. She Died In Childbirth , So I’m. Hoping They ” Staged ” Michelle’s Death In Order For Mission To Kill Tahir The Bad Guy Finally So Sam Can Finally Get His Revenge For All This Bad Guy Has Done To His Family , ?? Maybe. I am Hoping They “Stage” Michelle’s. Death ,Producers Of This Show Must Know We All Want Michelle Hana To Live & Not Die !! She’s Gotten Out Of Many Bad Messes Before , So Why Would They Do That To Us , Iam Sure All The Actors G Callan , Kensi , Deeks , Hetty ,All The Rest Must Know We Would Be Very Sad , Irate , Angry ect. They Just Can’t Have Michelle Hana Die They Just Can’t ! Maybe They’ll See The ” Error Of Their Ways & We Demand That Michele Hana Live !!!!!!!!!!!!!
This episode was as close to perfect as you can get for an hour procedural series episode. Military is really a master of his craft and a tremendous talent; I hope he continues with NCIS: LA for as long as it remains on the air. LL’s performance was such a surprise to me. I was not prepared for his ability to deliver such an emotional performance. The scenes between Sam and Michelle in the armory were gut-wrenching because of their honesty. I absolutely loved it when they shared their memories of their dinner date and his proposal. It was a wonderful way to let us know more about the man and the depth of their feelings for one another. I also loved the scenes between Sam and G–two men who seldom let their guard down faced with an unbelievable loss for one and the task of providing emotional support and strength for the other. Everything about those scenes rang true, especially the silence. As for the unrelated discussion about the difference between Sam and Michelle and Kensi and Deeks, I’ll add my two cents. I like both Kensi and Deeks and think they are terrific buddies, but I’ve never bought into their romance, and I think one of the main reasons is because they try to hard. This is the only season where there have been extended quiet moments when they’re together, and that’s mainly because Kensi was in a coma half the season. They remind me of a middle or high school “romance” with their silliness. And they continue it with selfies and photo booth shots online. Densi feels more like an advertisement than a relationship with a “look at us” tagline or two adolescents who constantly crave attention. Jerry Rice, a great football receiver, used to tell new teammates who celebrated to excess when they made a touchdown, “Act like you’ve been here before.” That’s what I wish Densi would do. Even Eric and Nell are more believable to me as a romantic couple. I’m excited and dreading the finale, but I’m very much looking forward to season 9.
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