NCIS: Los Angeles Review: Se Murio El Payaso (Season 9 Episode 2)
Sometimes, NCIS: LA goes deep. Sometimes its characters touch your heart, sometimes the storylines give you hope, or break your heart or just make you see the world in a different way.
This is not one of those times.
NCIS: LA Season 9 Episode 2, “Se Murio El Payaso,” is just some good, old, procedural fun. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Because when a show goes deep sometimes, when they get you to feel, you don’t really need them to do it every week. You’re already invested.
You already care.
And, honestly, no one wants the characters we actually care for to be in mortal danger every week. Some weeks we just like to relax as we watch the TV.
Or, sorta relax, at least. It’s not like NCIS: LA can ever go through an episode without a gun battle or two.
But there’s always this sense, to this show and, well – most shows on TV, that if a character you know and love is going to somehow be taken from you, it’s going to be in a deep, serious episode.
This means I wasn’t really worried about Sam, and though Callen and Anna got more than a little beat up, I wasn’t really worried about them either.
No chance to be worried about anyone else, either, what with Deeks and Kensi stuck in the boatshed and Nell and Eric trying to track down Hetty.
As I said before, just your run-of-the-mill case, the same people you already know and care for, doing what they do best.
Plus, no Mosley, which, at this point, I’m going to count as a plus.
Will I go looking for scenes of this episode on YouTube? Probably not. Will any of its scenes make a list of best moments? Unlikely.
Do I feel like I wasted my time watching it?
I’ve found that, increasingly, the answer to that question with NCIS: LA is no. Even when it doesn’t touch your heart, the show still does the main thing that we ask TV shows to do: it entertains you.
And for one night, it’s more than enough.
Other things to note:
- I feel like, at this point, asking Callen to get actual furniture is not too much to ask.
- Anna is very much NOT the stereotype of a gamer. That’s why the whole thing works. Stereotypes suck, anyway.
- Be who you want to be. Do what you want to do. Etc.
- Eric, you’re not even close to Hetty. Like, you legit couldn’t be farther away, geographically.
- “She’s like Gollum, but instead of one ring she wants a purse and a belt and a watch, a car…”
- Like Anna or not, I think we can’t deny that she’s brought a lightness to Callen that no other woman has.
- The Kensi/Deeks scenes, in this episode, and the first one, have been way too serious. Give me some light banter, please.
- When they banter, the show in general, takes another tone. Anna/Callen banter can’t replace that.
- Only in TV do women go through intense battle sequences without tying their hair. TIE YOUR HAIR, PLEASE. It gets in your eyes and it’s uncomfortable AF, even if it looks pretty.
- That thing, at the end, that semi-double-date thing with Densi and whatever it is we’re calling Anna/Callen is half terrifying and half a thing I want to read fanfic about.
- Okay, Hetty, was is this and – most importantly – why now?
What did you think of this episode of NCIS: LA? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Reviewer rating:
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NCIS: LA airs Sundays at 9/8c 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
5 comments
Interesting article, but I wouldn’t call it a review because you didn’t really devote much time to the actual episode itself which is okay because it’s your column. As a work of drama, I think this episode was absolutely excellent: the dialogue, the plot, the acting, the twist at the end, the fight scene, and the humor. I disagree with you about the scenes: the scenes between Callen and Anna were some of the best written scenes I’ve seen (even if they weren’t dramatic or “deep”–which are often much easier to write), including scenes from last season and even if they didn’t involve Kensi and Deeks or Callen and Sam. And a viewer didn’t learn anything new about a character only if they weren’t paying attention or don’t actually care much about the character to begin with. As for “touching your heart,” I guess that’s really an individual thing for each viewer, isn’t it? Some viewers are touched by tragedy, some by sentimentality, some by sweetness, and some by mediocrity. I also don’t understand the strange concern with Callen’s lack of furniture (brought up by others, as well). First, why is that even an issue that concerns some and second, if he doesn’t need it, why should he buy it? (On another site some person mentioned about Michael not wearing socks and said not to do that again–as though that was somehow important). And when did going out to dinner with colleagues become double dating?
I don’t feel like we’re disagreeing, as I didn’t say the scenes between Callen and Anna were badly written – nor did I say that this episode didn’t teach you anything new about the characters. All epidoes have more than a touch of stuff that’s jut about characterization.
As for Callen’s furniture – we’re going to have to disagree. I happen to think everyone needs furniture and he’s way overdue. At least Anna brought her X-Box! But I wouldn’t call this an issue either, just a quirk that the show keeps bringing up and I chose to comment on.
Finally – I did say “semi” double date, implying that it wasn’t a straight up one. It is, however, two couples going out together.
It’s not that we’re disagreeing, but from your comments (“Even when it doesn’t touch your heart, the show still does the main thing that we ask TV shows to do: it entertains you. And for one night, it’s more than enough.”) it sounds as though you consider this a “throwaway” episode–light entertainment that provides little in the way of character development or interest. I just happen to see it differently. I also like that Callen doesn’t have a lot of “stuff”–including furniture–because that fits his character. And while they’re two couples, it seems unlikely that they would be going out as a foursome if they weren’t colleagues–which is why it never seemed like even a semi-double date to me–but that’s just my view. 🙂
Thanks for your review, I pretty much saw the episode the same way you did. Overall I enjoyed this episode. I thought it was a solid episode . I thought the script was well written and the storyline interesting. I enjoyed Sam partnered with Agent DeChamps . I thought they had chemistry , not as a romantic couple, but as work partners in the field. As usual I enjoyed Kensi and Deeks together as a team. However, I still am not fond of Anna as a character, for me the actress does not make Anna as an agent credible, so I find her scenes quite flat. Although I agree with you that Anna brings a lightness to Callen that no other woman has, it just does not seem like Callen to me. I really liked Callen with Joelle, I thought Joelle brought an earthiness/realness to Callen, and made him seem more likable and real to me. I would have liked her to turn out to be CIA and undercover but not married to someone else, and have fallen hard for him and have the relationship progress from there.
This was one of the best episodes from the past few seasons because it was so tightly constructed. It didn’t have one unnecessary or extraneous scene unlike a lot of the episodes in the past few seasons (I’m sure some found many of the hospital scenes from last season important and touching, but for others they just became repetitious). This is, after all, a procedural show and it’s nice when characters can be developed within the story instead of stopping the action to do it. Harimoto is now one of my favorite writers along with Military because their stories are generally well-written and free from fluff–but contain humor that’s appropriate (the gamer reveal and the LOTR reference were great and perfectly acted). LL’s portrayal was such a surprise and a terrific idea–so different from the “typical” hard act. It was great to have an antagonist who was charming, intelligent, and manipulative, and Kensi and Deeks did a wonderful job in their scenes. All-in-all, a standout and an A+. I must admit that I don’t understand the comments about Callen’s lack of furniture (I read them on other sites). To me it seems perfectly normal for his character.
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