NCIS: LA Review: War Crimes (Season 12 Episode 2)

The impromptu Season 11 finale of NCIS: LA revolved around the team capturing a corrupt, yet very well connected Navy SEAL.

On NCIS: LA Season 12 Episode 2, “War Crimes,” that story picks up with the trial of Chief Petty Officer Thomas Argento.

A montage of Argento in prison shows us how much time has passed between his arrest and the start of the trial. As he leaves for court, the slimy Argento has a smug look on his face, so we already know things aren’t going to go well.

A case of this magnitude has everyone on the team understandably on edge. Fatima tells Nell it’s a big news story, and even makes a joke about the president’s tweets.

Note to all shows: For the mental health of the entire country, we don’t need any more jokes about the president’s tweets.

Outside the courthouse, Sam meets the prosecutor, Marine Lt. Colonel Castro, played by Tracie Thoms.

We know they’re trying to sell us on his relationship with art investigator Katherine, but Castro and Sam have chemistry.

We don’t want him to immediately jump into anything, but there is definitely a spark.

Plus, we’d love to see Thoms return. Her fierce warrior of a lawyer would be a great addition to the show’s rotating cast of supporting players.

Kendricks, one of Argento’s teammates, takes the stand to testify against him, then shocks everyone by changing his sworn statement and saying he killed the prisoner.

Considering the circumstances, Castro is given until 1400 (2 pm) to resolve the problem. The ticking clock makes this story a little more interesting.

Obviously, Argento threatened the witness somehow, so that’s not the big mystery. It’s up to the team to figure out how a man in lockdown got to Kendricks and Moffet, who didn’t even show up.

The other witness, Cole, approaches Roundtree about helping because he knows Kendricks won’t lie unless forced.

Turns out Argento has been receiving messages from a courier service, which Kensi and Deeks check out.

There’s a running gag about an unfocused, possibly high, clerk at the courier service, and it gets old real fast. One of our favorite things about this show is the way the comedy blends with the action, but here it’s not at all funny. It just annoyingly drags the story to a halt.

Turns out it was Cole’s father, a SEAL legend in his own right, who sent texts threatening Moffet’s son to the witnesses so they would change their stories. Cole reluctantly went along out of some misguided attempt to impress his father.

The team sorted everything out, Moffet took the stand, and we assume Argento was convicted. We say assume because we didn’t actually see a judgment rendered.

We understand that COVID-19 protocols have changed a lot of shows’ plans, but after all the build-up in the season finale, the conclusion to this story felt rushed.

All we hear throughout NCIS: LA Season 11 Episode 22 “Code of Conduct,” is how connected Argento is, so this case would need to be completely bulletproof.

Plus, the first 10 minutes of “War Crimes” featured characters repeatedly saying what a “big day” this was.

With all that buildup, this boiled down to some sketchy text messages, for which we are never given an explanation. Yeah, we never even found out why Cole’s father would risk everything for Argento.

Then to top it off, we don’t even get to hear if he was convicted or not.

We don’t expect much from procedurals. Give us some cool action, then let the good guys catch the bad guys. NCIS: LA is usually great at this, but “War Crimes,” feels incomplete.

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 8:30 pm ET/8 pm PT on CBS.

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