NCIS: LA Review: Through the Looking Glass (Season 12 Episode 17)
On NCIS: LA Season 12 Episode 17, “Through the Looking Glass,” intelligence officers are targeted and the team finds itself working with Jo.
Most shows like to ramp things up as they get closer to the season finale. NCIS: LA goes in the opposite direction and chooses filler. The case is utterly meaningless, and the hour feels like a waste of valuable time.
In the end, even the team is upset they’ve had to deal with this nonsense. There’s almost nothing good we can say about “Through the Looking Glass.” Look for it to come up again on a worst episodes of the NCIS franchise list. Yes, it’s that bad.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Kensi and Deeks are once again the best part of this hour. They can’t get pregnant, and now it’s time to decide between IVF or adoption. On top of all that, Kessler sends a veiled threat implying he’s in LA.
From the moment they meet on NCIS: LA Season 1 Episode 19, “Hand-to-Hand,” the chemistry between Daniela Ruah and Eric Christian Olsen is undeniable. After years of watching their relationship evolve, we’re personally invested in their journey to start a family.
Deeks pleading with Kensi to talk to someone, so she’s not carrying everything alone, is beautiful. He’s doing everything he can to support her, but Olsen never lets us lose sight of Deeks’ own heartbreak.
For her part, Ruah is quietly magnificent as Kensi struggles under the weight of the stress she’s dealing with. There’s no loud breakdown, she just appears physically exhausted, as if she’s actually carrying the weight, every time we see her.
In the midst of a filler episode, they are the only reason we finished the hour.
For the sake of being thorough let’s talk about the case for a minute. No intelligence officers are hurt or killed in the making of this episode. It’s all a CIA op and NCIS is just part of the set dressing.
And really, the CIA isn’t as smart as it thinks it is, because right from the start their agents are all sketchy. Every single one of them is clearly hiding something. By the time the reveal comes along we know there’s more to the story, but at that point, we don’t care.
If we’re being honest, we knew things weren’t right the minute Jo walked in the room. She never brings anything positive into Callen’s life, so why should “Through the Looking Glass” be any different.
Jo is obsessed with revenge on Katya, saying it’s all she has left. We can already see she’s going to drag Callen into whatever mess she gets herself in, and we’re exhausted.
NCIS: LA Season 12 has spent way too much time on Callen’s poor taste in women, and it’s come at the expense of the rest of the team.
Considering how good the last two episodes have been, “Through the Looking Glass” is extra disappointing because we thought the show was getting back to its classic self.
Like the CIA, we can all just pretend this hour never happened.
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 9/8c on CBS.
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Stephanie Holland
Stephanie Holland is a nerdy lover of Star Wars, Disney, Doctor Who, Arrowverse, Star Trek and WWE. Is living the dream of turning a lifelong obsession with TV into an actual job. Still waiting for a reboot of the '80s classic Small Wonder.