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Boring story, but I liked the Callen & Anna scene, especially her story about Arkady at the Playboy mansion. Everybody except Deeks knows Kensi's preggers. The final shootout was stupid. Fatima, from Ops, telling Callen & Sam they're outgunned & need to move because the 2 seasoned agents can't figure that out even though they're the ones in the firefight. Shoot me now.

I hated that whole thing. There was no way Pembrook felt regret for what he'd done. If he had, he wouldn't have used his former pupils for black ops. That was ridiculous. And how stupid was it that he said, "I've been watching you for 35 years." Great! In other words, Pembrook watched Callen have a miserable childhood, being shuttled from foster home to foster home. That really showed he cared. I did think Chris did a great job. I think he's done a really good job all along, especially considering the crappy writing he's gotten the past few seasons that's made Callen such a confusing & confused character. It seems like every few weeks, the writers change something from his past. lol

You're not too slow; the writer was bad. I got that Pembrook had a black ops team that included Leah & Beltran, but Beltran & some others went rogue & Pembrook & the "good" black ops team members were trying to stop them & to stop them, they had to kill them. It was like a mini war & somehow Callen--who knew nothing about it--got mixed up in it because he's the only character in NCISLA who was in the program. That's the only reason he was involved. The whole thing was way too convoluted to make sense, but that's been a trademark lately with the show. Brennan kept story arcs simple; Gemmill throws logic & coherence out the door & the story's a mess. The problem is Gemmill. If you go back to season 7, Brennan answered all of Callen's questions by the end of that season: Callen knew what had happened to his mother, he learned about his sister, he met his father & finally found out his name. There were NO other questions until Gemmill took over & started rewriting stuff. He made everything a mess.

It IS the showrunner's fault that Hetty's character has been AWOL for 4+ seasons. The showrunner is supposed to make the tough decisions. If Linda Hunt can't work regularly because of health issues, that's understandable, but then RETIRE HER CHARACTER. This whole "Hetty's on another secret mission" was stupid, and she's not doing her job as Operations Manager if she's always absent. This is the reason she has to come back for at least one episode. The writers have already dropped the ball on a lot of stories (Remember Katherine? What's happened to Zasha and Keane? Who expunged Anna's criminal record?). I'm sorry they're going to waste at least one episode introducing Kilbride's ex-wife. Who the heck cares about her or his son when the show's ending? Another of many dumb decisions by the showrunner. If the showrunner had made better decisions--and they had better writers--the show might've lasted another season or two. It's time for it to end.

Kilbride was right--this isn't an NCIS case, so I hope this is the last time we see these guys. I found it super boring and just so many stupid things like nobody shooting the guy before he steps into the elevator or when he steps out (nobody carries a taser?). And LAPD wouldn't open a murder investigation unless they'd a) found a body or a body part or b) found evidence of foul play, which means a whole lot of other things would've happened, like searching Mike's apartment, talking to the property guy, discovering his mom's body. For a crime drama, the writers don't seem to know much about how to investigate. And what FBI agent yells out his name unless he's trying to tip someone off? Just too many stupid things. But Raymond I like, and him with Arkady--just imagining that was the best thing in the episode. And why no word on why Callen was absent? Could the writer not come up with something besides him taking more time off with Anna?

It seems she's official and that her asylum request has been granted (must've been the info Deeks brought back from Guatemala). If she wasn't, don't think the county would've assigned her foster parents. According to Gemmill this episode was written before the renewal notice came in, so it was kinda a "series" finale and a season finale just in case this was the final season. The real Anna never "came out" as bisexual. That was a deep fake with Katya, so pretty sure that was just Katya being Katya (trying to make Callen doubt whether or not Anna loved him). Overall, I liked the episode. Interested to see where/how the writers tackle all the changes next season. Could be really interesting or a hot mess.

This episode is one of my favorites. One of Military's best in a long time. Intense and powerful performances by both Chris and LL. I even liked Joelle, and I haven't liked her since season 7. lol I didn't find the deep fake storyline boring (it was better than the adoption one). I believed that Callen would work with Katya to take down Pembrook, and I hope they continue that next season. That and his reunion with Hetty should be good.

Maybe you're thinking of "Mother," the episode with Ahkos, the kid Hetty took in who was taken away and put in a Jason Bourne kinda program. I hate caricatures, especially Jaffe's caricatures. Exactly! Wtf is with these writers that they can't get out of Callen's past? They give him a girlfriend and do nothing with her. There are so many possibilities besides digging up his past again. No kidding. lmao

Doubt it. He caught it around New Year's Eve when the show was on vacation.

Makes me think of the stupid mole story line that got so messed up after the team caught Carl it didn't make any sense. Hope you're wrong cuz I kinda like this with the deep fake. Not real sure about the rewrite to Callen's backstory AGAIN, but maybe they'll pull it out. Whatever, it's a change from the baby story & that works for me. I missed this, but liked the talk. Like someone else said, Anna was with Callen (think she was living with him in his room), but she wasn't in episodes (dumb). Liked that Nate came back and still sounded like Nate. It'd be good to see him again, maybe when Hetty comes back, but he needs to talk to Callen first before he tries to talk to both of them. The Syrian story was okay and good way to bring in Zasha and Keane (like him). Want to see where the deep fake Callen story goes and who's behind it.

He's as dense as the writers make him. That made zero sense, especially (as a review pointed out) when he reacted so quickly after Finn stole the identity of one of his aliases. This is HIS identity and he knows about the "deep fake" Callen. And why is his doctor conducting his physical over the internet? What's that about? Why do the writers not seem to know what happened in earlier seasons? Don't they have TVs? Have any of them ever watched the show or do they just work on the set? The whole deal about Callen moving was stupid, starting with the conversation between Deeks and Sam. Callen has one friend? And do they think he'll care about moving? How many times has he moved in his life? More than 35. And what was that conversation at the end? Callen bought his house in S2 and didn't move out until S9. That's a lot longer than he's lived in the apartment. A big problem with this show. Face it. I mean, Katya's still out there and she hasn't been in an episode since S10.

This was a boring episode for a lot of reasons, and I think all the problems with it were pretty much in this review. https://ncislarandomthoughts.blogspot.com/2022/01/land-of-wolves-season-13-episode-8.html I like these reviews because they aren't fan love letters like some others. Lot of reviews never point out issues with the stories and characters, but these reviews do. The acting can be good but the episode can still suck.

It was okay, but not great. Who puts a safe house on the top floor of an apartment building with only two possible exits, one when the power's cut? Laura seemed squirrely from the get go--always wanting a gun and refusing to go in the panic room. A skylight in the roof of a safe house? Seriously? And that entry door to the apartment was solid wood, not steel, so where were the steel doors? So, the bad guys come down through the skylight, take Laura and then go down six floors? Why? Why not leave the way they came in? Didn't make sense. That comment by Deeks about Laura . . . Did he realize what he was saying about Sam? I didn't like Ali much. He seemed too wimpy and asked stupid questions (did it matter if Laura was drinking bourbon or scotch?) and his moves on Fatima were lame. The guy's an Inspector General. He's not gonna be asking dumbass questions or making moves on some field agent. The ending was definitely a twist, but it seemed like Kilbride killed Laura to save face. He recruited her, so he was embarrassed that she became a traitor. Didn't like that he kept the truth from the team and he came off as pretty much a snide, self-centered b*stard. I wouldn't work for him.

Interesting episode. The change to Callen's DOB was not something I saw coming. It might work even though it screws up some of the past events. It'd be nice if the writers explained why it's different, but guess that's too much to ask. I think we knew, kinda sorta, but I don't think Callen knew that he was part of a "program" and that Hetty started his "training" when he was so young. If I remember, he was a teenager when he met her in "Rage," and that was the first time he remembered meeting her. This was an interesting review. https://ncislarandomthoughts.blogspot.com/2021/10/subject-17-season-13-episode-1.html

This ⬆️100x this. Couldn't agree more. The transformation of Joelle into CIA was stupid (they're going to post a top operative as a kindergarten teacher for YEARS?). And all the women who pop out without warning. It gives me a headache the stories are so lame.