S11.E10: Mother

[thewhiteowl]

A former agent, recruited and trained by Hetty, returns to seek revenge on Hetty for introducing him to that life.

[Tony Dickson]

Played by Javier Bardem?  Just kidding, but it sounds like the plot of Skyfall.

[Chaos Theory]

This is the first episode I have really enjoyed in a long time.   There was enough suspense in both the Deeks is trapped with a bomb storyline and the Hetty is kidnapped  by one of her creations story.    This is the kind of NCIS LA that I enjoy.

[threebluestars]

I really enjoyed it as well.

I can see they're setting up for Hetty to go. I like that we're getting emotional fall out of her history of manipulating her teams - I am all for Nell calling it out and not wanting to be a part of it finally.

And Callen coldheartedly shooting everyone on the way in and then, in essence, watching what could be/could have been his future with Hetty and her other orphan was great.

[Ellee]

Have to watch this again.  I’m looking forward to everyone’s comments. 

[SamBeckett]

5 hours ago, threebluestars said:

And Callen coldheartedly shooting everyone on the way in and then, in essence, watching what could be/could have been his future with Hetty and her other orphan was great.

This is the NCIS that is not afraid of firefights. But you’re right, having Callen not even bat an eye about putting a bullet into several peoples’ head — wow! I wonder if they had to get the network to pass off on that. I mean, it wasn’t one guy but several. I remember all the flak the (original) Magnum got for cold-bloodedly killing the super-bad Russian agent. (Also a CBS show.)

[MissLucas]

My priorities may be a bit skewed but I'm super-miffed the show did not give me another shot of Eric (once again being ridiculed by the rest of the team) displaying his skills shooting hops all on his own.

As for the rest - eh, Skyfall rip-off sums it up quite nicely. Also: Hetty's maternal track-record is truly appalling.

[LittlePeas3]

I will say this first, I really enjoyed it, but I haven't seen Skyfall 🙂

There was action, the whole team were involved.  They actually all did action stuff, I don't think we have seen Chirs O'Donnell run and jump etc this much in one episode for a while, I thought maybe they were all citing they were getting to old for that kind of thing.  Especially as a couple of episodes ago it was only Daniela Ruah who was doing the action stuff.  

I am really liking the Nell awakening - that she doesn't want to be like Hetty.  I find it odd that it has taken her 10 years, but ok, good to see she has gotten there and won't make it to 65 (or older) alone and still ordering people around.  

The man who was dissected and his body parts used to hold notes and phone and then left in pieces, I thought initially that they were reverting back to that serial killer in season 9 who joined all the bodies together and I was totally grossed out (again).  I was so grateful they didn't spend too much on that.  I did like the early hint of a teacup full of blood though, gross as it was.

Callen's blinding love and respect was very evident in this episode, but the question at the end, how many of us are there?  It does make you curious - Callen, Hunter, this guy.  How many more?  Hetty is the master at managing people (and manipulating), how many more children did she raise?  And was she working for her own agenda or a higher powers?  

Hetty always said Sullivan was  the first agent she had lost.  In my calculations, this guy should have counted.  Why didn't she count him? She acknowledged he was dead. Or was it she acknowledged Sullivan was the first NCIS agent?  

Rogers, I didn't realise I had missed him.  He was starting to grow on me.  Did he take that list at the end and put it in his pocket to oust Hetty or because he was manipulating the witness into spilling the beans? 

I do think they are winding Hetty down, if Rogers is going to charge Hetty, I see her vanishing without a trace, as opposed to winding up in jail somewhere.  

[JayDub]

First decent show in a long time. Lot of dialog with history I don't understand but still a very good episode.

[anna0852]

ECO needs to write more episodes. This was great. I love the callback to season 2, when Kensi was kidnapped by Russians and Deeks had to get her out from a bomb rigged room.

[Ellee]

That map that Kensi was looking at and found her and Deek’s picture ... do you think all the other points were Hetty’s people?  

What was the list that Rogers had in his hand?

Edited December 3, 2019 by Ellee

[Gramto6]

Wasn't that blond woman a few seasons ago also one of Hetty's orphans? I forget her story but sort of remember she was one of Hetty's.

I did like the show though and had forgotten about Rogers(Rodgers?). I'd moss Hetty, but really she has been absent a lot lately...

Edited December 3, 2019 by Gramto6

[anna0852]

Yep, there was blond agent in Season 4. Ravens and Swans. Can't remember her name.

[Gramto6]

Thanks, I looked it up on IMDB her name was Grace Stevens played Andrea Roth. Actually this could be a good back story line for Hetty. Just how many did she nurture and recruit? Where are they now?

The look on Callen's face as the guy was dying in Hetty's arms was epic...I think he saw himself in an alternate future. Shock, horror, questioning everything.

[Maverick]

 Wasn't the woman that took over for a while in season--3?  4? one of Hetty's recruits too?

 I missed some of the beginning but I feel like I followed most of it except why did the guy only target Kensi and Deeks (and apparently only intended to get one of them)?   

[LittlePeas3]

Lauren Hunter, in the start of Season 3 was also one of Hetty's orphans.  Plus Grace and this guy, I really do wonder how many more there are?  

[threebluestars]

Callen's known he wasn't the only one, but I don't think he ever considered the possible scale of her orphan agents. He looked a little surprised when Hetty didn't answer - the number is probably way higher than he ever thought - it'd be interesting to see him deal with that, because I always got the feeling he felt like he was her son, and now the reality that died in front of him was that other people felt that too.

[123BP]

1 hour ago, threebluestars said:

Callen's known he wasn't the only one, but I don't think he ever considered the possible scale of her orphan agents. He looked a little surprised when Hetty didn't answer - the number is probably way higher than he ever thought - it'd be interesting to see him deal with that, because I always got the feeling he felt like he was her son, and now the reality that died in front of him was that other people felt that too.

Hetty told him there were "a lot" back in Season 4 ("Ravens and Swans"), so he's known that for at least 7 seasons. One reason Hetty may not have answered his question at the end is because she's simply lost track; she did that for a lot of years and obviously hasn't kept track of everyone. As for feeling like he's her son, she's gone out of her way to tell him several times that she doesn't have favorites, so while he may "feel" that, she's never let him know how she feels about him--which is too bad. Especially since he learned about Darius just before his dad died.

I was really disappointed in this episode. I don't know if it was intentional, but this episode seemed to rip off a lot of other episodes as well as Skyfall and the Bourne series. Maybe it was supposed to be a sort of tribute? I mean, Natasha was almost a ringer for Fatima Khan from "Collateral" in her looks and reason for joining Ahkos, the escape from the warehouse was not only like Kensi's in Season 2 but also like the one by Callen in Season 1. And for an episode that was supposed to deal with the effects of repeated exposure to violence and committing violent acts (according to Eric) on people who are in dangerous careers, there was very little of that in the story.

And the "plot"? They wait for Natasha to show the writing before issuing security protocols? And when Hetty is given her marching orders, only Sam and Callen go to make sure she's safe? Why didn't Kensi and Eric go? (Guess they're waiting for Eric to discover the booby-trapped warehouse.) And Callen and Sam didn't notice the helicopter? Seriously? The power went out in OPS, the sun didn't set. The entire Densi scene made no sense and had NO relevance to anything going on in the rest of the story. (And the booby-trapped warehouse  didn't seem like the modus operandi of the killer who butchered a guy and cut him in half, and how convenient that he just happened to have that wedding photo). The warehouse was just one more excuse for a Densi angst scene when the time would have been better spent with Ahkos and Hetty. (And does anyone really think Natasha would have been turned so quickly by Rogers? Rogers?)

The best scenes--the only scenes I found worth watching really--were the scenes with Hetty and Ahkos, Callen and Sam, and Callen and Hetty. For me, those were the only scenes that had any meat to them and really delved into anything that mattered.

I guess the next episode "answers" some questions, but it also has another Densi scene where they discuss their future--again. Seriously, I am sick of those two because they're like someone who's always yelling--after awhile, I just tune them out.

Edited December 3, 2019 by 123BP

[dirtydi]

Loved this episode.  Hoping the show is turning a corner for this season.  It showed them as family, which I feel is the show's strength, along with Densi.

[ymeagain]

Acting isn't the problem on this show, but the writing sure is. The storylines tend to be ridiculous and I don't get why the writers keep forgetting stuff that happened in earlier seasons. Maybe they need some kind of log to keep track of things. I don't know, but it's weird when I remember things and the writers don't. This episode didn't live up to the hype no matter who the writers were. Too many things were dumb. For starters, Ahkos faked his death over a decade ago and he's only NOW coming to seek revenge on Fimmel and Hetty? What the hell has he been doing for 10+ years? Once I heard that, I was like, nope. (And, yea, it was a small-scale Skyfall ripoff.)

Hetty was on screen so little the story didn't seem to be about her. It seemed more like a Densi episode and I couldn't figure out what they had to do with Ahkos. And why was Rogers back? I like the guy, but having him interview that gal and getting the info so Hetty could be saved was lame. And what was the list she gave him? Is Rogers gonna be in more episodes? Is he gonna investigate Hetty again? Is DC gonna "shut down" OSP again?

I wasn't worried about anyone, and like somebody else, I'm really tired of Densi rescuing each other and talking about babies. They've been living together 4 years. Figure it out. (And that rescue took way too long for people who do this for a living.) I didn't like the cutting between the museum and the warehouse; that ruined the Hetty-Ahkos scene for me (one of the scenes I liked). Too bad there wasn't a better scene between Callen and Ahkos (I get that Callen was pissed, but coming around that corner like that was against all his training--and he couldn't rescue Hetty if he was dead).

The acting was good, but the story was a real letdown for the 250th. Whatever. It kind of feels like the show's wrapping up.

[ymeagain]

On 12/1/2019 at 10:57 PM, threebluestars said:

And Callen coldheartedly shooting everyone on the way in and then, in essence, watching what could be/could have been his future with Hetty and her other orphan was great.

Great shooting (and sliding), but Callen could/would never be Ahkos. Those two are WAY different. Callen is the most "moral" member of the team. He's the only one who's never strayed outside the line-although he was willing to in "Warrior of Peace." And Ahkos wasn't an orphan (neither was Callen because Nikita was alive). Akhos' family sent him away because they thought there was something "wrong" with him (they called him Devil Child or something); Nikita sent Callen away to "protect" him--and Callen had one crappy childhood. Makes me wonder if Ahkos was a psychopath all along.

Edited December 4, 2019 by ymeagain

[123BP]

On 12/2/2019 at 10:41 AM, LittlePeas3 said:

Hetty always said Sullivan was  the first agent she had lost.  In my calculations, this guy should have counted.  Why didn't she count him?

Maybe Hetty didn't count him because he wasn't her agent when he died, so she didn't lose him.

[LittlePeas3]

23 hours ago, 123BP said:

Maybe Hetty didn't count him because he wasn't her agent when he died, so she didn't lose him.

I wondered that too.  But surely he was "one" of her children? 

[misstwpherecool]

When they showed Callen running and shooting to save Hetty at first I thought they were trying to give the character or epi a super Bourne type agent flare which would be dumb but to shoot when people when they're already down(which would show up on an autopsy) is murder. But then when Hetty suggested he could be her replacement it fit with in the context of NCIS LA world. Still having trouble watching these epi's all the way through or not channel surfing. The epi started out better but finished in the usual body count theatrical shootout fashion. Along with all the usual shtick.

[7kstar]

I haven't seen the shows the others are comparing this show with.  I did like it.  It's on my list to watch again.  Not too many make that list.  But I also like Deeks.