S12.E12: Can't Take My Eyes Off You

[thewhiteowl]

After Callen receives a cryptic message from Hetty, he tracks down the person tailing him, bringing him to a remote location teeming with Russians… and face to face with Anna.

[anna0852]

Nice shout-out to the 5-0 crossover. That was good piece of history to reference. 

Callen you don't get to fuss about Anna trying to keep you safe. That's a page right out of *your* playbook.

[mythoughtis]

I thought Nell got the cryptic message not Callen. 
The only Character in this show that I loathe more than Anna is Joelle.  So thanks a lot writers.  
 

[DavidWeis1]

How long did Sam and Deeks spend failing to find a way into that building, yet when there were gunshots they ran and, what, magically found an open door?

[123BP]

4 hours ago, mythoughtis said:

The only Character in this show that I loathe more than Anna is Joelle.  So thanks a lot writers.

I like Anna, but Joelle is like the house guest you can't get rid of. I REALLY hope they finally kill her in the next episode. If they don't, Callen will NEVER get rid of her.

This episode was a letdown for me. So many different story lines going, I didn't feel much tension at all and it took too long to get to the Russia side of the story--and we never got to see Katya who is my favorite psycho--and then it was over and the DOJ lady was there again.

 

[roamyn]

6 hours ago, DavidWeis1 said:

How long did Sam and Deeks spend failing to find a way into that building, yet when there were gunshots they ran and, what, magically found an open door?

I said the same thing to my hubby as he was watching it.

[wlk68]

6 hours ago, roamyn said:

I said the same thing to my hubby as he was watching it.

This and the fact that the two of them were both yacking up a storm the whole time. Way to be stealthy, guys. Anyone inside would've heard them coming from a mile away.  

[HurricaneVal]

14 hours ago, mythoughtis said:

The only Character in this show that I loathe more than Anna is Joelle.  So thanks a lot writers.

 

9 hours ago, 123BP said:

I like Anna, but Joelle is like the house guest you can't get rid of. I REALLY hope they finally kill her in the next episode.

 

OMG.  I was having a tough time tracking the episode last night so when they started talking about Joelle, I thought "Wait...what?  That Joelle?  Did I mishear?  Nope.  That Joelle.  GO AWAY."

I don't know why they keep trying to make Joelle/Callen happen.  They never had any chemistry, and she was CIA-working him the whole entire time.  Talk about betrayal, he'll never know if she's in it for him, or in it for the job.  Anna's really no better, so far as that's concerned.  Her motives are always going to be murky.  But at least Anna seems more of a match for Callen, Joelle always looked and acted like a bank manager or insurance adjuster assessing Callen for trip hazards and credit scores.

The actress playing Anna seems to be getting better.  She always seemed to have a smirky "I know something you don't know" look or delivery about her.  Maybe that was a deliberate choice, to try and make Anna look mysterious, but it always came off as smarmy and patronizing.  It was particularly grating in scenes with Hetty, because nobody is superior to Hetty in the mysterious department.  But in the episode last night, she seemed genuinely awkward and tentative with Callen and not the usually snotty Anna.

What in the name of prairie brand Coleman™ tents was Nell wearing last night? 

[mythoughtis]

1 hour ago, HurricaneVal said:

She always seemed to have a smirky "I know something you don't know" look or delivery about her. 

That and the whole breathy delivery of her lines.  As if she’s Marilyn Monroe singing to JFK.  It’s as if she struggles to breathe and talk at the same time. 

[MDL]

Did Deeks' hair look different-shorter, maybe darker, in a few scenes?

[HurricaneVal]

I thought it looked better than it has in a long time.  In the bathroom hormone injection scene, Daniela Ruah reaches down to caress Deeks's head in a moment of tenderness, but seems to re-think running her fingers through his hair and just sort of awkwardly strokes/pats it instead.  I instantly thought of this forum.....

[ymeagain]

What a mess. And what a boring episode. This reminded me a lot of that episode "Answers." This was basically just a bunch of conversations, only there were conversations in this episode I could care less about. I mean, why do I care what Kam and her boyfriend talk about? And just give her the shot already, Deeks. Why do Deeks and Kensi make everything so dramatic? And Anna shows up in the final 15 minutes and, of course, wherever Anna goes, Joelle is sure to follow. Can someone kill her already? Geez!

11 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

What in the name of prairie brand Coleman™ tents was Nell wearing last night? 

My favorite comment that sums up the episode for me.

[LittlePeas3]

After last week, I was so hopeful.  This one was just so slow. 

I find it so bizarre that they knew of and identified a distribution company that has no internet presence and it was unknown. 

Rowntree's covertness entertained me.  He has yet to learn subtle.  I can not believe he wasn't spotted. 

I almost yelled at the screen, "Abandon Joelle!" except it is 4:42 am here and I would wake the kids.  Seriously, when can be rid of her?  When did Joelle become innocent?  She's a menace to society, or at least to Callen and the team. 

Did anyone else expect some comment about the handcuffs?  The look on Anna's face was priceless.  I was so looking foward to a convesation with Arkady or at least the interview with Anna, to end with Joelle's finger was a disappointment. 

[HurricaneVal]

My first thought when I saw the bloody wrappings then the finger was #1, that was genuine shock on the part of the actors, did they not know what was in the package?  And #2, yeah, they say that's Joelle's finger, test the blood type, DNA, whatever to be sure.  If I was Callen, my first thought would be "How do we know Joelle isn't really running this op and this is someone else's finger?  Or, hey, Joelle is crazy, she could be running this op and that is her finger!"

[secnarf]

I thought they said they screened the package for biological and chemical material and there was none. Is a finger not biological material?

[Gramto6]

On 3/1/2021 at 11:26 AM, HurricaneVal said:

The actress playing Anna seems to be getting better.  She always seemed to have a smirky "I know something you don't know" look or delivery about her.  Maybe that was a deliberate choice, to try and make Anna look mysterious, but it always came off as smarmy and patronizing.  It was particularly grating in scenes with Hetty, because nobody is superior to Hetty in the mysterious department.  But in the episode last night, she seemed genuinely awkward and tentative with Callen and not the usually snotty Anna.

What in the name of prairie brand Coleman™ tents was Nell wearing last night? 

I laughed so hard at this comment...boy did I need that laugh. What the hell is with Nell's wardrobe? Can she really be on  board with this??? She hasn't worn anything flattering in longer than I can remember. Does she really have that bad a taste in clothing that she likes these things?

Edited March 3, 2021 by Gramto6
quoted too much

[Sweet Tooth]

15 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

What in the name of prairie brand Coleman™ tents was Nell wearing last night? 

 

1 hour ago, Gramto6 said:

I laughed so hard at this comment...boy did I need that laugh. What the hell is with Nell's wardrobe? Can she really be on  board with this??? She hasn't worn anything flattering in longer than I can remember. Does she really have that bad a taste in clothing that she likes these things?

Someone was watching Little House on the Prairie and thought, Man, that Laura Ingalls had some great fashion sense.

This has to be a personal choice, as I cannot imagine any wardrobe department being this cruel without someone saying something.

5 hours ago, secnarf said:

I thought they said they screened the package for biological and chemical material and there was none. Is a finger not biological material?

No, I think he said there were two indicators of it, and that's why they brought it straight to Callen.

Anna has grown on me slowly, but man, no matter her situation, her makeup is always on point, and her hair is brushed to a glossy shine.

She also kept widening her eyes as she talked to Callen, which distracted me.

[maggiemae]

Nell must have a costume designer - what she wears is not even vintage.

Cannot even think where she could buy that wardrobe.

[Maverick]

 Someone at work used to wear that 70s prairie reject look.  I was shocked when someone told me it was an actual current clothing line.  Jane something.  So it's possible it's something bought for her. 

[Kelda Feegle]

We call it the Little Hetty on the Prairie look in our Australia house!

[Popservatory]

On 3/1/2021 at 12:26 PM, HurricaneVal said:

She always seemed to have a smirky "I know something you don't know" look or delivery about her.  Maybe that was a deliberate choice, to try and make Anna look mysterious, but it always came off as smarmy and patronizing.  It was particularly grating in scenes with Hetty, because nobody is superior to Hetty in the mysterious department.  But in the episode last night, she seemed genuinely awkward and tentative with Callen and not the usually snotty Anna.

What in the name of prairie brand Coleman™ tents was Nell wearing last night? 

Re: Anna, agree. It feels like they’ve tried to present her as mysterious like Hetty and lone-wolf-y like Callen, but it never quite hits right. She just comes off as someone who always has to be holding all the cards at all times, be it knowing all the information or calling the shots in the relationship. 

I still cannot imagine what rack they get the Nell wardrobe from. There is a middle point on the spectrum of form-fitting and formless if RFS and the wardrobe department don’t want to do the former. I know H&M has a new line coming out that seems like a higher end version of some of the things Nell has worn; however, I only know about this new line because of the ads I’ve started to get for it, which I fully blame on reading and having so many discussions on Nell’s wardrobe.

On the episode itself, it gets worse in hindsight and reflection, though it’s still not horrible. It’s just so hard to judge it on its own when it followed a great episode. I almost feel like you could view “Russia, Russia, Russia” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” as representing the show over the years. “Russia, Russia, Russia” hit so many right notes: we had the main four together again, action, plotting, some con-level hijinks, and an ending that harkened back to G Callen’s spy skills. It was an old school episode. “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” was fine and on par with what we get these days in better episodes. There is character stuff that is drawn out and sometimes just repetitive instead of adding new things. The only thing I liked was the Sam/Kam scene. The Callen drama and Kensi/Deeks scenes just annoyed me because they featured characters I love in storylines I’m sick of.  The case parts of the episode also moved more slowly until we got to the shoot out scene. Joelle in danger just doesn’t have the impact for me I think they were hoping for. Do I get annoyed at fridging women? Yes. Did the Joelle stuff make me shrug? Also, yes. 

I’m hoping the next ep is worth the wait.

[CheshireCat]

Why would Anna care about Joelle, like, at all? Not because she's Callen's girlfriend but in general. Have they even met? I get that she wants to save a life but they wrote it as if she cares about her like a very close friend rather than a stranger whose life she'd want to save as a law enforcement officer and that makes no sense at all.

Why did Cam say she was making "Michelle's" famous potroast? Wouldn't that be her (late) mom?!

On 3/2/2021 at 1:14 AM, ymeagain said:

And just give her the shot already, Deeks. Why do Deeks and Kensi make everything so dramatic?

In theory, I understand the drama. When I had to take blood thinners a few years ago, I had to go downstairs to the doctor's office that was in our building because my mom couldn't do it. But it's not what I want to see on the show (although, I guess, it may be important to people who go through what Kensi and Deeks go through 🤷‍♀️)

 

On 3/2/2021 at 3:30 PM, HurricaneVal said:

  If I was Callen, my first thought would be "How do we know Joelle isn't really running this op and this is someone else's finger?  Or, hey, Joelle is crazy, she could be running this op and that is her finger!"

I would assume that they figured it was Joelle's finger because the CIA requested they back off? (Which makes no sense since their agent was taken and you'd think that they, too, have an interest in confirming her identity but I guess not).