S13.E03: Indentured

[Sweet Tooth]

Sam and Kilbride clash when a case involving an arms dealer responsible for the slaughter of ATF agents leads them to a well-connected colonel and friend of Kilbride, accused of supplying militia groups with guns. Also, Kensi and Fatima go undercover at a rehab facility to question the arms dealer's girlfriend.

[Sweet Tooth]

I liked that they made the girlfriend against type, and didn't make her either meek and too scared to move or someone who eats nails and spits them out.

Was kind of shocked Kilbride just kind of let it slide with Sam going behind his back, but I guess he had to build up trust, and that's the way they chose to go about it.

 

[MissLucas]

I think the whole writers room has lost its mind. Win the trust of a domestic abuse victim with an addiction problem? Assault her some more, then drag her out of rehab and lure her into ordering a hit on her boyfriend. Entrapment anyone? 

In the end the woman had not gotten any therapy for the abuse she had suffered or for her addiction, had committed murder and was on the run. But it was chalked up as a win for the team. Also: second time in a row we're supposed to cheer on a bit of vigilantism.

More also: she told them the boyfriend passes out at night and gave them the code for the garage door. Yet they swatted a nice old lady in the middle of the day through the front door - apparently never bothered to check the info.

Meanwhile over at testosterone central: lots of growling was being done (and vocal cords damaged). Are we supposed to be surprised that Kilbride takes over? 

 

Edited October 29, 2021 by MissLucas

[LittlePeas3]

the only thing I even kind of liked about this one was they did something undercover, dogdy, ofcourse, but undercover all the same.  The whole Kilbride thing kind of stunk of how Granger investigated Kensi not long after he arrived, as if Kilbride was sussing  out how Sam and Callen would deal with it all.  It's like they have run out of things to investigate, everything is so tenuously (so very loosely tenuously) linked to the Navy.  At least the mothership still deals with Navy issues.  

[Gramto6]

When is this show on?? I can't seem to find it in my listings. Thanks!

[123BP]

What a complete mess. Military's writing has gone downhill so much since "Rage" and "Uncaged" it's hard to believe it's the same writer. The point of the undercover assignment was to get information on Meyer. TOTAL FAILURE. And how did Meyer, who controls Mia's life, even let her go to rehab alone? It's not like she couldn't just run away . . . oh, right, she did. lol And she trusts Kensi after a few conversations because they're both in rehab? Kensi didn't help her with her addiction, but she did give her the "courage" to kill her boyfriend, so maybe that'll help. And since Kensi isn't going to turn her in or tell the LAPD any details about her uc work, Mia will probably get away with killing Meyer. I understand he was a bad dude, but the team giving a thumbs up to another act of vigilantism is strange. Makes me wonder if the writers realize that NCIS is a law enforcement agency.  Anyway, since only Kensi and Deeks knew about Mia's interest in having Meyer killed, she's probably not gonna be charged. Seems the only person on NCISLA who ever WAS charged for killing someone--a Russian mob boss--has been Anna. 

I didn't understand the point of the whole story about the illegal guns. We saw Collins once and Meyer at the very beginning (killing an ATF agent), so that couldn't have been the main story. Kilbride was a pain in the ass and I'm really tired of all the crap Callen gets because he's not a former SEAL (according to his paperwork, he IS a veteran). I'm also tired of Sam never speaking up for his partner. Callen has more years as a federal agent than anyone else on the team, but because he wasn't a SEAL, Kilbride thinks he's not "qualified" to interview Collins. I can't imagine Gibbs or Vance letting anyone tell them an NCIS agent isn't "qualified" to interview anyone, especially someone who's retired from the military. I'm thinking the writers and show runner don't really understand that NCIS is a civilian organization that "investigates" the Navy and Marines.

It's getting harder to watch the show, but I really, really like the cast. I wish the writing was as good as it was the first 7 seasons.

Edited October 30, 2021 by 123BP

[misstwpherecool]

They should make the criminal's girlfriend from rehab this year's bond villain. At least bring Keny's and Deeks knowledge of her comeback to bite them. 

And yes manipulating a women in rehab not cool. Cliche undercover as well. Threw in some backdoor commentary as well with election conspiracies, militias, the border etc. 

Nmazzi's first epi without scarf on head?

[MissLucas]

3 hours ago, misstwpherecool said:

Nmazzi's first epi without scarf on head?

Isn't she supposed to be some former soap-star? I think we saw some flashbacks of her show where she was not wearing a hijab either. It makes sense for her cover here, probably the only thing that made sense in the whole episode. A muslima wearing the hijab would also be a muslima who doesn't drink or take other drugs. In theory she could have been a victim of opioid addiction but that would have required a bit more effort for her cover and of course then she could not pull off the abusive jerk character. 

Imagine the Leverage team being put in charge of this con and weep!

[CheshireCat]

On 10/30/2021 at 5:06 PM, 123BP said:

Seems the only person on NCISLA who ever WAS charged for killing someone--a Russian mob boss--has been Anna. 

I'm still not clear if she was charged to get her into prison or if whichever agency was in charge took advantage of her being charged. To make a long story short - she may only have been charged because her employer wanted her to be charged.

 

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I didn't understand the point of the whole story about the illegal guns. We saw Collins once and Meyer at the very beginning (killing an ATF agent), so that couldn't have been the main story. Kilbride was a pain in the ass

Tell me about it. Why do TPTB think that after 12 seasons I a) want to see the new guy be in charge and go out into the field and b) want to see him partnered with Sam instead of Callen? Why are they pushing Callen aside anyway? Or is this just a consequence of the new(ish) team members? Maybe they should settle on who gets to stay in Ops and who goes out in the field and have the other agent be with Callen and Sam at times and with Kensi and Deeks at others? Someone needs to stay in Ops permanently anyway.

And what was that about Killbride acting as if he knows what the job of an agent entails? The man is a retired Navy admiral. As far as we know, he never worked in law enforcement and being a Navy admiral and an agent with NCIS are two completely different things and other than from conducting oversight, he doesn't know a thing about the job.

 

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and I'm really tired of all the crap Callen gets because he's not a former SEAL (according to his paperwork, he IS a veteran).

This! I'm doing sort of a rewatch (it's completely out of order) and recently rewatched a S3 episode where the suspects are military and they are completely dismissive of Callen because he isn't military. It's as if the show wants to tell us that only military service counts as serving the country. Callen worked for the CIA, the DEA and the FBI. He's spent his entire life serving the country. He's been undercover with the mob and if he had been made he would not have stood a chance or survival, he's been undercover in Russia and I'd call that more than hostile territory. His work has helped and helps keep the family's of those high and mighty soldiers safe so that they don't have to fear for their family's safety every single moment when they're deployed.

I think this dismissive attitude of anyone who isn't military or former military is an insult to every non-military law enforcement officer. They may not fight wars overseas (though agents like Callen clearly do) but they do fight wars (against crime) on US soil.

 

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I'm also tired of Sam never speaking up for his partner.

Agreed! Also, did they demote Callen and make Sam team leader and didn't tell us or why was Sam giving orders and in charge?

While I don't like it, it makes somewhat sense when Sam does it when a case is personal. But there's usually some exchange with Callen when that happens and Callen let's him do it. Callen is, after all, responsible and it would be his head because it is his team.

 

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 I can't imagine Gibbs or Vance letting anyone tell them an NCIS agent isn't "qualified" to interview anyone, especially someone who's retired from the military.

Well, the only thing I liked about it is that Sam pointed out that he was an NCIS agent.

 

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I'm thinking the writers and show runner don't really understand that NCIS is a civilian organization that "investigates" the Navy and Marines.

After 18+ seasons of NCIS, 12+ seasons of LA and 7 seasons of NO you'd think they know that ;-)

 

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It's getting harder to watch the show, but I really, really like the cast. I wish the writing was as good as it was the first 7 seasons.

Me, too, but I feel they're killing the team dynamic which also plays a huge role in why I watch.

 

On 11/1/2021 at 2:26 PM, MissLucas said:

Isn't she supposed to be some former soap-star? I think we saw some flashbacks of her show where she was not wearing a hijab either. It makes sense for her cover here, probably the only thing that made sense in the whole episode. A muslima wearing the hijab would also be a muslima who doesn't drink or take other drugs. In theory she could have been a victim of opioid addiction but that would have required a bit more effort for her cover and of course then she could not pull off the abusive jerk character.

Didn't Fatima have a sip from the bottle she took off Mia though? Yes, she's undercover but would she really drink? Would she even not wear a Hijab? I find it hard to believe that if you believe those things are part of your faith you'd suddenly be cool with violating said belief, job or not.

[MissLucas]

8 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

Didn't Fatima have a sip from the bottle she took off Mia though? Yes, she's undercover but would she really drink? Would she even not wear a Hijab? I find it hard to believe that if you believe those things are part of your faith you'd suddenly be cool with violating said belief, job or not.

Maybe she just pretended? When she joined the team I also wondered how her devotion to her faith would impact her ability to perform undercover work - but as the team hardly ever goes undercover anymore it never came up until now 🤷‍♂️

[secnarf]

17 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

Didn't Fatima have a sip from the bottle she took off Mia though? Yes, she's undercover but would she really drink? Would she even not wear a Hijab? I find it hard to believe that if you believe those things are part of your faith you'd suddenly be cool with violating said belief, job or not.

I'm not sure she actually drank, vs just pretending - I feel like she mentioned at some point that she used to drink a lot but doesn't drink anymore, but I might be making that up. She definitely used to not wear a hijab, back when she was on a TV show or something. Everyone is different in how comfortable they are with certain things. I have no doubt some people would not be okay with taking the hijab off even if undercover, but many are comfortable removing it in certain situations, as long as it is their own personal choice. Like most religions, there is a huge variation in how strict people can be. Most followers of most religions tend to fall into the moderate category, but nobody likes being forced to do something they aren't comfortable with.

My assumption on Fatima's behalf in this situation was that her goal was ultimately good, she was playing a role, so she was okay with removing her hijab in order to achieve a positive outcome.