S13.E04: Sorry For Your Loss

[thewhiteowl]

As Callen continues hunting Katya, Kilbride enlists NCIS to help find a truckload of stolen guns. The assignment becomes more challenging when their suspect, the son of a mob boss they believe was planning to sell them, is found dead.

[misstwpherecool]

They reincarnated Gibb's ex wife

[milkyaqua]

Filler epi.  It was okay.  Still muting Kensi and Deeks.  Callen is still trying to find this Katerina person.  Standard.

[Sweet Tooth]

Okay, look, we get it. Kilbride thinks anyone younger than forty is basically a lazy a$$ with no motivation and expects participation trophies. 

That would all be fine and good if he were talking to a thirty year old who was sitting on the couch with a Nintendo controller in their hand and not a trained agent who's been in life-or-death situations.

Him looming over Fatima and talking to her like she stole a cookie, was totally demeaning

I have three words for you Kilbride: tone. it. down.

I appreciate what he did at the end, but can he not belittle before he does something nice?

Edited November 5, 2021 by Sweet Tooth

[LittlePeas3]

Well, I finally managed to watch this episode.  It was underwhelming.  I was so hopeful after last weeks' episode, I was wishing for more undercover work.  This was bland and uneventful.  Blah! I shouldn't have bothered.  

I never thought I would miss Beale and Nell, as they had become annoying, but Fatima and her interactions with Kilbride are on a worse level.  It just feels so wrong.

[123BP]

Best scenes in this episode were the scenes between Callen & Angela, especially the first one. I miss Rose as the coroner (this guy is so annoying I can't believe anyone would marry him). Love it when Callen & Kensi work together, but wonder if anyone besides Sam will ever partner with Rountree (Does a black guy always have to be his partner? I'd really like to see Rountree with Deeks. lol I mean, Kensi partnered with Dom in season 1.) Couldn't figure out why Miriam would know who Callen & Kensi were at the funeral. What kind of undercover operation is that? Wasn't she still a suspect in her stepson's death? Kilbride is not witty or charming or professional; he's a cranky old man who doesn't treat any of these "elite" agents with an ounce of respect. He's a terrible replacement for Hetty (even worse than Mosley).

[mythoughtis]

Never try to follow a NCIS: LA plot the day after you get your Covid booster.  It didn’t help that I didn’t care about the plot or any of the assorted characters of the week. 

[CheshireCat]

On 11/6/2021 at 5:45 PM, 123BP said:

Best scenes in this episode were the scenes between Callen & Angela, especially the first one.

I liked that, too. Don't recall if we've seen Angela before (she seemed new to me) but I like her and I hope we see her again (though not a body bag after Katia murdered her, please).

On 11/6/2021 at 5:45 PM, 123BP said:

Love it when Callen & Kensi work together, but wonder if anyone besides Sam will ever partner with Rountree

Callen and Rountree partnered up at the end in episode 2 or 3 of the season.

As for Sam and Rountree, a few weeks ago I caught a rerun of season 11 (I think). It had a really slow-going episode mid-season where the characters pondered their future and Sam was talking about how he'd like Callen to become Hetty's successor and they'd get a new agent that he (Sam) trains. I had forgotten about this episode and still don't like the slow pace or the Kensi/Deeks scenes because they're about their private and not professional future. But the discussion between Callen and Sam was really interesting in hindsight and I find it a pity that they didn't build on that as I think it could have had potential and brought some consistency into the revolving door of the past two seasons.

That said, I wonder if they're trying to create Rountree as that young agent that Sam trains. I don't think they're doing it well as Sam often comes across as grumpy; I like the exchanges Sam has with Callen but it doesn't work the same with Rountree. Probably because Sam and Callen were/are on equal footing/Callen is the team leader and Rountree is not.

To be honest, I could do without Rountree. I feel like I don't know who he is as a character and at this point, I don't care anymore. He's just there and if he were gone tomorrow, I wouldn't notice. Five agents in the field also always make for an awkward number. Fifth wheel and all.
That said, if they were to move Callen into more of a Hetty-type role, it probably would work. It would change the dynamic but not too much and Rountree could become the young agent that Sam trains, so his character would get a purpose other than just be there as the agent that's not really needed.

 

On 11/6/2021 at 5:45 PM, 123BP said:

(Does a black guy always have to be his partner? I'd really like to see Rountree with Deeks. lol

I don't consider Deeks mature enough to be partnered with Rountree.

On 11/6/2021 at 5:45 PM, 123BP said:

I mean, Kensi partnered with Dom in season 1.) Couldn't figure out why Miriam would know who Callen & Kensi were at the funeral. What kind of undercover operation is that? Wasn't she still a suspect in her stepson's death?

Deeks said she had to get him in, so I'm assuming the writers assumed she would know the entire team. I'm not entirely sure what her role in giving them cover as a waiter, hearse driver and whatever Kensi was, was. Looked like something they could do on their own. But okay.

On 11/6/2021 at 5:45 PM, 123BP said:

Kilbride is not witty or charming or professional; he's a cranky old man who doesn't treat any of these "elite" agents with an ounce of respect. He's a terrible replacement for Hetty (even worse than Mosley).

 

On 11/5/2021 at 12:54 AM, Sweet Tooth said:

Okay, look, we get it. Kilbride thinks anyone younger than forty is basically a lazy a$$ with no motivation and expects participation trophies. 

That would all be fine and good if he were talking to a thirty year old who was sitting on the couch with a Nintendo controller in their hand and not a trained agent who's been in life-or-death situations.

Him looming over Fatima and talking to her like she stole a cookie, was totally demeaning

I have three words for you Kilbride: tone. it. down.

I appreciate what he did at the end, but can he not belittle before he does something nice?

I agree with both of those assessments on Killbride. I don't know what they're going for but they're failing miserably. He's nothing but a cranky old man. It works every now and then but it does not work in every single episode. They need to tone him down or not have him appear as a regular.

Also, why was he calling Sam about the lack of progress on the case? Shouldn't he have called the team leader who calls the shots in the field? I mean, it's probably due to screen time and all that, still, the writers have started to ignore the team structure and I don't think any team could work like that. Any team needs structure and that includes a team leader who is the point person for the one above him/her.
On that note, I would have loved if Sam had told Killbride that he wasn't the person he wants to talk to and to call Callen and be pissed off with him.

In a nutshell, I don't think Killbride works. Not the way he's written.

That said, I did like the case and without Killbride it would have been a really good episode. I especially enjoyed the scene between Sam and Callen at the end. There's far too little of that lately!