S13.E11: All the Little Things

[thewhiteowl]

When a newborn child is found abandoned on a Navy ship, Kensi and Deeks search for the mother on board before she dies of complications. Also, Nate meets with Admiral Kilbride and learns about the CIA project from the ‘70s and ‘80s involving children.

[preeya]

Why do they always write the characters that are rapists as totally entitled DOUCHE BAGS?

[Aliconehead]

I want to know what the difference is between an agent and an investigator.  
 

also I am sick of the baby and kids storylines.  I get it Kensie and Deeks want kids and can’t have them but it does not need to be the focus of every episode.  
 

hopefully we will get movement on the fake Callen and others soon

[milkyaqua]

TPTB seem to think that we're all interested in Kensi and Deeks and their baby drama.  A lot of us are not and I'd wish they'd stop.  I was waiting for them to find out the mom had gone over board and Kensi and Deeks would adopt the child.  Enough show.  I'm to the point where I pretty much tune them out/hit the mute or change the channel whenever they start their kids talk.  Ugh.

I'll also be glad when we get more movement on this fake Callen thing.

It was nice seeing Nate and of course McBride knows about whatever this thing with Hetty/Callen is.

[preeya]

5 hours ago, milkyaqua said:

TPTB seem to think that we're all interested in Kensi and Deeks and their baby drama.  A lot of us are not and I'd wish they'd stop.  I was waiting for them to find out the mom had gone over board and Kensi and Deeks would adopt the child.  Enough show.

ITA! It seems that quite a few shows [that I watch] have adopted {pun intended} the despised "baby/kids/pregnancy" drama.

On another note when and why did Ana reappear? It seems she was bunking in Callen's apartment. She added no value to the episode except that she was face-timing with Callen's clone.

Are the actors now doing shift work? Hannah off, Roundtree on, etc.

Also, I'm hard-pressed to recall Nate. 

Edited March 14, 2022 by preeya

[milkyaqua]

11 minutes ago, preeya said:

On another note when and why did Ana reappear?

I wondered that as well.  I didn't even think he knew where she was or she was doing some special assignment?  I don't know.

I actually don't mind Roundtree so I was fine having him back.

[123BP]

I actually enjoyed this episode more than most this season. Yes, there was STILL a baby story, but at least it wasn't the ONLY story. I'm more interested in who's behind the "deep fake" than in seeing Densi become parents because that story line's been dragged out since season 10 or 11. I'm so over it. Maybe they should just be happy with Monty.

Anna has been with Callen all along. It's just the writers weren't interested in showing them together or any of their conversations after "Noble Maidens" which was really stupid. There have been comments about her and Callen made by some of the other characters (to let us know she was around), but TPTB made a big mistake imo by not having scenes between them. It's not surprising people wonder where she's been when her last appearance was almost a year ago. TPTB have a hard time with continuing story lines unless they're about a baby.

One of the most important things said on their walk on the beach was when Anna asked Callen what made him feel safe and he said, "You do." I almost missed that.

Liked that Nate was back and hope we see him again, next time with Callen.

Dislike Kilbride a lot. His comments about the team are juvenile and sound like something you'd hear in middle school. Hetty might have been secretive, but she wasn't as petty or obnoxious as Kilbride.

Won't see Anna or Nate in the next 3 episodes. Still wonder if Callen has the ring he bought for Anna back in season 12.

Didn't miss Sam much. The case was so simple there wouldn't have been a lot for him to do.

Like this review.

https://ncislarandomthoughts.blogspot.com/2022/03/all-little-things-season-13-episode-11.html

[wlk68]

I thought for sure that Kensi and Deeks were going to end up with that baby. 

 

 

[milkyaqua]

3 hours ago, 123BP said:

Like this review.

https://ncislarandomthoughts.blogspot.com/2022/03/all-little-things-season-13-episode-11.html

Nice article.  I also don't know why I want to call McRaney's character McBride instead of Kilbride but I agree the way he's written is a waste of McRaney.

My feeling about Callen is that TPTB might have had an idea how they wanted this story to go but seem to have lost the thread.  After 13 seasons it's crazy to think this is still a thing.  I also agree with that article about the confusion with Anna.  I can understand if the actress is doing other projects and isn't available otherwise, it's silly to have her pop up after being absent for nearly an entire season and yes, it would make sense for the audience to be privy to some of their conversations.  Heck, we got more conversations between Callen and Joelle.

[mythoughtis]

Do not bring Joelle up.  Next thing you know she will be in an episode again.   Anna is annoying as it is.  
I am not interested in more personal drama for Callen.  He has the worst cover identities on the planet.  He’s always the victim of something.  I’m over the top annoyed with all his various ties to Hetty too.  
Nice to see Nate back.  Maybe he can stick around this time.  

 

[ymeagain]

4 hours ago, milkyaqua said:

My feeling about Callen is that TPTB might have had an idea how they wanted this story to go but seem to have lost the thread. 

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.

7 hours ago, 123BP said:

One of the most important things said on their walk on the beach was when Anna asked Callen what made him feel safe and he said, "You do." I almost missed that.

I missed this, but liked the talk.

8 hours ago, milkyaqua said:

I didn't even think he knew where she was or she was doing some special assignment? 

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.

[CheshireCat]

6 hours ago, milkyaqua said:

My feeling about Callen is that TPTB might have had an idea how they wanted this story to go but seem to have lost the thread. 

It's also possible that Covid got in the way. Not ruling out that they've lost the thread, just saying that it might not have made filming like they would have liked to possible or something. But if that's the case, they should have thought about it before.

Sometimes, I also wonder if TPTB actually know how they want an idea to go. I seem to remember an interview with someone from The Mentalist where they said that they had no idea who Red John actually was. And to think that this is what they get paid the Big Bucks for...

 

[milkyaqua]

11 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

It's also possible that Covid got in the way. Not ruling out that they've lost the thread, just saying that it might not have made filming like they would have liked to possible or something. But if that's the case, they should have thought about it before.

I'm not talking about this season necessarily.  I mean since the show started.  The origins of Callen stuff has been going on since the beginning.  As far as I'm concerned, this storyline should have been wrapped up a number of seasons ago.

[LittlePeas3]

There seems to be a huge lack of continuity of late.  Main characters in one episode and not the next. Jumping between storylines.  While I can live without Roundtree, but surely Sam's input to Callen when he is looking for Hetty would have been something usual?  I kept hoping he would turn up looking for Hetty in the Middle East.  Anna's appearance seemed random, as did Nate just walking up to speak to Kilbride.  Knowing Nate was appearing soon, personally thought he would appear with or around Hetty, not in LA.  

Should have thought Keen would be with Hetty,  but his comment to Callen about the project with teens in the 70s and 80s about not being part of the program was a huge "DUH" moment for me - he was held prisoner in Vietnam from post Vietnam War era! How would he even know about the project?  Besides, other than Chegwidden and Co, I doubt Hetty would have even contemplated telling Keen about anything.  She plays everything super close to her chest and rarely shares more than necessary.  Keen was always portrayed as being prepared to do anything for Hetty. 

The deep fake storyline threw me, I didn't see that part coming.  It made a little more sense bringing Anna back for that, but only if they keep her in the next few episodes or keep on with that thread in the storyline.  I hate when it jumps so much that it is as if it hasn't happened for a while and  then BOOM! it is all back on again.  

I don't know if it is just me, but the characters voices all have a bit of a higher pitch than usual to me, almost like they are chipmunks and they are speeding up the dubbing a little to fit more in.  Am I imagining this? Kensi and Deeks are the worst.  

 

 

[123BP]

1 hour ago, LittlePeas3 said:

Should have thought Keen would be with Hetty,  but his comment to Callen about the project with teens in the 70s and 80s about not being part of the program was a huge "DUH" moment for me - he was held prisoner in Vietnam from post Vietnam War era! How would he even know about the project? 

Maybe, but if the project was being run by the CIA in the 1970s & 1980s, the planning for it would have been earlier. There's no telling what he knew or what Hetty told him before their mission to SE Asia which was probably in 1974 or even later since their mission was to rescue covert operators from Laos & Vietnam who were left behind when the US pulled out. The timeline is tight but possible.

[threebluestars]

I am pretty sure LL caught covid at some point, so I am curious if he was missing because of being off for that.

[ymeagain]

9 hours ago, threebluestars said:

I am pretty sure LL caught covid at some point, so I am curious if he was missing because of being off for that.

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

[CheshireCat]

2 hours ago, ymeagain said:

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

They film ahead, so it's possible this was the last episode they filmed before the holidays (in which case Covid also wouldn't have been an issue).

I think it's just that they're in S13 and he and O'Donnell probably have more time off so that they can get a raise without it getting too expensive. (Fewer hours+smaller pay raise still equals a bigger pay raise than a smaller raise plus the same hours). Wasn't O'Donnell absent for the episode that aired before the holiday break?

 

 

[Danielg342]

On 3/14/2022 at 12:05 AM, preeya said:

Why do they always write the characters that are rapists as totally entitled DOUCHE BAGS?

It's a general trend in Hollywood- rapists are a special kind of evil. That the rapist was as contemptible as could get did not surprise me, though it was annoying about how far the writers went with portraying that. He was very much more "caricature" than "character" and that annoyed me. I also don't know how believable the narrative is that the show tried to get me to buy about how the rape happened, but I guess it's not impossible.

My only guess is that the writer was pressed for time and since- in another annoying Hollywood cliche- the big reveal was "the officer was raped", the end of the episode is not really a good point to get into the messy issue of legally proving the lack of consent or to risk humanizing the rapist in any kind of way, so the writer figured to, uh, go overboard in making the rapist as contemptible as possible so there can't be any doubt that he did what he was accused of doing.

What also struck me about the rape story was Kensi sternly telling Callen and Roundtree "to get this guy good because I don't want him to get away on a technicality!" Not only is that an annoying Hollywood cliche, it really makes Kensi look unprofessional. Shouldn't she want her colleagues to do a thorough and complete job on all their cases, not just rape?

On 3/15/2022 at 1:56 AM, CheshireCat said:

Sometimes, I also wonder if TPTB actually know how they want an idea to go. I seem to remember an interview with someone from The Mentalist where they said that they had no idea who Red John actually was. And to think that this is what they get paid the Big Bucks for...

Bruno Heller- the showrunner for The Mentalist- once said he didn't know who Red John was until sometime in S4 at least. Which means we were given clues about who Red John was- including that shocker at the end of S3- without the show's own writers knowing who they were writing for.

It's why I cast Red John as the cautionary tale about why Hollywood should not pursue creating series-defining Big Bads. Not because they can't be done properly, because they can. The problem is that Hollywood writers and producers never properly put in the work needed to make that kind of character work. Most of the time, these mysterious Big Bads are just these "cool ideas" that producers concoct as a way to "spice up the series"- they hardly ever fit into the show's milieu.

That's the sense I get with this alternate Callen storyline. Now, I admit I haven't followed NCIS: Los Angeles that closely (I'm really only watching it now because it's on before S.W.A.T., which I do follow) so there's lots about Callen I'm sure I'm missing, but I get the sense his story follows the trope of the "mysterious upbringing". Wikipedia explains he bounced around a lot of foster homes and never actually met his own parents, in fact, his first name was initially just "G" because Callen didn't know what it stood for.

There's a whole other set of things too, but it seems like the latest revel about Callen's mysterious past is that he somehow has a twin he's never met. One intent on doing him harm, for some reason.

Just reading about it, Callen's backstory sure sounds like something the writers are making up as they go along, and this is the latest chapter in it. The latest predictable one, too, because Hollywood loves the well of "mysterious guy has family members he never knew about". I guess we'll see how it goes but I already feel like it will be a massive train wreck.

[123BP]

5 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

There's a whole other set of things too, but it seems like the latest revel about Callen's mysterious past is that he somehow has a twin he's never met. One intent on doing him harm, for some reason.

Just reading about it, Callen's backstory sure sounds like something the writers are making up as they go along, and this is the latest chapter in it. The latest predictable one, too, because Hollywood loves the well of "mysterious guy has family members he never knew about". I guess we'll see how it goes but I already feel like it will be a massive train wreck.

I can see where you're confused if you've only started watching NCISLA recently. Callen's story was one of the things that attracted me to the series in the beginning. No, he doesn't have an evil twin. lol That's a computer-generated deep fake (introduced in "Imposter Syndrome" episode). His original backstory worked: he was born in Romania to an American mom & Russian dad, saw his mom murdered when he was 5 (about), sent to America with his older sister, they got separated & she drowned in an accident, he spent his youth in foster homes until he was 18, & later worked for the DEA, CIA, FBI, & finally NCIS. He was always a loner & moved around. He finally met his real dad & learned his name in season 7, & knows pretty much all about his family (he also has a half-sister & nephew). Anna, his girlfriend, is the daughter of one of Callen's oldest friends--an ex-KGB agent, Arkady Kolcheck, who's a womanizing charmer. Since Gemmill took over as showrunner, he's been making changes to Callen's backstory--and most of the changes have been pointless & some have been way out of character from the original character developed by Brennan. The latest change is that he learned in "Subject 17" that he was part of a CIA-funded program to identify children who might be useful as operatives, and that Hetty, his boss at NCIS, was involved in the program. This is a big deal because Hetty's always been like a mother to him (she was partly responsible for his mom's murder). Also, Katya is a Russian operative who's out to get revenge on Anna (& Callen, it seems) because Anna tricked her in an op back in season 10 or 11 ("The One That Got Away" was the episode with Katya & it was really good). This is probably more than you wanted to know. 😁

[Sweet Tooth]

WOW, @123BP, that was quite a thorough summary!

Count me in as another person totally confused about Anna showing up out of nowhere. Honestly, I went back to check if I missed an episode.

The other reason I checked, is because after Callen was told by his doctor that he did,  in fact, see him, I would have expected Callen to freak out and investigate it. I find it HILARIOUS that a guy who's had his cover blown AND lived through "Imposter Syndrome," just went about his life as if this wasn't completely out of the ordinary. 

I don't know why they didn't use one of Daniela's REAL pregnancies, so we wouldn't have to live through this mess.

The r*pe guy was a caricature. They located him near the end of the episode, so nuance was out of the question. They're helping to perpetuate the whole thing where you can spot a r*pist a mile away, which is not the case. He could have at least been charming. He's a young, good-looking guy, so I'm surprised they didn't also have him say he can get any woman he wanted and didn't need to resort to r*pe.

And we didn't even get a satisfying "comeuppance" scene.

[123BP]

2 hours ago, Sweet Tooth said:

WOW, @123BP, that was quite a thorough summary!

😁 Callen is a character I found really interesting when I started watching the show in 2009.

2 hours ago, Sweet Tooth said:

The other reason I checked, is because after Callen was told by his doctor that he did,  in fact, see him, I would have expected Callen to freak out and investigate it. I find it HILARIOUS that a guy who's had his cover blown AND lived through "Imposter Syndrome," just went about his life as if this wasn't completely out of the ordinary. 

I thought the same, but then "Imposter Syndrome" was more than 10 episodes ago, and since then Callen's been focused on being Subject 17, finding Katya and Hetty, and trying to get information from other proteges of Hetty, so maybe Callen just forgot about the deep fake. Besides, in "Imposter" the deep fake was only being developed, it hadn't actually been used and Callen's voice hadn't been added to it. It seems this might have been the first time it's actually been used to impersonate Callen.

2 hours ago, Sweet Tooth said:

The r*pe guy was a caricature.

He was but I still didn't like him, and it's not a shock for a good-looking (even a successful) guy to resort to sexual assault or rape in real life. 

[Sweet Tooth]

5 hours ago, 123BP said:

He was but I still didn't like him, and it's not a shock for a good-looking (even a successful) guy to resort to sexual assault or rape in real life. 

Oh, absolutely, and we were supposed to hate him. But IRL you also have these good-looking, charming men who everyone says couldn't possibly be a r*pist, because he's so good-looking and charming.

Take a look at some news footage of women talking about Ted Bundy. It will make your toes curl.

It would have been more interesting and made more sense if the guy somehow made her think she was a willing participant, and that's why she didn't come forward. 

With this guy, it seems like he physically forced himself upon her and just used her and walked away, convinced she wouldn't say anything, which even for a raging narcissist like him, was quite a gamble. I mean, when caught, he didn't even claim she "wanted it," which this type usually does. And he didn't bat an eyelash when they told him she gave birth to his kid, even though everyone knows by now you can do a DNA check.

It seemed like the show just checked all the boxes of "typical sleazebag" and got lazy about it. And as a writer, I find lazy writing inexcusable.

I do know sometimes that in this kind of environment, where the men outnumber the women and are usually the ones in charge, women are told to put up and shut up when it comes to sexual harassment, or otherwise their life becomes a living hell.

I just wish they'd hit this point home a little harder. 

5 hours ago, 123BP said:

I thought the same, but then "Imposter Syndrome" was more than 10 episodes ago, and since then Callen's been focused on being Subject 17, finding Katya and Hetty, and trying to get information from other proteges of Hetty, so maybe Callen just forgot about the deep fake. Besides, in "Imposter" the deep fake was only being developed, it hadn't actually been used and Callen's voice hadn't been added to it. It seems this might have been the first time it's actually been used to impersonate Callen.

Callen has been at this for quite some time, and while yes, he can become obsessive, he looked really freaked out when his doctor said he DEFINITELY saw Callen. 

I mean, for someone as paranoid as Callen is, certainly he should have thought something was fishy and investigated it, especially coupled with the "loan" call he received that didn't sound like a robocall at ALL. They didn't ask him to take out a loan. They told him his loan application was REJECTED, which isn't exactly a way to get someone to take out a loan. It was his bank, so he'd know if he'd received calls like this in the past.

If he'd brought this up to Sam, I'm sure he would have twigged to something. The fact that his own doctor said he definitely saw Callen, should have gotten him to call the doctor back immediately and ask what the person said, etc.  

If something huge happened in my life, and then there were echoes of it happening again, especially if I'm a trained agent with secret identities and people out to k*ll me, I would definitely double, triple, and quadruple check if it was happening again, especially if it was a couple of months ago and not, say, ten years ago. I just can't imagine Callen saying, "It can't be happening again. It's been two and half months!"

Again, it was really sloppy writing to have someone as thorough as Callen is, not even double check what was going on, just so we could have the ending of this episode.

 

[Danielg342]

12 hours ago, 123BP said:

Since Gemmill took over as showrunner, he's been making changes to Callen's backstory--and most of the changes have been pointless & some have been way out of character from the original character developed by Brennan.

Appreciate the summary. Thanks. Sounds like the new showrunner wanted to "leave his mark" on the series and subsequently messed it up. Just like how Criminal Minds got a new showrunner who wanted to do the same thing and also messed things up.

It sounds like the original showrunner actually had an idea for what Callen's mysterious life looked like and the new showrunner is typical Hollywood, using the "mystery" as an excuse to tack things on simply for the "shock value" with little regard to if it all makes sense or not.

2 hours ago, Sweet Tooth said:

Oh, absolutely, and we were supposed to hate him. But IRL you also have these good-looking, charming men who everyone says couldn't possibly be a r*pist, because he's so good-looking and charming.

Take a look at some news footage of women talking about Ted Bundy. It will make your toes curl.

I'm an awkward dude. This apparently makes some people think I have ill intent when I'm awkward around them and it drives me nuts. Your typical predator is someone who is not just charming but also personable and confident- the kind of person that puts you at ease within seconds of meeting them. This is how they eventually reel their victims in, by giving them a false sense of security before striking at the right opportunity.

Which is why when they get accused of improprieties they'll have a chorus of defenders, many of whom will say- and often genuinely so- that they couldn't believe the predator did what they did. This is because they'll never see the predator at their worst, because all they've seen are the mundane superficial interactions they'll have with the predator. Predators don't just play with their victims- they play everyone.

I've worked with predators before...let me tell you it's not fun.

To close this section, let me state that this doesn't mean shy and awkward people can't commit violent crimes. They'll just do it around people they actually feel comfortable around, or they'll do things like the van attacker where I live. Someone who is awkward when you first encounter them probably won't be much of a danger. A smooth talker, especially one who takes a sudden and overreaching interest in you right from the outset, is more of a worry.

2 hours ago, Sweet Tooth said:

It would have been more interesting and made more sense if the guy somehow made her think she was a willing participant, and that's why she didn't come forward. 

With this guy, it seems like he physically forced himself upon her and just used her and walked away, convinced she wouldn't say anything, which even for a raging narcissist like him, was quite a gamble. I mean, when caught, he didn't even claim she "wanted it," which this type usually does. And he didn't bat an eyelash when they told him she gave birth to his kid, even though everyone knows by now you can do a DNA check.

It seemed like the show just checked all the boxes of "typical sleazebag" and got lazy about it. And as a writer, I find lazy writing inexcusable.

I do know sometimes that in this kind of environment, where the men outnumber the women and are usually the ones in charge, women are told to put up and shut up when it comes to sexual harassment, or otherwise their life becomes a living hell.

I just wish they'd hit this point home a little harder. 

The mechanics of such an assault just don't make sense to me. She's a naval officer, he's a civilian contractor. Not very likely he's going to get a physical upper hand on the officer, who should know more about fighting and tactics than a desk jockey.

This would have made more sense if the officer and the contractor had a thing for each other with the incident happening because, to put it mildly, the contractor and the officer got things started with the officer only backing once things got going and the contractor ignoring her protests. That would be a bit more believable a sequence of events.

Now, before someone writes to me and says I'm "blaming the victim" or that "in real life this could actually happen", to the former I will state that being attacked is still solely the responsibility of the attacker and to the latter I don't deny that statement.

However, there's a fundamental difference between a real life incident and what TV writer wants me to buy on TV. In real life, I can accept that things happen in ways I would not expect or believe, because that happens a lot. On TV I expect a coherent logic and explanation for the narrative I am being told. This is because the audience needs to comprehend the story if it is to have any impact- otherwise, the audience will focus too much on piecing things together and disregard any message the story may send.

Not just that, but a writer banking on "well, it could happen that way" without bothering to explain how is just lazy. With no explanation needed then anything could happen...the writer might as well just say a wizard did it and call it day.

I also think a case of misunderstood signals could have made for a more powerful ending. The contractor could still deny it happened, but once he realizes that he can't, he fesses up out of remorse and realizes the gravity of what he did. Like the incel a few weeks ago, the contractor could have realized that his actions weren't just small or relatively harmless- they had real consequences, serious ones he can't ignore.

Now that would have been a point worth driving home. Sad the show is now 0/2 in that department (which is probably higher given all the episodes I've missed).