S01.E16: Monster

[thewhiteowl]

Kai goes undercover as a chef to gather Intel on a notorious criminal kingpin.

[dwmarch]

I liked the twist with who the hitman turned out to be. I wasn't expecting that.

Also thought it was a nice detail with Kai and his father lapsing into thick accents when they fight.

I'm surprised we stayed Team Non-Lethal this episode. I thought that hitman was going down hard.

[Raja]

I wonder if Alex is about to be Chuck Cunningham'd to Boston? His little sister hasn't been used much yet but she is the age where Janie as mom might start to take more time while  Alex is more self sufficient and acting as caregiver

[HurricaneVal]

The relationship between Jane and her ex is written really well, and very realistically.  They're both committed to being all-in for their kids, but can't help falling back into a wearily sniping communication style when on their own.  We've seen Jane take a moment, take a breath, and try to not do that, but she can't help it--the ruts in that road are too deep.  That exchange on the bleachers about how her ex is doing things for his pregnant second wife that he didn't do for Jane, and the ex replying "you never asked" and you saw the look on Vanessa Lachey's face where you could clearly see she had to think on that, and there was a little tinge of regret there.  She's a far stronger actress than I imagined she'd be.  That was well done.

The push and pull between them on the Amherst letter was also very telling of their relationship.  Jane was out, exploring the world and being bad-ass from a very young age.  To her, even though as a mother the thought of her son so far away kills her, that is normal and expected.  For her ex, however, who is definitely more of a homebody, he's worried about his son being so far away from support.  And as a coach, he's concerned about how that lack of nearby support can adversely affect a young athlete, and break him as they enter the college athletics machine that might just chew him up and spit him out.  He's seen that happen over and over.  For Jane, that's a necessary part of life, but for him it isn't.  Their responses to the same situation also give you an insight into the breakup of their marriage.

Kai's undercover story was great.  It was nice to see how Kai's family's deep restaurant background helped the case along, and that he brought real skills to the table.  I think all we've seen from the family restaurant is kind of a diner, right?  So the fine cuisine chef experience he brought to the undercover job was a little unexpected.  Nicely done.

I like how this show is a little different from the rest of the NCIS franchise, not so shoot-em-up and more character driven.  I like how the cast is really settling into their groove sixteen episodes in.

[MissLucas]

Good episode. Did not see the Dad twist coming despite it being sort of the episode's theme.

Lucy's about to get poster-child for a 'Why workplace romances are a bad idea' PA. Grow up and deal with it, it's was not as if Whistler jilted you on the altar or anything. I wish Tenant had a word with her.

[preeya]

IMO the guy who played Polis looked a lot like a young Scott Bakula (NCIS, N.O.)

[blackwing]

I thought this was a good episode.  I liked seeing Kai go undercover, although the chef as the stereotypical Gordon Ramsay-type asshole chef could have toned down her jerk act.  I think I missed some of the explanation.  Polis and the sous chef got funding for the restaurant from the drug lords, but she knew about it, right?  She said she was being threatened by them, and yet she didn't report it. She continued to help launder their money by allowing her restaurant to be used to do it.  How come there were no consequences to her?  She may not have been directly involved but she allowed it.

It was good to see Kai and his dad appear to (at least for that day) work on their differences.  Kai mentioned lau lau.  I love lau lau!  Fergalicious so delicious.

On 3/15/2022 at 11:50 PM, preeya said:

IMO the guy who played Polis looked a lot like a young Scott Bakula (NCIS, N.O.)

He was played by Aaron Abrams, who I know best as Weitz from "Blindspot".  I don't particularly care for the guy, he has a very weasel-like and punchable face and it fit his role here as a very slick and slimy douchebag.

[StarBrand]

Regarding the Amherst storyline; storylines like that tend to drive me up the wall and back down again.  Because more often than not, if there is a talented son/daugher that gets an offer to go away to a very nice school, the parents almost always instinctively resist the idea, or dismiss it outright-which the ex-husband was doing early this episode.  And they resist quite often for selfish reasons.  The kid going to a school far away is a legitimate issue, yeah-they might be get lonely, that's true.  To his credit, the son did bring up that issue, but he wasn't hiding anything, just wanted to be allowed to think about it on his own. But the parents (in fiction and in real life) often just don't want their "child" to grow up.  They don't want them doing anything that might allow them to grow, or most importantly, make them not dependant on them anymore. 

My message to fictitional (and for that matter, real life) parents on this issue would be this-your children will not be children forever.  They will grow up, and eventually not have to depend on you so much.  I suggest you get used to the idea. If you want something that's a child for life-get a cat or dog.

Whew.  Got carried away a bit there.  But yes-I really don't like seeing parents object to opportunities presented to their offspring for selfish reasons.  To be fair, the ex-husband did admit his reasoning was partly based to the fact his marriage fell apart in part due to his wife being away for long periods, and backed off a little.  It would have been very irritating had he kept his original stance and not budged at all from it.