S14.E01: Game of Drones

[thewhiteowl]

The NCIS team searches for a suspect and their motive following the bombing of a large facility where military combat drones are assembled. Also, Callen and Kilbride get troubling news about a body found in Syria.

[LittlePeas3]

This was underwhelming. 

It started with Sam and his dad, then Sam never made it to work.  I would have thought (and hoped) we would have had Callen and Sam banter about Sam's dad while they went about their investigations and Sam could have been witty about Callen's choice of wedding venue. 

Kensi and Deeks - wow, that was overkill.  The time spent discussing Rosa (is that their foster daughter's name?  I tuned out a little) was worse than listening to the mind-numbing baby discussion.  

Roundtree and Fatima - they have some chemistry as partners, like Callen and Sam, and Kensi and Deeks.  Why must they insist on mixing up the pairings?  TPTB need to stop making us want something we don't want!

In terms of the storyline, I believe, they went over the top investigating the janitor. 

Was Hetty going to be dead?  Of course not, she is forever an urban legend.  She escapes everything, relatively untouched.   

[Maverick]

 I am so over Deeks and Kensi's family drams.  As my grandma used to say, children should not be seen nor heard of.   Or something like that.

 Also tired of Sam's dad drama.  

[123BP]

Yikes! Having a boring premiere is never a good idea. I found this episode super boring. I didn't mind the short scene with Rosa or the one between Sam and his dad, but the scene between Callen and Fatima came off as forced. First, she was being nosy, and second, those wedding theme ideas were so, so, SO awful. Fairy tale? For Callen? OMG, she doesn't know Callen at all--or Anna. And the case was a snooze fest. Plus the sniper scene was stupid: Deeks turns his back to a suspect AND puts on noise reduction ear muffs? I also didn't get why the bad guys drove their van filled with explosives into a shipping container at the end. Wouldn't there be a better target on a military base? Still like the cast, but the writing sucks.

On 10/10/2022 at 1:47 PM, LittlePeas3 said:

I would have thought (and hoped) we would have had Callen and Sam banter about Sam's dad while they went about their investigations and Sam could have been witty about Callen's choice of wedding venue. 

I would've loved to see this. I also agree that the writers need to try and stop FORCING stuff on viewers--like different partner pairings--that viewers don't want. They should stick with the old adage: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Edited October 12, 2022 by 123BP

[MissLucas]

I don't mind unusual pairings if they result in something interesting, new character insights. The only new thing we learned today (and that had nothing to do with the pairing) was that Fatima's show is still on air and that she makes good money. The sniper scene was stupid - also stupid: the lonely guard who apparently had no idea what was going to happen when that van drove closer. He had to take heavy fire but nobody seemed bother to go check on him by the end.

And someone finally send Hetty to Alaska where she can cook all the fish Gibbs is catching - or vice versa I don't care!

[CheshireCat]

I have to admit, I did enjoy the scene between Kensi, Deeks and Rosa when they dropped her off at school, mostly because of the acting though. I think they all sold it pretty well. The scene between Kensi and Deeks later I could have done without!

Uh, yeah, I don't think that's how it works, Fatima. Just because you're the most Senior agent in Ops doesn't mean you get to make decisions. Callen was just steps away, as was the actual current boss. It's not like either was unavailable or unreachable. But at least, Callen called the shots for the rest of the episode.

Has the table in the boatshed always had board games painted on it? It's the first time I noticed it.

Why did Rountree have that hint of a smile on his face when he interviewed the former employee? He looked like he had trouble keeping a straight face.

Someone tell Killbride that the team has always chatted about whatever and then got the job done. They've been doing this for a while and it's worked for them so maybe he can just shut up and let them do their job.

I'm sorry, Deeks doesn't know about Suleimani? With the job he has? Are you kidding me? There is no way they wouldn't have gotten a bulletin but even if not, all he would have needed to do was read a newspaper or switch on CNN which I kind of expect from someone like him. Come on, show. I get you want to tell the viewers but please, do it in a more believable way.

I get why Callen wants to go look for Hetty but I sort of agree with Killbride on this. Just because the school girl had her ID on her does not mean that Hetty is still in the area and without any other clues it probably would be a waste of resources. I did think his "surrogate mommy" comment was uncalled for, though. Yes, she is somewhat of a mother-figure for him and she and Arkady are the only links he has to his past. No need to mock him for wanting to find one of the people who matters most to him.

Generally, I agree that it was underwhelming and many of the scenes felt like they weren't needed. I mean, what was the point of how the scene with the daughter of the janitor went down? Yes, it led to the Kensi-Deeks scene but what was the point of that? And what was the point of the interview with the former employee?
Even the conclusion felt underwhelming. As 123BP said, it didn't make sense that they were driving the van into a container. They weren't even trying to hurt anyone with the explosives, so what was the point of having explosives?

Much of the episode felt like they were trying to turn it into one of the other NCIS shows. Wrong move, in my opinion.

I did enjoy the moment between Callen and Sam, and the acting when Callen learns that it might be Hetty who's dead. I'm sure he's known it was a possibility and he's got conflicted feelings about her at the moment but you could tell that he did not expect to hear those news and later, how relieved he was.

10 hours ago, 123BP said:

Yikes! Having a boring premiere is never a good idea. I found this episode super boring. I didn't mind the short scene with Rosa or the one between Sam and his dad, but the scene between Callen and Fatima came off as forced.

I get the feeling that they're trying to replace Sam and establish the same dynamic between her and Callen that Sam and Callen have or turn her into a female Sam or something. I hope I'm wrong but the actress who plays Fatima is most certainly a lot cheaper than LL Cool J and O'Donnell. I would imagine that the two of them are the most expensive, so I think we get so little scenes between the two of them nowadays because they've reduced their screen time. (Maybe if they got rid of Rountree... He's really the weakest link for me).
I don't mind Fatima and Callen per se, I think they've got good chemistry. But they need to let her be her own character and they need to let the two of them find their own partnership.

At least, they acknowledged Sam's absence and didn't just pretend it didn't happen.

10 hours ago, 123BP said:

First, she was being nosy, and second, those wedding theme ideas were so, so, SO awful. Fairy tale? For Callen?

I don't think she was suggesting themes for Callen but giving examples of themes.

Callen's and Anna's theme is probably going to be "getting married in a hail of bullets" or something like that. 😉

10 hours ago, 123BP said:

Plus the sniper scene was stupid: Deeks turns his back to a suspect AND puts on noise reduction ear muffs?

It would have made sense if he did it on purpose and the noise reduction ear muff actually had not reduced any noise but it does not appear to have been the case.

5 hours ago, MissLucas said:

I don't mind unusual pairings if they result in something interesting, new character insights. The only new thing we learned today (and that had nothing to do with the pairing) was that Fatima's show is still on air and that she makes good money.

We did? I missed that.

I think it's difficult to learn something new if they pair an established character with a new character because the established character, especially someone as private like Callen, is not going to just open up to a new(er) character. Deeks probably would but not Callen or Sam. If we're supposed to learn something new about Callen or Sam, they need to be paired with each other or Kensi or Deeks. Likewise, I think they need to pair Fatima and/or Rountree with each other or with Kensi or Deeks if we're supposed to learn something new about them.