S14.E04: Dead Stick

[thewhiteowl]

When Aiden Hanna’s plane crashes and he is accused of being at fault for the accident, the NCIS team must investigate to clear his name. Also, Rountree considers how he wants to handle the aftermath of the incident with the LAPD and Sam finds a new caretaker for his father.

[123BP]

This review said pretty much what I thought and it made me wonder if the budget for the show has been cut.

https://ncislarandomthoughts.blogspot.com/2022/10/season-14-episode-4-dead-stick.html

[CheshireCat]

1 hour ago, 123BP said:

This review said pretty much what I thought and it made me wonder if the budget for the show has been cut.

https://ncislarandomthoughts.blogspot.com/2022/10/season-14-episode-4-dead-stick.html

Haven't seen the episode yet but I've gotten the impression that they're trying to make it more like the other NCIS shows. Much less action, a lot more talking and sharing of information. I don't think it works. It may have worked had they done it halfway through S1 or in S2 but it doesn't work in S14. And this has always been an action-packed show, so I think viewers know what they get.

The other option is that explosions, car chases and gun battles are probably expensive because you need safety, stunt doubles and a lot of props, so they may be changing it unintentionally because they cut back of those expenses (in favor of the many cast members. In that case, I very much agree with what the recap writer said. There are cast members that could have been cut and they could even make it interesting: Killbride goes, that means Shyla (sp) is gone, too. Leadership falls to Callen who would likely juggle it with being in the field which could be a storyline (a much better one than his past). I don't like Rountree, so he can go, too, and Fatima can become the agent that Sam talked about wanting to train in S11. I bet they could save a bunch of money like that on actors, also, they could reduce O'Donnell's screentime like that and they would even be able to explain his absences pretty easily ;-) Reducing LL Cool J's screentime might be a bit harder that way but I'm sure they could find a way).

[LittlePeas3]

haven't read the link above, but this episode was boring.  And where were Kensi and Deeks? Again, no explanation too.  I am so disappointed with how this is going.  I would stop watching but have been watching from the beginning and just have to watch until the end.

[CheshireCat]

20 minutes ago, LittlePeas3 said:

haven't read the link above, but this episode was boring.  And where were Kensi and Deeks? Again, no explanation too.  I am so disappointed with how this is going.  I would stop watching but have been watching from the beginning and just have to watch until the end.

This. I kind of also want to see where Callen's (and Anna's) story and Sam's story is going. I think they're solid characters and I'm curious about them.

[LittlePeas3]

2 minutes ago, CheshireCat said:

This. I kind of also want to see where Callen's (and Anna's) story and Sam's story is going. I think they're solid characters and I'm curious about them.

Me too.  I want Callen and Anna to be happy at the end, if that happens, his character would have evolved from total lone wolf/grey man to someone who is ready to be a family man.  While it was good to see Aidan, this storyline was beyond bland.  Fatima, Chyler and Roundtree were fillers at best and blah! I want Callen and Sam together, with their witty one-liners poking fun at each other.  I want Kensi and Deeks doing similar. Oh, and give us something on Hetty rather than innuendo and hearsay. 

On this show, they kick ass, not sit behind desks interviewing people. There are car chases and gunfire and explosions. If the actors that play the main 4 don't want to be full time, either make it a shorter, punchier season or pull the plug but give us closure.  

[CheshireCat]

Finally managed to catch up on the episode. So, Shyla is a field agent now? When did that happen?

When Kilbride said that Sam sure wouldn't mind not to be a part of the investigation I wondered if he actually meant that and that, if he did mean it, it meant that he still didn't know the team very well. And then Sam was cool about it and I thought, obviously, someone in the writers room doesn't know the character either. When it's personal, Sam becomes righteous and tells the other agents he can do it alone and acts as if he's the only one who can solve the case. I hate it, but this reaction was just ridiculous. A perfect example of what an out of character reaction is because no person in the world changes like that without going through some serious things before and without having a process. Things didn't change after Sam's wife died and that's the last traumatic experience I can remember and there definitely was no process, so this was not true to the character.

With that said, I don't like when family members are suspects or under suspicion because you just know that they didn't do it and/or that it wasn't their fault. Cases like this one are always more interesting when it's a stranger.

The agent-revolving door doesn't work. They need to find a way to keep everyone working and give them definition. The way it is right now has no structure to it and feels completely disorganized. And how is anyone supposed to learn to care about the new characters when they don't have clearly defined roles and how am I not supposed to get annoyed when the defined roles the old characters had just get ignored and come back at will?
Did I mention that this does not work? ;-) It feels like a new show that is trying to find its rhythm not like a show in its 14th season.

ETA: I'm not sure how I feel about them showing Fatima praying during work. It's not the first time and she should be allowed to practice her religion. On the other hand, she works for a government agency in a country that separates church and state and praying during work hours at a government job feels like it's blurring the line (as is her wearing a headscarf, which, as far as I know, isn't a Quran requirement, so it's a personal choice, rather than a religious one and again, since she works for a government agency...). They're tough calls to make which is why I'm not sure a TV show should portray it without addressing the complexity of the issue behind it.

[secnarf]

16 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

ETA: I'm not sure how I feel about them showing Fatima praying during work. It's not the first time and she should be allowed to practice her religion. On the other hand, she works for a government agency in a country that separates church and state and praying during work hours at a government job feels like it's blurring the line (as is her wearing a headscarf, which, as far as I know, isn't a Quran requirement, so it's a personal choice, rather than a religious one and again, since she works for a government agency...). They're tough calls to make which is why I'm not sure a TV show should portray it without addressing the complexity of the issue behind it.

Most government jobs also allow for breaks. Nobody is fussed about the characters going for a coffee break or stopping to get some food from a food truck, which they do quite often. Spending some time from your break praying isn't really any different.

I thought the way that we do see Fatima praying once in a while, while the vast majority of the time it is offscreen and a total non-issue, is pretty reflective of real life. At the very least, it is in line with my own experiences, though of course others may feel differently.

The hijab is a complicated issue - but it is considered a religious symbol and so is protected. Like other religious books, the Quran is subject to varying interpretations of its text. As long as it doesn't interfere with the job, the hijab shouldn't be an issue. I don't think TV shows have an obligation to delve into the different facets of the hijab every time they have a character wear one, but for Fatima specifically I think she has talked about it - she never used to wear one, when she was an actor on that TV show, but then when she changed the direction of her life she started wearing one as a part of that life change (I don't recall the specifics, but I think her friend died or something). She did also take it off for the case where she went undercover in a rehab centre.