S03.E09: Spill the Tea

[Snazzy Daisy]

SERIES FINALE - Part 1

Quote

When a high-value bioweapons expert is murdered in a secure facility, NCIS and the NCIS Elite team join forces to track down the killer and discover an even deadlier threat - on part one of the series finale.

Air Date: April 29, 2024

 

Edited April 29 by Snazzy Daisy

[dwmarch]

Well, I guess we now know why the show got cancelled: they are recycling plots from The Blacklist. I specifically remember the "toxin that kills the victim via their own allergies" because that episode was during a time of sparse budget so when someone had to go into the contaminated area they were wearing a beekeeper outfit instead of one of those spacesuits you would normally see.

I liked the fist bump between Lucy and Kai in the van but I didn't think it worked the second time around (with Kai and Ernie IIRC). I get that they are pushing the team camaraderie hard here to emphasize NCIS Elite's status as outsiders but come on. Y'all are supposed to be professionals, have you never heard of professional courtesy?

Having said that, NCIS Elite did take a weird approach when picking up Lucy. Jesse and Kai were in the van! Have them be the ones to call her over instead of having some dude she doesn't know try to just hustle her onboard.

The shocking reveal that the kidnapped scientist was in on it the whole time seemed very telegraphed to me. We even had Cmdr. Chase saying the lady's signature was all over the Compound X formula. We can't verify her story and she seems to be more intimately involved than she is telling us but let's bring her along anyhow. What's the worst thing that could happen?

In the murder, arson and jaywalking category, the evil scientist also stole someone's blue jeans. She was wearing green pants when they rescued her. She couldn't have gone "home" to get them so she must have borrowed them from someone. And now whoever lent them to her will never get them back, as they are presumably covered in whatever toxin was used on NCIS Not-So-Elite-After-All. I imagine they'll end up getting bloodstained as well but if this team doesn't already know a dozen ways to get blood stains out of clothing, they're in the wrong line of work.

In Belgrade, did that Russian mob guy's mooks just fail to notice that Tennant was chucking good booze over her shoulder? I'm pretty sure ten shots of high-test Russian vodka spilled on the floor would be noticeable. I guess given the location and propensity of Russian gangsters to drink as they breathe, the place probably already smells pretty boozy but the guards straight up weren't paying attention if they didn't notice the puddle. I would have preferred if they just played it straight and had Jane get super drunk but still able to hold her own enough to get the information.

[Raja]

1 hour ago, dwmarch said:

Having said that, NCIS Elite did take a weird approach when picking up Lucy. Jesse and Kai were in the van! Have them be the ones to call her over instead of having some dude she doesn't know try to just hustle her onboard.

Everything about E.L.I.T.E  played like kids playing games. Of course the entire purpose was to show tiny Lucy could take them even if she didn't have muscles bulging from her tee shirt.

I couldn't believe they went into what is portrayed as the hottest zone in the world with just a mask on. Its not like suits are available everywhere TV and movies are made, But then I guess those would hide elite muscle.

And of course being CIA a decade ago means you know people everywhere. 

With the cancellation I guess I went in prejudiced against the episode, but then I had been expecting this sort of mess since they killed off Charlie 1 and Vanessa announced her good friend Todd was moving from LA to Hawai'i

 

[misstwpherecool]

For a while I thought I was looking at a backdooor pilot epi-NCIS Elite. 

But it turned out to be schtick and red shirts.

[Grizzly]

I liked that Chase had a more prominent role. She is so underutilized. 

Speaking of underutilized, what was the point of having Boom Boom in that scene? Could have easily been Kai.

Edited April 30 by Grizzly
New thought

[Snazzy Daisy]

This show spends its 3rd season propping up a mysterious, highly skilled team to justify Sam Hanna’s presence on the island only to wipe some of them off just before the season series finale.

NCIS ELITE (E is silent) is overrated and overhyped. Those 3 agents that we have met in this episode, they’re just a bunch of arrogant pricks.

[Crashcourse]

15 hours ago, dwmarch said:

Having said that, NCIS Elite did take a weird approach when picking up Lucy. Jesse and Kai were in the van! Have them be the ones to call her over instead of having some dude she doesn't know try to just hustle her onboard.

Some strange dude gets out of the van and tells you to get in.  Why didn't he show her his badge when he got out?  I did laugh, though, when her 110lb self (if she weighs that much) just casually flipped him over.  

[blackwing]

If Hawaii hadn't been cancelled, I would have wondered if this would eventually have been a backdoor NCIS Elite pilot.  The Elite agents were arrogant, but would have been interesting seeing their dynamic.  I kind of liked "New Jesse", he was cocky but he did seem to know when he was beat, like when Ernie explained what he was doing.

Next week's episode will be bittersweet.  I'm assuming it will end on a cliffhanger since the show had no idea this would be the last season.  That will suck.

[MissLucas]

The writing for the ELITE team was horrible: a combo of teenagers on their worst day with added testosterone poisoning.

Also: Rosemary, Thmye and Jesse??? My OCD called and asked for some Basil.

Nobody checked Doctor Cruz's backstory to figure out if she had really arrived with the Russians? Two best teams on the island indeed.

[secnarf]

2 hours ago, MissLucas said:

The writing for the ELITE team was horrible: a combo of teenagers on their worst day with added testosterone poisoning.

Also: Rosemary, Thyme and Jesse??? My OCD called and asked for some Basil.

Nobody checked Doctor Cruz's backstory to figure out if she had really arrived with the Russians? Two best teams on the island indeed.

I wanted there to be two more, called Parsley and Sage.

From the second they found Cruz I knew she was bad. Figured they were tying her up while everyone else was getting shot, so that she could play the victim when found.

[Pietr]

14 hours ago, secnarf said:

I wanted there to be two more, called Parsley and Sage.

From the second they found Cruz I knew she was bad. Figured they were tying her up while everyone else was getting shot, so that she could play the victim when found.

I knew the second she appeared with just her hands tied and no gag. 

[blackwing]

18 hours ago, secnarf said:

I wanted there to be two more, called Parsley and Sage.

From the second they found Cruz I knew she was bad. Figured they were tying her up while everyone else was getting shot, so that she could play the victim when found.

Yes, I thought it was going to be revealed that LL Cool J was Sage, and that New Jesse was Parsley but hated the name so asked people to just call him Jesse.  Writers missed an opportunity there.

[dwmarch]

I almost forgot to poop on the jurisdictional shenanigans. Tennant points out, quite correctly, that NCIS of Hawaii has no jurisdiction in Belgrade. Sam says "that's what NCIS Elite was created for!" and that answer is good enough for Tennant. So we have just declared our jurisdiction into existence? No one knows NCIS Elite exists so how do you suppose that travelling bubble of jurisdiction is supposed to be recognized?

I still remember the last crossover where they said NCIS Hawaii's jurisdiction extends to anywhere touched by the Pacific Ocean. It would have worked better for me if they had brought a bottle of Hawaii water with them, poured it on the ground in Belgrade and declared that since Belgrade has now been touched by the Pacific Ocean, jurisdiction is all set.

[Raja]

1 hour ago, dwmarch said:

I almost forgot to poop on the jurisdictional shenanigans. Tennant points out, quite correctly, that NCIS of Hawaii has no jurisdiction in Belgrade. Sam says "that's what NCIS Elite was created for!" and that answer is good enough for Tennant. So we have just declared our jurisdiction into existence? No one knows NCIS Elite exists so how do you suppose that travelling bubble of jurisdiction is supposed to be recognized?

Not jurisdiction, but rather a black operation. Thus ex CIA agent Tennant had to go to the black market in Belgrade to get ELITE its weapons for the operation. Although I guess if any member of ELITE was captured or killed by the Serbians  the SECNAV would not disavow them but rather try to get them back with diplomatic apologies.

2 hours ago, dwmarch said:

I still remember the last crossover where they said NCIS Hawaii's jurisdiction extends to anywhere touched by the Pacific Ocean.

That wasn't jurisdiction they were all US Federal Agents after all,  but rather command. While Dwayne Pride was the Special Agent in Charge in the Gulf of Mexico Jane Tennant  is SAC for the Pacific. What doesn't make sense was with all of the Deputy and Assistant Directors introduced in Los Angeles to work with their special projects and now in Singapore for NCIS: Sydney that Director Vance could even if he wanted to could point to Agent McGee and name him Acting Director of NCIS