S06.E20: Rage

[MostlyC]

Callen and Sam infiltrate a white supremacist group that might have stolen nuclear material

 

 

 

Racism truly puts me in a rage, so I'm not sure I can come up with a lame joke about it.

 

If you can come up with one, feel free to post it (yes, even though we have a week to go before the episode airs).

[Trini]

Well, the good news is that there's going to be some Callen backstory in this one. Yay!

[Julia]

OK, I am by no means intending to say that the bad guys were any less revolting than they were, but seriously, Sam? How are you judging G here? Your own pet troubled kid is an al Qaeda wannabe who played a part in getting an NCIS agent killed. WADR, ugly goes to the bone.

Edited April 14, 2015 by Julia

[KittenPokerCheater]

Well that episode was not as it was billed in the media.

 

It was a very good G and Sam episode.  I love their bromance.  And man, what an episode.  The content of one's character for sure.

 

So sad that the female cop shot that kid.  Just once I'd like one of the people who gets (mostly) redeemed live, so they have a chance to change their ways (the way Hetty helped G).  

 

Which leads me to G and Hetty back in the day- so funny.  I don't know how they made Hetty look so young (relatively speaking).  But it was a good meeting.  Hetty doesn't really change, doesn't she?

 

Minimal Deeks and Kensi, which was good.   But I wonder when they will pick up on the IA agents who are out to get him before the season is out.

Sam kicks serious ass.  I swear, if I was every in trouble.  I would want him (and the rest of them) to have my six.

[anna0852]

Yeah, the whole 'racist, white supremecist' thing was really hard to watch. I think for me because that sort of thought process is really repugnant and really alien to me.

 

I have to wonder how difficult it was for LL to play those scenes. Not to mention the actors playing those awful people. I suppose it is a testament to their professionalism but yeesh, was hard roles to deal with. I read somewhere that when Bryce Dallas Howard did the The Help she had trouble getting some of the most offensive language out of her mouth and was constantly apologizing for afterwards. I wonder if the actors tonight had similar issues.

 

I like the call back to the Walinski legend for Callen. That goes back to Season 1!

 

What the hell was with Deeks making that comment about 'for all our kids'? No way that was some throw away line.

 

Is there any pretense left that NCIS:LA and the mothership still exist in the same universe? I mean, the actor that plays the younger version of Gibbs showed up here tonight!

[secnarf]

Yeah, the whole 'racist, white supremecist' thing was really hard to watch. I think for me because that sort of thought process is really repugnant and really alien to me.

 

I have to wonder how difficult it was for LL to play those scenes. Not to mention the actors playing those awful people. I suppose it is a testament to their professionalism but yeesh, was hard roles to deal with. I read somewhere that when Bryce Dallas Howard did the The Help she had trouble getting some of the most offensive language out of her mouth and was constantly apologizing for afterwards. I wonder if the actors tonight had similar issues.

 

I like the call back to the Walinski legend for Callen. That goes back to Season 1!

 

What the hell was with Deeks making that comment about 'for all our kids'? No way that was some throw away line.

 

Is there any pretense left that NCIS:LA and the mothership still exist in the same universe? I mean, the actor that plays the younger version of Gibbs showed up here tonight!

It's probably the worst part of being an actor - having to do things that they find morally repugnant. I remember reading an interview with James Marsters (who played Spike on Buffy) talking about the scene where he attempts to rape Buffy, and he had an absolutely awful time with it, went home in tears, and would refuse to do it ever again.

I didn't think it was such an odd comment for Deeks to make, assuming he wants kids some day.

Sean Harmon! I spent most of the episode trying to figure out why he looked so familiar :P

[anna0852]

I really couldn't tell: did they try to de-age Linda with make-up or did they get a different actor and dub the voice?

 

And I never again need to see Callen and Kensi doing the bf/gf thing undercover again. Their relationship is too sibling-like for that to be anything but icky.

 

I do appreciate that in what was a pretty tense/serious episode, the undercover thing wasn't used for comedy. Simply a matter of get job done and move on.

[secnarf]

I'm pretty sure they de-aged her with make-up/computers.

[Trini]

Well, that was way lighter on Callen backstory than I thought it would be. Good episode, though.

[MissLucas]

I think they pulled a Barbara Sukowa on Hetty (reference to the penultimate 12 Monkeys episode where Barbara Sukowa had to play a younger version of herself with the help of make up/CGI - very impressively done). Though it was only a brief scene - maybe they managed to pull it off without computers, using make-up, taping and proper lighting. I had more problems believing Hetty would ever wear such killer heels.

[Zahdii]

I have to admit I didn't see a lot of the episode because I was bored at first, then family life got in the way, but I remember seeing at least part of the scene where Kensi is talking to the girlfriend of the bad guy, and girlfriend is pretty clear that she's not on board with bad guy's beliefs, but is afraid to leave because he said the only way she could leave was "in a body bag".

 

How did that turn out? 

 

I'm more than a little curious because someone I once knew had a daughter get in the same situation, and she was only freed after five years when her 'man' got killed, ironically in a single car accident when he apparently fell asleep at the wheel while driving back from some skinhead thing.  Turned out that the ass had not only threatened her, but said he'd kill her family and friends first, so she stayed with him, even enduring more abuse when she couldn't get pregnant and make more little skinheads. 

 

In a final "So there!", once she got over her time with asshole, she found a nice guy, married him, and was on their second child last time I heard.  Guess the problem was with asshole the whole time.

Edited April 14, 2015 by Zahdii

[Trey]

I thought the episode was very well done but it was way out of my comfort zone. 

 

I too wish Charlie had survived but at least they got Ginny (or Jenny) out of there.

[gazebo]

I don't blame the female agent for shooting that guy in the back.  He did look like he was threatening to shoot Callen so the female agent had to react quickly.  I don't think that poor kid was going to shoot Callen, and what happened was tragic, unfortunate and Callen knew it too.  Lots of good acting from Chris O'Donnell as he goes through the grief of not being able to save this young man.

 

Kensi and Callen naked in bed together????   Yuck!  The things you have to do for a job!  LOL!

 

Wished they coulda killed Dallas.  He made me angry and sick to my stomach.

 

Good episode!

[Julia]

Is the Alicia Coppola character the same as the character she played on the mothership? Because if she is, my opinion of her judgment isn't all that high, and this didn't improve it. I don't think she had to kill him. I think that's just what she does.

[anna0852]

No, she's not. Which makes me a little crazy. She was an established character on mothership and to have her play a different one here smacks of lazy casting/continuity for shows set in the same universe.

[Calamity Jane]

I've never cared much for her in other shows/episodes, but this time I thought she was used better than in the past.  They've always made her a dominating, inflexible personality, and although there were glimpses of that persona this time, it was waaaaay dialed back from past performances.  Greatly prefer.  I've always felt she had more dimension than she was being allowed to show.  

[secnarf]

I first saw Alicia Coppola on an episode of CSI ages ago, and she left such an impression that I've never been able to picture her as anything else. Every time she shows up anywhere (and she has been on many shows that I've watched over the years), I always picture her drinking that "protein shake".
 

So really, it made no difference to me that she played a different character on the mothership, because no matter what I'll see her as her CSI character :P

[HurricaneVal]

I need to rewatch this one, because Mr.Hurricane talked all through it, but for the de-aging of Hetty, I went back and forth between makeup and CGI on Linda Hunt playing her younger self, or makeup and CGI on Renee Felice Smith to make her look like a younger Hetty, with Linda Hunt's voice dubbed in.  It was an odd thing.  But I was happy to see the beginning of the G and Hetty story.

[betsyboo]

Why didn't they just get a younger actor? It's not like the viewers don't know she's aged over the past 20+ years. I thought it was unnatural. Her face looked like it was melting.

[KittenPokerCheater]

Deeks making that comment about 'for all our kids'? No way that was some throw away line.

 

Having a young kid pop out of the blue is a Jump the Shark sign.  So no kids for Deeks!  (unless he and Kensi have a kid together, doing that raccoon thing).  

 

I recognize the actress who was also in the NCIS show.  I feel like the shows are a bit like the Law & Order franchise.  People would show up as different characters on different shows a lot, especially if the if the EPs likes the actor.

 

Not sure why Callen was okay with her taking the kid out.

 

I am sure it's difficult for any actor to play a white supremacist, or any radical kind of villain; hard to say such hateful words.  But I guess that's why they call it acting.

 

Give how difficult it is to de-age something, I though the makeup/computer people did a fair job. 

[Julia]

Why didn't they just get a younger actor? It's not like the viewers don't know she's aged over the past 20+ years. I thought it was unnatural. Her face looked like it was melting.

 

Not to mention that not too long ago they showed a picture of "Hetty" with, I think, Ho Chi Minh from back when Linda Hunt was making A Year of Living Dangerously, and she looked completely different.

[anna0852]

Having a young kid pop out of the blue is a Jump the Shark sign.  So no kids for Deeks!  (unless he and Kensi have a kid together, doing that raccoon thing).  

 

 

 

Yeah, that is what I meant about that not sounding like a throwaway line. Not that Deeks has some kid out there don't know about. I'm think a year or so from now, maybe when DR starts thinking about having another child and oh look, this one gets written in. 

[torqy]

I recognize the actress who was also in the NCIS show.  I feel like the shows are a bit like the Law & Order franchise.  People would show up as different characters on different shows a lot, especially if the if the EPs likes the actor.

 

I am sure it's difficult for any actor to play a white supremacist, or any radical kind of villain; hard to say such hateful words.  But I guess that's why they call it acting.

 

To tie these together, Harry Morgan played a racist general early in M*A*S*H before returning as Col. Potter

 

I'm fascinated by actors who have done powerful portrayals of Adolph Hitler over the years. How would one psych oneself up to play the most despised man in 20th century history?

 

And finally, didn't Alicia Coppola once appear in a commercial for Hyundai Santa Fe cars?

[MostlyC]

I'm fascinated by actors who have done powerful portrayals of Adolph Hitler over the years. How would one psych oneself up to play the most despised man in 20th century history?

 

Some actors I know (who have played seriously EVIL characters) said Hilter supposedly liked Dogs and Children.  They take whatever shred of good that is in them, and build the character from there.  The while supremacist characters (NOT the actors) don't think they are evil; they think they are right.

 

shiver.  Needless to say, it must be a tough job for the actors.

[Bishop]

I've waited almost two years for an episode like that, where it was just a serious drama and some good acting.  The last year has been too much fluff for me, too much adolescent banter that I was beginning to wonder what happened to the show from the first 2-3 seasons.  Now don't get me wrong, I don't mind the banter on cop shows, but NCIS LA had become too much of it.  Too cutsy, and especially, I missed the Callen story.  That's what got me hooked on this show in the first place:   The Callen/Hetty relationship and the mystery behind his character, and Sam as his only brother.  THen somewhere around season 4ish, they just dropped that entire storyline and focused on the cutsy banter.  It also bothered me that Callen started as a complete loner who slept on a couch, didn't get close to anyone, and kept people at a distance.  Then voila!, he gets set up on a blind date, falls for a girl, and their ENTIRE relationship happens off screen.  It was infuriating as a viewer.  I've been watching lately out of habit, but this episode reminded me why I fell in love with the show in the first place. It was good drama, no schmaltz.

 

Everyone was acting like adults, and everyone was working towards the mission goal.  Even Kensi and Deeks who ALWAYS have to have that cutsy banter abandoned it for one episode.  How refreshing.  Deeks was acting like a grown up, and it was enjoyable.  I liked the story, and the supporting characters were great.  I loved the flashbacks to Callen's childhood and what he's been through, as well as his first meeting with Hetty.  "She's been watching him a long time?"  Hmmmmmm, I have a feeling that Hetty has a personal connection to Callen, but who knows.  I think Chris O'Donnell did a great job, and I like when Callen has these kinds of episodes where he's tortured by the past because Chris just plays it so well.  The Sam and Callen relationship, when it has these serious moments is nice to watch.  I don't mind the fun stuff, but I can't take it every episode, all year.  I miss the serious episodes - the adult stories.

 

Lastly, and let me just preface this first with:  I have NO interest in seeing Callen and Kensi hook up ever, but their kiss was more passionate than any Deeks and Kensi kiss I've seen.  What's that about?  Granted, it's gotta be weird kissing your brother-in-law.  So I guess I get it.  Also, is it the first and only kiss we've ever seen for Callen?  I can't even remember, but I don't recall him having a girlfriend ever besides the insta-girlfriend he has now.  I do like her, but I hate that we never got to see that relationship develop on screen considering how much Callen avoided putting down roots.  What a waste.  I'm hoping for more Callen backstory with Arkady coming back next week.  I love that friendship too.  

So that's it.  I loved the episode.

Edited April 18, 2015 by Bishop

[Lebanna]

While it was fun to see the weird de-aging of Hetty, the idea that she raised Callen from 14 years old does completely retcon the first few episodes of the series, where she seemed to barely know him and even asked him to tell her what his first name was. You'd think that in about twenty-five years of knowing and being a foster-mother to someone, that issue might have come up.