S07.E02: Citadel

[venturestar]

 

DEA agent Talia Del Campo seeks help from NCIS after her partner is murdered. Meanwhile, Kensi grows suspicious that Deeks is hiding something, but he surprises her by introducing her to his mother.

 

Was I the only person wondering if they were going to have Deeks be a agent compromised by Citadel? That was a deliberate fake-out right, because it felt like they were pushing that way really hard.

 

I loved when Mrs. Deeks asks if Kensi wants to learn to cook and Kensi says no. The look on her face was perfect, "oh shit, that was the wrong answer!"

 

ETA: It was only after I looked up the episode blurb on TV guide I realized they spoiled that Deeks had his mother over.

Edited September 29, 2015 by venturestar

[secnarf]

Yeah it kind of spoiled the ending to have them tell us in the TV guide that Kensi would meet Deeks' mom.

 

I didn't think they were going to make Deeks compromised but I did notice that the woman's description of him matched the one she used to describe the "potentials".

[SoapDoc]

They did toss in a hint when the doctor told Deeks that he had a "tendency for revenge since..." Or something to that effect and Deeks interrupted her. I wonder if that thing that he wants revenge for on the HL-7 was associated with the events that IA is investigating.

I think the actress was a good choice for A mom for Deeks.

[Jillibean]

 

They did toss in a hint when the doctor told Deeks that he had a "tendency for revenge since..." Or something to that effect and Deeks interrupted her. I wonder if that thing that he wants revenge for on the HL-7 was associated with the events that IA is investigating.

 

I definitely thought it was a deliberate hint. And it points to Deeks knowing what they're investigating, since he deliberately cut her off. I'm seriously ready to get this whole IA investigation storyline on the fast-track, already.  

 

I felt a little let down by this episode. It was fine, but I had wanted to love it, knowing that it would be heavy on Deeks/Kensi and introduce Deeks' mom, and I didn't. I wish there had been more time spent on Kensi and Deeks exploring things like the stress inherent in investigating a case where someone's partner has flipped and been killed and the ways it's relevant to their own partnership. Instead, we got more of the same with Talia--purposely provocative behavior that seemed even more out of place in an environment where she just lost her long-time partner. I was actually looking forward to her return, but I feel like they pushed the same beats with her, trying to agitate Kensi and come on to Deeks to make them both uncomfortable, without any development or depth in her character. I did appreciate that Kensi is now secure enough in the relationship that she was able to let it go, rather than the jealous Kensi outrages she used to have. That was nice progression, so I'll give them credit for that.

 

I also liked Sam and Kensi's talk, though I wasn't sure I thought it was justified by the events of the episode. I thought Kensi was well within her rights to be upset that a) her boyfriend was clearly lying to her, and b) that she wasn't a part of the undercover team backing her partner up on a clearly dangerous mission, and that neither of those things had anything to do with perfectionism or creating problems. I also liked the talk between Callen and Deeks, and thought ECO did some particularly nice acting on that one. 

 

I was a bit confused by the initial banter between all of them over their favorite dinners--the joke was supposed to be that Kensi had that meal with someone other than Deeks, right? And then Deeks made the proposal comment, which was odd, because if it wasn't him at the dinner, why did it matter that it was a restaurant you go to when you want to propose to someone?

Edited September 29, 2015 by Jillibean

[rainsmom]

Would someone PLEASE hold G down and shave his head. He looks like he's wearing William Shatner's TJ Hooker wig. And not in a good way.

[anna0852]

That was equal parts funny and oddly terrifying, when you think hard about the levels of influence that Citadel could have. The whole 'long game, infiltration' thing reminded me of the HYDRA story line from Agents of SHIELD.

Wow, Talia is really kind of twisted and more than a little irritating. I'm hoping we don't see her again. I did like that despite all of Talia's attempts to push buttons, no one gave into it. A far cry from that shameful scene in last year's premiere.

Why does Hetty care if Callen has grown his hair out?

I'm going to pretend that Deeks doesn't want to worry his mother, which is why we never heard about her when he got shot. Or had that run-in with Sidarov.

[secnarf]

Would someone PLEASE hold G down and shave his head. He looks like he's wearing William Shatner's TJ Hooker wig. And not in a good way.

Well, that's presumably why Hetty gave him a razor and threatened to do it herself if he didn't. My guess is that next episode, he'll be back to normal.

[venturestar]

 

Why does Hetty care if Callen has grown his hair out?

 

Why did she care if Eric wore board shorts and flip flops? She has a specific idea of office appropriate looks that is apparently tailored to each specific person. She never asks Deeks to cut his hair, but maybe that's because he was shaggy to start with.

 

I caught the "tendency for revenge.." bit, but I really hope Deeks is telling the truth about not knowing what the investigation is about. I just can't see his relationship with Kensi continuing if he knowingly lied multiple times.

[betsyboo]

I felt a little let down by this episode. It was fine, but I had wanted to love it, knowing that it would be heavy on Deeks/Kensi and introduce Deeks' mom, and I didn't. I wish there had been more time spent on Kensi and Deeks exploring things like the stress inherent in investigating a case where someone's partner has flipped and been killed and the ways it's relevant to their own partnership. Instead, we got more of the same with Talia--purposely provocative behavior that seemed even more out of place in an environment where she just lost her long-time partner. I was actually looking forward to her return, but I feel like they pushed the same beats with her, trying to agitate Kensi and come on to Deeks to make them both uncomfortable, without any development or depth in her character. I did appreciate that Kensi is now secure enough in the relationship that she was able to let it go, rather than the jealous Kensi outrages she used to have. That was nice progression, so I'll give them credit for that.

I did snort right out loud when they were outside the wife's house and Talia was pushing buttons as she got out - Deeks asked Kensi something like "what would you do if she made a move?" and Kensi immediately replied "Bleed her out."

[UncleChuck]

I loved the scene when the Citadel boss lady was ready to deploy all of her muscle and influence "Get me the Vice President...and the Attorney General...and the Secretary of the Navy" !!!  Then Hetty showed up and boss lady was all up in her face with "I know your test results"!!!

 

Then Hetty took two seconds or less to shut all that bluster down and put boss lady in her place--in custody.

 

Don't mess with Hetty!!!

[Trey]

 

I loved the scene when the Citadel boss lady was ready to deploy all of her muscle and influence "Get me the Vice President...and the Attorney General...and the Secretary of the Navy" !!!

I didn't like her implication that all those people were crooked.

[Jaybird]

Same here. I thought that implication was inappropriate.

Would someone PLEASE hold G down and shave his head. He looks like he's wearing William Shatner's TJ Hooker wig. And not in a good way.

[Julia]

I thought the implication was that if she got to them first, she could convince them that the NCIS investigation was compromised, since she's supposedly the last word on trustworthiness. That's why both she and Hetty made such a point of the test. The Doctor was saying that she could discredit Hetty using the test, and Hetty was pointing out that the government has to trust the person who wrote the test and literally set their standards for trust way more than they trust some person who hands out number two pencils and administers it.

 

FWIW.

[Jaybird]

I hadn't thought of that interpretation. I don't know if that's what the writer meant, but it works for me.

[Bishop]

I have to say that I enjoyed Deeks this last episode because he wasn't acting like his usual 15 year old self.  It's nice to see him act like an adult once in a while.