S13.E12: Sister City, Part 1

[MyAimIsTrue]

After the passengers and crew of a private plane traveling from New Orleans to Washington D.C. are lethally poisoned, all evidence points to the missing chef, Abby’s brother, Luca. Gibbs and the D.C. team work in conjunction with Pride and the New Orleans team to locate Luca and determine why a  private tech company was targeted.

Crossover with NCIS: New Orleans season 2 episode 12.

[NYGirl]

I think we just met a person more annoying than Abby.  Just saying.

 

I wanted to smack her brother.

[AimingforYoko]

A Star Wars and a Tony Stark reference? I thought Disney only owned ABC.

Man, I never thought someone could be more Abby than Abby. Luca's like a cartoon.

[secnarf]

Haven't we met Luca before? Or at the very least seen him in flashbacks as a child?
I don't remember him being so ridiculous.

[pally]

We've seen him only as a child.  Man does Tyler Ritter look like his Daddy.  All I kept seeing was John.

[MDL]

 

We've seen him only as a child.  Man does Tyler Ritter look like his Daddy.  All I kept seeing was John.

Definitely. In fact, as I am unspoiled, and missed the very beginning of the show, I didn't know the name of the actor, but was thinking my God, he looks like a young John Ritter......DOH!

[UncleChuck]

 

I think we just met a person more annoying than Abby.  Just saying.

 

I wanted to smack her brother.

Good Grief!!!

My eight year old niece is not as naive as that fool.

 

Message to TPTB...DON'T bring Luca back again.

[catray]

There were a lot of great little gems in this episode. I loved Tony and Tim turning to Bishop and saying "Star Wars!" together to avoid talking about Tony's breakup with Zoe. The Tony Stark reference was also great. The conversation about Gibbs not going out and shooting spies and then Tony saying "well, I haven't seen Trent Kort in awhile"-- hilarious!

 

Whenever Abby leaves the lab and (usually) McGee has to fill in-- I have to roll my eyes. There are no other lab scientists in the Metro DC area that could fill in?! Being an MIT grad and a computer genius doesn't mean you know your way around a lab; it's not the same! Argh.

 

Nice to see Wendy Davis as a Navy Captain; I liked her on Army wives and it's nice to her again. I'm also stoked that Cassidy Freeman gets to be a kick ass spy. But damnit, they killed Arkady!! Er, Anton. Damnit. I liked him! Luca on the other hand... well, people like him do exist, I guess. But man, I wanted him to wise up and get a clue! I did like he and Abby signing in the interrogation room, with Gibbs understanding the whole thing.

 

Poor Ducky and Palmer-- it was completely obvious that they were going to be stopped, but I liked that they were a decoy. How many times have they been held at gunpoint now?

 

Last comment before I skip off to the NOLA thread: I like the interaction between the mothership/NOLA way more than I do between the mothership/LA. But given the people in charge, that's not really surprising.

[twoods]

I also liked the mothership/NOLA banter. Makes me almost want to start watching NOLA because the female characters seem less annoying than the original recipe staff.

Luca really is clueless- just loved Vance's almost eye roll at his naive comments.

So they broke up Zoey and Tony off screen. Would have been nice to see what caused the rift instead of blowing it off. Another relationship bites the dust.

Sad to see the diplomat die- I liked his character.

Edited January 6, 2016 by twoods

[TeapotDiva]

Can someone please tell me whether I'm remembering this correctly?  Wasn't there an episode (not recent) where Abby refers to a niece, and says that she can't believe that her niece is related to her "stinky little brother"?  Abby has only the two brothers, right?  Luca, with whom she was raised, and Kyle, her biological brother whom she met a couple of years ago?

[MyAimIsTrue]

I liked the way it was a fairly seamless transition into NCIS:NO before the top of the hour.  Nicely done by the editors.

 

Haven't seen the second part yet so I'll try to catch it on demand when I get home from work tonight.

[Julie23]

I had to look up the guest starts for this episode since I missed the credits at the beginning and was having Three's Company flashbacks. I knew that guy was a Ritter!

Very annoying character though. I liked the transition to NCIS-NO. I think I actually like that spin off the best of all the NCIS's now, since the original recipie keeps losing my favorite characters...

[preeya]

I immediately identified the Ritter offspring. That said, I absolutely hated his annoying character and the crossover episode. Everything seemed so contrived.

[MrWhyt]

We've seen him only as a child.  Man does Tyler Ritter look like his Daddy.  All I kept seeing was John.

I didn't know there was another Ritter acting, I kept thinking "he looks and sounds like Jason Ritter, but he's cleary not Jason Ritter WTF?"

[luna70]

Teapot Diva- YES, Abby, in what was I think, a 'Holiday' episode, (2,3,years ago?) talked about playing with her younger brother's kid(s?), niece(s?)... Yes, she was talking about Lucca, and Lucca (sp?) having a family-as in wife, kids. (Again, I don't remember the episode, but Abby was unusually SAD, wondering if SHE would ever find MR. RIGHT. She, I believe, went on about her 'failed relationships'-as in men who tried to kidnap, kill her and outside of L, who she rarely saw, she had no family.)

 

NCIS would 'screw up' LIKE this, in the beginning.. when they were 'developing' the characters. BUT, this, I don't know why they let it 'slip'. Shows are supposed to have a 'BIBLE' -which outlines every character's family, background, etc . Especially, with computers, one should be able to look up every 'fact' about Abby's brother. AND-the writers could have 'solved it' very easily by just 'adding a few lines'-like 'Lucca's wife took off with the kids. He is hurt, will take up with any woman'. Or some other lines to explain WHY he IS not living with wife/girls.

[HurricaneVal]

I'm also aboard the "holy crap, do the John Ritter genes run strong in his offspring" train.  Like a lot of you, I didn't pay attention to the credits, and about ten minutes after meeting Luka, I was going nuts trying to figure out who he reminded me of.  Then I yelled "Jack Tripper!" and scared the dog...

 

Good crossover.  I know Pauley sometimes overdoes her "Abby-ness" but she was really subtle this episode, and it worked well.  That look exchanged in MTAC between Gibbs and Abby after the call from Pride was killer.  I think that is also the product of actors so comfortable and settled into their roles that they can do the subtle things like that and have them register big on screen.

[torqy]

(For those who also watch Major Crimes) Luca or Rusty?

[AimingforYoko]

Cassidy Freeman was a good choice for Eva, she did have kind of an Anna Chapman-thing going on.

[MissLucas]

I had assumed 'Abby's brother' would be her biological brother and not Luca. But of course the cross-over with New Orleans should have clued me in. Put me on the list of people who found him an annoying character and a very unrealistic one too. I find it highly unlikely that somebody with such a sunny disposition exists somewhere on this planet - but if they do I'm pretty sure they're never making it as a successful Chef. That whole cuisine-business is absolutely cut-throat, someone like Luca would hardly ever make it to Commis no matter how good his cooking is.

[Julia]

It wasn't so much the shininess as it was the stupidity, or maybe moral idiocy is a better term. "So, hey, she's a spy, and she probably killed six people and just pulled a weapon on a federal agent, but thinking with my pants I've decided that she's totally one of the good guys and she must have had a real good reason. And I expect my sister to back me, because I'd like to think that given a choice between betraying her country and betraying some random stranger I sorta want to bone, she'd do the right thing and betray her country. Hey, have a carrot."

 

I agree, he has his dad's smile, but I think he looks more like his mom.

[GHScorpiosRule]

JACK TRIPPER!!!!

TESS MERCER!!!!!

Why doesn't Luca speak with a 'Nawlins accent?????

McGee: "You cut your hair?"

Gibbs (deadpan):"I didn't need it anymore."

Okay, going back to watching now.

[Driad]

Was anyone else surprised for a moment that Ducky apparently does not understand Russian? He may have looked like Illya Kuryakin, but he isn't Illya. (I don't remember which hour this was in, but Ducky is a NCIS mothership character so I put the comment here.)

[scorpio1031]

(For those who also watch Major Crimes) Luca or Rusty?

They are both annoying:) 

 

I would have liked to have seen Luca become more "street savvy" by the end of the episode, but at the same time, I knew that Eva would either save his life, or die trying to save someone's life.  But based on what I've seen in this message board and in other reviews, wonder if we will see Luca again.

 

And I miss John Ritter:(

[CoyoteBlue]

Teapot Diva- YES, Abby, in what was I think, a 'Holiday' episode, (2,3,years ago?) talked about playing with her younger brother's kid(s?), niece(s?)... Yes, she was talking about Lucca, and Lucca (sp?) having a family-as in wife, kids.

 

She was probably annoyed as he brought hobos home to sleep on their couch because they "seemed so nice and their shiv collection shows real creativity" and gave away the kids' college funds for random sob stories, so she packed up the kids and left.

 

He still thinks she'll come back from the store with that gallon of milk some day. And the contents of their bank account. And his iPod.

[stonehaven]

I liked the episodes but it felt way drawn out and a bit convoluted..both shows are great in the little moment but you can tell the Original has the better chemistry down but NOLA is gaining fast...

So, that's John's Ritter's son? Of Jason or this one, I think Jason got the talent...Luca was annoying but I couldn't believe how BAD of an actor that kid was...Just....no....

[betsyboo]

We've seen him only as a child.  Man does Tyler Ritter look like his Daddy.  All I kept seeing was John.

Yes! I couldn't get past it!!

I also liked the mothership/NOLA banter. Makes me almost want to start watching NOLA because the female characters seem less annoying than the original recipe staff.

 

Yes, but I cannot listen to the guy's egregiously overplayed accent. Bakula's is ok, but the other guy... I don't think I could listen to it week after week. I don't remember it bothering me this much in the backdoor pilot.

(For those who also watch Major Crimes) Luca or Rusty?

Sophie's choice! (in reverse!) Luca. If only because his hair is marginally less offensive.

[jennifer6973]

betsyboo 

 

that is Lucas Black's natural accent, he's from Alabama

[betsyboo]

betsyboo 

 

that is Lucas Black's natural accent, he's from Alabama

Ohmy! Apologies to Mr. Black. Clearly my upstate Yankee nasal talk is unaccustomed to such an accent!  :-))

[Clanstarling]

I remember hearing Lucas' accent when he was a boy (in American Gothic and the X Files). I thought, with regret, that he'd never get regular work with an accent that thick. I'm happy that I was wrong.

[torqy]

I remember hearing Lucas' accent when he was a boy (in American Gothic and the X Files). I thought, with regret, that he'd never get regular work with an accent that thick. I'm happy that I was wrong.

He was also in Sling Blade as a boy, but it's been so long since I've seen it that I can't recall how he sounded.

[brgjoe]

Just finished watching both episodes.  Generally liked what I saw.  Most of the problems I saw were in the 1st part.

 

Like McGee in the lab (again).  I know Abby has had a few, umm, problems with assistants.  But you still would think there would be someone trained to take her place when she's out of the office.  And McGee not checking to see if something wasn't properly plugged in doesn't seem that plausible to me either.  And Abby and Gibb's scene in the lab was weird too.  You would think Gibbs would NOT want Abby there at the crash site.  Because it being her brother, she would be way too personally involved.  And her sketching her brother's dental records -- a bit creepy for my tastes too.   But maybe that is just Abby being Abby.

 

Color me completely dense, but I didn't know that was John Ritter's son.  No wonder I kept saying, "This guy looks more like a young John Ritter than John Ritter did.  I guess I know why now.  :)  But yeah, his character was annoying.  If they ever do bring his character back, I hope they tone him down a lot.  Still, I did like that final scene in the end where he and Russian Spy Girl shared a kiss.  Awww.   Other than that, he was way too over the top naive.

 

I liked Ducky and Autopsy Gremlin in the van scene.  Completely fooled me, I really thought they had the body too.  Nice little swerve there. 

 

And I like Lucas Black.  He's a fine actor.  And have really warmed up to his character as the NCIS:NOLA has gone on.  Probably my favorite character in that show.

 

All in all a good couple of episodes I thought. 

[CooperTV]

I only watch NOLA but this was a crossover so I had to spend time with this people. And wow, Luca is too stupid to live, and Abby is already acting like twelve-years-old (but she's like forty, right?).

[cocobeans]

I only watch NOLA but this was a crossover so I had to spend time with this people. And wow, Luca is too stupid to live, and Abby is already acting like twelve-years-old (but she's like forty, right?).

The actress Pauley Perrette, that plays Abby, is 46 years old.

[Telecat]

I think we just met a person more annoying than Abby.  Just saying.

 

I wanted to smack her brother.

I did, too, the actor was the son of Actor Jon Ritter, and just as annoying as Jon was. Bleh.