S08.E15: Payback

[JessDVD]

Well, that was.... interesting. I found it to be an interesting and weird combination of pulling from many years of established backstory and tying it all together, yet also leaving giant loose ends, although maybe they'll tie them up by the end of the season. Bringing in Joelle yet not resolving what happened to Whiting?

I did generally enjoy this arc but I always feel like all the NCIS shows are much better when they just do COTW, dead sailor on the beach/in Rock Creek Park/on a bench in the French Quarter, than trying to attempt these long arcs with excessive need for continuity. Too many writers, too many years, too many characters, way WAY too much for me to try to remember. Like y'all are throwing out these bits from this ep or that and I pretty much only remember "Kensi went to Afghanistan and Hetty was being stupid about it". Too many shows, not enough memory cells.

[HawaiiTVGuy]

23 hours ago, mtmjr said:

 

I completely disagree about the team and Granger.  Sure, way back in season three the team all hated him and with good reason.  I remember when he said to Hetty that he would be sticking around for a while, because the Director like the job he was doing, and I'm yelling at the screen, "Excuse me, a-hole, but every single operation you've been involved with you've effed up!"  I mean, he let the CIA get away with killing a civilian; pegged Kensi as murdering her Dad's old team; and introduced Janvier to the team as a supposed ally, all in his first few episodes.  It's a tribute, though, to the writers and the actor, that he evolved dramatically from there.  Certainly by Season Six, the whole team had come to admire, respect and appreciate him.  I think his finest hour was in "Belly of the Beast," this season, where he basically put everything on the line to save the teams' lives in Syria.  I think everyone is going to be devastated by his loss, and rightly so.

I may be painting in a broad brush and admit to not remembering as many specifics as you have noted and I know that he initially was introduced as an antagonist and someone they viewed at with suspicion (and to be honest, so did I), but once it became clear that Granger wasn't "against" them more than "trying to cover their asses from being pinned to the wall by the actual rules and regulations of a normal federal agency" it became disconcerting to me by the way they kept treating him.  Some of it was Hetty's fault, the way she refused to proactively back him up (in spite of their long history together) and reign in her teenage attitude subordinates, instead just hung him out to dry by just shrugging her shoulder and saying, Granger is doing what he does, implying he had ulterior motives.  Also in a general "broad" brush, you mention that you felt that Granger F-ed up a bunch of operations, but how many of them were due to the team not actually following his orders and freelancing like they always do? 

There might have been some thawing this year, but still seem to have seen some rolling of eyes and downright disobeying of him.  I think it was telling that any time they asked where Granger was, it was always with the suspicion he was doing something against the team, but whenever they questioned where Hetty was, it was with the belief she had another plan of attack.  This kind of kept bugging me, because seriously, this guy is your boss and you treat him this way?  Sure, the team would disobey Hetty every so often, but they did so with the belief that Hetty was giving them a wink and a nod and also with some respect for her, yet with Granger, who seemed to have as much of a colorful black-bag life, it was pretty much a disobeying him just because he was the one giving the orders.  Think about how much bellyaching Sam gave when Granger said he was partnering up with him to track down Callen?  Would he have done that if Hetty said she was going out into the field?

20 hours ago, KAOS Agent said:

I understand the group of CIA agents wanting to end the NCIS group that had caused them so much trouble and kept messing about where they shouldn't have, but I would think most normal agents would just work to kill them as quickly and efficiently as possible. Why on earth would these other agents be cool with Ferris kidnapping Kensi and then torturing her by cutting off her leg with a sawzall? Why would you give the team the opportunity to track you down? Why not take them out instantly? Ferris was a sadistic asshole, but why was everyone else so dumb? Joelle in particular ought to have known that they were just asking for trouble by delaying. 

Exactly why I was confused by the overall endgame at the end.  If it was just Ferris, and those two other agents didn't pop up and exhibit so much "glee" at getting the kill confirmations, it would have made so much more sense.

[HawaiiTVGuy]

3 hours ago, greenbean said:

 

Exactly. She sent Kensi there with no real back-up, knowing she wouldn't kill her ex-fiance who was the target. And stuff like that is why the CIA is now so mad with OSP. Basically Kensi's been caught and tortured twice, because of this dubious mission that Hetty sent her on.

OK the episodes were so long ago, and everything was so convoluted, but wasn't the mission Granger's call?  He was over in Afghanistan with her Kensi right?  Or did he go over there afterwards?  Because i thought Granger was there and introduced her to Sabatino?  And did everyone know that the boyfriend was the "White Ghost"?  And was he the "White Ghost"?  I thought he was actually not a terrorist but just helping the local villagers?  Or was he interfering with the CIA's illegal operations so the CIA was making up intel on him so he would be targeted, Hetty realized this so sent Kensi there with the premise of helping the CIA, but really to save the "White Ghost" by showing the CIA was faking everything?

[HawaiiTVGuy]

2 hours ago, anna0852 said:

 

Maybe Hetty realizes that even if those rogue CIA folks are coming after her, setting them up to be assassinated still isn't legal! No wonder she wants Chegwidden around, she might need an attorney pretty soon! The bodies of Carl Brown and Sharov will have to be accounted for. She didn't shoot them in a firefight, she lured into a warehouse she had pre-rigged with explosives and triggered the bomb herself. Last I checked, that was not okay. Does she think the CIA is going to just shrug off the loss of their operatives, rogue or not? She's just put a target on the whole agency's back!

 

Don't disagree with everything earlier, but how isn't blowing up the people who are going to shoot you not just self-defense?  And I think the CIA will be happy to wash their hands of these guys if they were rogue, that is their MO.  The CIA still relies on the military to help them with some of their semi-wet work, getting into a turf war over some rogue agents wouldn't be a good thing for them and also would shine a spotlight on them and their operations in general.  The people who hold everyone's purse strings are going to side with the established military before the shady intelligence agency that may or may not be breaking a bunch of federal laws.  As you said before, these guys were totally rogue, if Kensi had interfered with a legitimate CIA operation when Kensi shot Ferris, there would have been blow-back on NCIS through official channels.

[betsyboo]

5 hours ago, HawaiiTVGuy said:

OK the episodes were so long ago, and everything was so convoluted, but wasn't the mission Granger's call?  He was over in Afghanistan with her Kensi right?  Or did he go over there afterwards?  Because i thought Granger was there and introduced her to Sabatino?  And did everyone know that the boyfriend was the "White Ghost"?  And was he the "White Ghost"?  I thought he was actually not a terrorist but just helping the local villagers?  Or was he interfering with the CIA's illegal operations so the CIA was making up intel on him so he would be targeted, Hetty realized this so sent Kensi there with the premise of helping the CIA, but really to save the "White Ghost" by showing the CIA was faking everything?

It was revealed in those episodes that Hetty specifically chose Kensi to go to Afgh. to hunt down the White Ghost. She admitted she knew Jack, and had tasked Kensi specifically. Yes, Granger went with her, the mission as a whole was his call, but the choice to send Kensi over someone else was Hetty's.

Correct - he was not a terrorist, but he was a "sympathizer" by partnering with the villagers, which can be seen by some as "aiding and abetting."

ETA - @anna0852 is correct - i think Jack was a patsy. (do people still use "patsy" anymore?)

Edited February 23, 2017 by betsyboo
Because I was wrong! :-)

[anna0852]

I thought Jack was helping provide intel to the CIA, and they got ticked when he refused to go back to the US. The CIA targeted him because they thought he was a potential leak by staying. Kensi was told he was an American traitor but not his identity. Hetty was counting on her *not* taking the shot when she recognized Jack. Basically Hetty sent Kensi to ruin a CIA operation without fully briefing her and involving a very emotionally charged subject to boot. Apparently in the process (and off screen) Kensi injured Ferris and cost him his leg. Granger was there to quarterback the whole opp. The question of whether Granger A) knew Jack's real identity or just his code name (White Ghost) and B) knew about Jack's history with Kensi is up for debate. This whole 'White Ghost' thing is apparently was has cheesed off the CIA enough that a 'rogue' team was sent to take out the LA office.

What I'm not clear on is if the agents were rogue or if it was a way for the CIA to take down an agency that was being annoying and getting in there way. Enough agents were involved that I'm inclined to think the take-down of OSP *isn't* rogue agents but more of a wink-wink, nudge-nudge from the brass. Yes, they could go through channels and contact SecNav/Director Vance to get the LA team to back off but that runs the risk of shining lights on CIA ops that they'd rather keep in the dark. 

What I'm finding amusing about the whole thing is that the Afghanistan storyline in Season Five only came up because DR got pregnant and they had to cover her maternity leave and that with her her second pregnancy now in Season Eight, they've managed to connect back to that first cover story, ie both pregnancies were covered by essentially the same story just three years apart. If she has a third kid I think the writers ought to just have Kensi get knocked-up instead of covering. It might be the end of the Office of Special Projects otherwise!

Edited February 23, 2017 by anna0852
I had more thoughts!

[dirtydi]

9 hours ago, betsyboo said:

Kensi didn't know she was going to help Jack. She got sent over there as a sniper - Hetty's betrayal is that Hetty didn't tell kensi before she got there that she would be hunting Jack as the "White Ghost" or whatever the dumb code name was. EVERYONE on the team should still be mad that Hetty sent Kensi into such a tenuous situation without telling her Jack was potentially involved. Season 5, ep 18.

Even Callen called her out on that, during that time.

[HawaiiTVGuy]

15 hours ago, betsyboo said:

It was revealed in those episodes that Hetty specifically chose Kensi to go to Afgh. to hunt down the White Ghost. She admitted she knew Jack, and had tasked Kensi specifically. Yes, Granger went with her, the mission as a whole was his call, but the choice to send Kensi over someone else was Hetty's.

Correct - he was not a terrorist, but he was a "sympathizer" by partnering with the villagers, which can be seen by some as "aiding and abetting."

ETA - @anna0852 is correct - i think Jack was a patsy. (do people still use "patsy" anymore?)

THanks for the clarification.  I wasn't sure whether or not Hetty knew or just suspected that it was Jack.  And I know it is kind of messed up not to fully brief the team, but if the whole premise was the Kensi was there to pretty much be undercover to ferret out the CIA illegal operation, Hetty probably believed that revealing who the "White Ghost" really was may have caused Kensi to act in a manner that would have blown her cover.  And wasn't she the best sniper in the group, so the logical choice?  And I would guess that Granger knew the story, he seems to know everyone's backstory as he keeps telling Hetty to come clean to the team.

[greenbean]

On 22/02/2017 at 10:04 PM, Jillibean said:

I think the drama comes from the fact that Callen is a very closed-off person who lets in almost no one. For the entire time he was dating her, Joelle was probably the only personal relationship he had outside of work. For the ONE person whom he took a chance on and allowed past his walls to turn out to be a CIA spy has to sting, even if she didn't actually do anything to put him in danger. 

Well if Joelle being involved leads to a deeper exploration of Callen's emotional issues, then that would be great. It certainly deserves more focus, and having repercussions would emphasise why her actions are supposed to be so meaningful. Like maybe he withdraws from Anna, or they at least begin to have problems. Maybe he starts to question all his relationships and gets suspicious of Michelle, which causes tensions. Or perhaps Sam has to pull him out of a negative headspace.

With Callen things have tended to focus on the mystery of his name and family, while his emotional issues have been secondary. But if they want moments like the Joelle reveal to resonate, then they need to go deeper with him imo. I mean, chopping up furniture is fine, but when someone is supposed to have issues like fear of trust, intimacy or abandonment, then the reaction needs to go further. So hopefully we get more because I would love a whole storyline about Callen's emotional issues. Especially if it also involved Sam.

Edited February 25, 2017 by greenbean

[dirtydi]

23 hours ago, anna0852 said:

I thought Jack was helping provide intel to the CIA, and they got ticked when he refused to back to the US. The CIA targeted him because they thought he was a potential leak by staying. Kensi was told he was an American traitor but not his identity. Hetty was counting on her *not* taking the shot when she recognized Jack. Basically Hetty sent Kensi to ruin a CIA operation without fully briefing her and involving a very emotionally subject to boot.

Please let him withdraw from Anna.

[123BP]

On 2/22/2017 at 5:04 PM, Jillibean said:

I think the drama comes from the fact that Callen is a very closed-off person who lets in almost no one. For the entire time he was dating her, Joelle was probably the only personal relationship he had outside of work. For the ONE person whom he took a chance on and allowed past his walls to turn out to be a CIA spy has to sting, even if she didn't actually do anything to put him in danger. Though I think the extent to which she was mixed up in this mole/kidnapping plot is unclear. She might not have been the one spearheading, but she was clearly involved enough to take and respond to a call to come pretend to be kidnapped in a church to buy them more time to torture and kill a member of Callen's team.

The involvement of Joelle was just unbelievable. It was as if the writers didn't know ANYTHING about the CIA and how it operates. First of all, WHY would she be working with rogue agents? Second, there's no way her CIA assignment would be a school teacher for so many years. Third, it's illegal for the CIA to conduct surveillance of US citizens, so a federal agent? This could lose Joelle her job and put her in jail. Doesn't make sense for her to be involved at all, and she's been out of his life for a long time and they've both moved on, so the "betrayal" part was weak.

 

On 2/23/2017 at 2:22 PM, HawaiiTVGuy said:

It was revealed in those episodes that Hetty specifically chose Kensi to go to Afgh. to hunt down the White Ghost. She admitted she knew Jack, and had tasked Kensi specifically. Yes, Granger went with her, the mission as a whole was his call, but the choice to send Kensi over someone else was Hetty's.

Correct - he was not a terrorist, but he was a "sympathizer" by partnering with the villagers, which can be seen by some as "aiding and abetting."

Jack wasn't a "sympathizer." He was former CIA who had fallen in love with an Afghan woman and had a child, so he didn't want to leave the country. The CIA, since he wouldn't leave, made the decision to kill him because he had knowledge of the CIA assets (the informants) working with the CIA. Jack was not sharing any intel with anyone. There was no White Ghost. Hetty sent Kensi because Kensi and Jack had been engaged, and Hetty knew Kensi wouldn't shoot him. But, Kensi went off after Jack on her own; Kensi could have easily called Hetty once she'd identified Jack to get more details about what Hetty wanted her to do and what was going on. Kensi wasn't thinking it through and just went off on her own without a plan or backup. This is the same thing that happened in this episode. Hetty told them to stay at OPS and Kensi made the decision to leave. It's easy to blame Hetty, but you have to remember that in Sirens Hetty told Eric she wasn't sure she could trust anyone, so she did what she could without involving her team. She couldn't plan for everything, especially her agents deciding to act on their own.

 

On 2/22/2017 at 11:02 PM, anna0852 said:

Basically Hetty sent Kensi to ruin a CIA operation without fully briefing her and involving a very emotionally charged subject to boot. Apparently in the process (and off screen) Kensi injured Ferris and cost him his leg. Granger was there to quarterback the whole opp. The question of whether Granger A) knew Jack's real identity or just his code name (White Ghost) and B) knew about Jack's history with Kensi is up for debate. This whole 'White Ghost' thing is apparently was has cheesed off the CIA enough that a 'rogue' team was sent to take out the LA office.

The CIA operation to kill Jack was a mino--and possibly unsanctioned--one, and it's possible Hetty expected Kensi's sniper shot to be a warning to Jack so that he would get out of the area. The White Ghost mission probably was not the CIA mission Ferris told Kensi her team had messed up because that CIA mission had been going on for months, and the White Ghost had just started and was over quickly. Also, the decision to go after Jack was Kensi's. Why didn't she call Hetty once she knew Jack was the target? She had a sat phone. As for Granger, he told Hetty in Spoils of War that she should have told him about the connection between Kensi and Jack, and when Callen showed Granger the photo of Jack (dead), Granger didn't know who he was. Granger also knew that the whole White Ghost was a coverup by the CIA to kill Jack (which might have been illegal). Also, when the NCIS team ran into Sabatino, he was looking for Jack to warn him of the CIA team searching for him. The whole CIA and Afghan connection was just sloppy storytelling.

 

On 2/23/2017 at 8:07 PM, greenbean said:

With Callen things have tended to focus on the mystery of his name and family, while his emotional issues have been secondary. But if they want moments like the Joelle reveal to resonate, then they need to go deeper with him imo. I mean, chopping up furniture is fine, but when someone is supposed to have issues like fear of trust, intimacy or abandonment, then the reaction needs to go further. So hopefully we get more because I would love a whole storyline about Callen's emotional issues. Especially if it also involved Sam, ngl.

I agree about exploring Callen's emotional issues. The way this season is going, I keep feeling that something intense is in store for him. He's found his father (with all the issues that raises), he has a half-sister and nephew he doesn't know (suddenly he has a family), he's getting involved with Arkady's daughter (which is another thing all together), and now he discovers his ex is someone he never really knew. This all seems like a lot for a man who's basically been a loner his entire life. Not to mention he has a pretty stressful occupation. I think Nate's in the next episode; maybe he'll be talking to everyone on the team after the very confusing turn of events with the mole story.

[pennben]

3 hours ago, 123BP said:

She couldn't plan for everything, especially her agents deciding to act on their own.

Oh for the love of Pete, if after all of these years she can't anticipate her agents acting on their own during a crisis she's just not as good as she thinks she is as a leader nor as the show wishes to present her.  

Most long running shows like this have a problem with a "big bad", a recurring villain the team just can't catch and each year it becomes more preposterous with how all-knowing and all-powerful that person becomes. On this show, we have the opposite problem in the omnipotent Hettie. It's just gotten completely ridiculous to me. Even when she screws up, like she did sending Kensi to Afghanistan blind, she remains unscathed. The only ones hurt by her mistakes are the people she's supposed to be leading. 

I keep hoping there will be a minute of awareness from her that sticks (or there is a deeper more interesting story being developed over the long term), but alas I think we are just supposed to accept that Hettie is mythical. I think she's become a crutch for the writers......can't figure out how to get out of a plot hole......poof, Hettie was behind it all along....isn't she[arent we] brilliant!!

As someone above noted that made me laugh out loud, please, please, please just write any future DR pregnancy into the show!!!

Edited February 25, 2017 by pennben

[123BP]

10 hours ago, pennben said:

Oh for the love of Pete, if after all of these years she can't anticipate her agents acting on their own during a crisis she's just not as good as she thinks she is as a leader nor as the show wishes to present her.  

I agree that the way they've written the stories, Hetty makes decisions that are questionable, at best.

10 hours ago, pennben said:

On this show, we have the opposite problem in the omnipotent Hettie. It's just gotten completely ridiculous to me. Even when she screws up, like she did sending Kensi to Afghanistan blind, she remains unscathed. The only ones hurt by her mistakes are the people she's supposed to be leading. 

I do think, though, that her agents have to accept some of the blame themselves (again, this means the writers). After all, these are supposed to be seasoned, elite agents, and yet they go off on their own without regard to established protocol. Kensi's action in Afghanistan--going off on her own--was completely irresponsible and just idiotic and ended up putting her entire team in danger and possibly bringing down Hetty (there would have been no inquiry if the team hadn't needed to go rescue Kensi). What was Kensi going to do if she found Jack? Did she have a plan? Nope. She just went gallivanting off into hostile territory looking for her old fiance. Likewise, her visit to LAPD--without at least trying to contact Hetty first--was not the wisest move. Kensi was in charge and for her to send Nell out and to go out as well was very poor strategically. Why not let Nell visit both Callen and Deeks? (The whole episode with Deeks was just so farfetched, it ruined that episode. There's no way LAPD would hold one of their own like that. Not to mention the fact that Ferris just happened to know Kensi was going to the LAPD station and was waiting to kidnap her? Why didn't he just kidnap her when he brought the beer to her house?) 

I think the writers let the whole mole story get away from them. I can't help but wonder if these episodes might have been rewritten because of Miguel's condition, but even so, writing for TV is what these folks do for living. They should have come up with a more plausible scenario. The entire three episode arc was just crappy writing IMO.

[callie lee 29]

Oh, the agents certainly have a lot to answer for on their own. However, get not only had shown this as okay from a leadership standpoint (I know she's the only boss Deejs has had at the agency, pretty sure the same with Kensi. Sam I don't think so - regardless he's ex navy. Callen is the one I really don't know. We know he's ex CIA, but with a strong connection to Hetty). She should be reigning them in with consequences, rather she demonstrates it's okay both by doing it herself and not disciplining it when it happens. 

Truly, this is a problem LA and membership have. As much as I love Mark Harmon I had to drop because of the comical levels of disregard Gibbs and his team have to the agency they worked for, superiors, and agencies they're supposed to work for!!

[dirtydi]

3 hours ago, 123BP said:

I agree that the way they've written the stories, Hetty makes decisions that are questionable, at best.

I do think, though, that her agents have to accept some of the blame themselves (again, this means the writers). After all, these are supposed to be seasoned, elite agents, and yet they go off on their own without regard to established protocol. Kensi's action in Afghanistan--going off on her own--was completely irresponsible and just idiotic and ended up putting her entire team in danger and possibly bringing down Hetty (there would have been no inquiry if the team hadn't needed to go rescue Kensi). What was Kensi going to do if she found Jack? Did she have a plan? Nope. She just went gallivanting off into hostile territory looking for her old fiance. Likewise, her visit to LAPD--without at least trying to contact Hetty first--was not the wisest move. Kensi was in charge and for her to send Nell out and to go out as well was very poor strategically. Why not let Nell visit both Callen and Deeks? (The whole episode with Deeks was just so farfetched, it ruined that episode. There's no way LAPD would hold one of their own like that. Not to mention the fact that Ferris just happened to know Kensi was going to the LAPD station and was waiting to kidnap her? Why didn't he just kidnap her when he brought the beer to her house?) 

I think the writers let the whole mole story get away from them. I can't help but wonder if these episodes might have been rewritten because of Miguel's condition, but even so, writing for TV is what these folks do for living. They should have come up with a more plausible scenario. The entire three episode arc was just crappy writing IMO.

I also wondered why Ferris didn't take Kensi when he visited.  Although, maybe they were going to try to have Kensi ponder cheating on Deeks with him and though against it because it would make her look like crap and decided to make him a bad guy.  Or they wrote it that way to make Kensi trust Sullivan, but as an agent with tradecraft, she should not let relative strangers in her home, let alone tell people where she lives (plot holes).

Maybe they had Deeks arrested, knowing that Kensi would eventually visit him.  The bad guys did this in a second season episode (can't remember title) , where they shot Deeks (because he had such bad tradecraft and let people become aware of his routines) and waited for Kensi to leave the hospital to attack her.

[123BP]

1 hour ago, dirtydi said:

Maybe they had Deeks arrested, knowing that Kensi would eventually visit him.  The bad guys did this in a second season episode (can't remember title) , where they shot Deeks (because he had such bad tradecraft and let people become aware of his routines) and waited for Kensi to leave the hospital to attack her.

Yea, I remember that episode (something to do with Chechens, I think). That might have been what they had in mind, but it wasn't well thought out: either Ferris had staked out the LAPD station or he tailed Kensi there. I'm hoping the writing gets back in sync because overall, I think the writers have done a decent job this season.

[123BP]

1 hour ago, callie lee 29 said:

She should be reigning them in with consequences, rather she demonstrates it's okay both by doing it herself and not disciplining it when it happens. 

I couldn't agree more! What makes it really strange is that her behavior is so unpredictable. That would drive me crazy if I worked for her. At the end of Active Measures, she threatened to terminate Callen with "extreme prejudice" (a euphemism for assassinating someone) and other times she doesn't say or do anything when they disobey her directives. It's like Jekyll and Hyde.

[Jillibean]

21 hours ago, 123BP said:

The involvement of Joelle was just unbelievable.

I agree about Joelle--it was a clear retcon, and I'm sure they did it because they realized they needed a payoff wherein someone the viewers actually knew and trusted was involved. For as long as this mole story has dragged on, they couldn't just make it a few CIA people and call it a day. But yes, pretty dumb. Honestly though, this show has long had a big continuity problem, and the more they keep trying to drag things through multiple seasons, the more evident those issues become. 

Quote

Hetty sent Kensi because Kensi and Jack had been engaged, and Hetty knew Kensi wouldn't shoot him. But, Kensi went off after Jack on her own; Kensi could have easily called Hetty once she'd identified Jack to get more details about what Hetty wanted her to do and what was going on. Kensi wasn't thinking it through and just went off on her own without a plan or backup.

Kensi also thought he was dead, which I'm sure Hetty knew, and blamed herself for not being able to help him. Having him turn up alive as the target of her sniper mission was clearly emotionally jarring to the point of her doing some very stupid things. Yes, there are other far smarter ways she could have dealt with it, but that's exactly why you don't send someone you KNOW is emotionally involved into a situation like that. Especially given her rogue mission when she was implicated in the deaths of her fathers teammates, Hetty should have known very well that Kensi could react badly and dangerously to the sudden reappearance of Jack in her life. Even if Hetty had told her at some point that Jack was alive, she probably would have been able to be more effective. But this is all pretty moot given that the Afghanistan storyline is another one that left a lot to be desired. 

[Jaybird]

When did Kensi ever indicate she thought Jack was dead? In Disorder (season 2, maybe season 3), she actually says to Deeks that she never went searching for Jack because she was hoping that he would come searching for her (which would be hard for a dead guy to do.)

[Jillibean]

2 hours ago, Jaybird said:

When did Kensi ever indicate she thought Jack was dead? In Disorder (season 2, maybe season 3), she actually says to Deeks that she never went searching for Jack because she was hoping that he would come searching for her (which would be hard for a dead guy to do.)

She told him when they were trapped together in the cave that she had thought he was dead.

Edited February 26, 2017 by Jillibean

[dirtydi]

1 hour ago, Jillibean said:

She told him when they were trapped together in the cave that she had thought he was dead.

Good ole Jack.  All the time she wasted pining over him, dude just wasn't that into her.  He married twice.  I thought he was a jerk.  Didn't like the character.

[anna0852]

I wouldn't call it pining. He was he finacee and walked out with no further contact on freakin Christmas Eve. That's a huge unresolved issue for Kensi. But I do agree that Jack is a jerk.

[misstwpherecool]

What happened to the LAPD internal affairs cop again? Did she die? I thought she was still alive at the very end of part 2.

A bit contrived but seems typical for NCIS LA. I keep on thinking this is one branch of NCIS so how does an enemy not only infiltrate but get multiple informants, spies and mole into one branch let alone one organization. This takes time and money. And if the rogue op was being interrupted by NCIS and/or military on official assignment how is that personal again. 

After being kidnapped, some  torture and seeing a persons head shot up I don't think I'd be screaming for alone time with my partner. I'd want to see as many friendly faces as possible and screaming get me the heck out of here, kind of ignorant.

How long does a dead body stay at a crime scene ie the hospital. In a hospital a dead body sits/lies near a critcally wounded patient lies and susceptible to infection among other things. The body count on this show is cartoonish even in this day and age.

[123BP]

6 hours ago, misstwpherecool said:

After being kidnapped, some  torture and seeing a persons head shot up I don't think I'd be screaming for alone time with my partner. I'd want to see as many friendly faces as possible and screaming get me the heck out of here, kind of ignorant.

Good point. I was also surprised Kensi didn't ask about Hetty and Granger since she'd just been shown photos of their "dead" bodies--unless she's somehow clairvoyant and knew the photos were fake.