NCIS Los Angeles review: “Smokescreen Part 2”

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Here’s my review of NCIS Los Angeles season ten episode “Smokescreen Part 2.” Please note that this isn’t a recap of what happens. I’m assuming that you’ve already seen the episode. There are spoilers in this review.

Reviewing a two-part episode separately is always a bit tricky. You have to remember what happened in the previous episode, and then decide how well the two episodes connect together. It was a little frustrating CBS scheduled “Smokescreen Part 2” to air a couple weeks after Part 1, but in the end, the wait was worth it. Though it didn’t live up to the excitement of Part 1, this week’s episode was still a thrilling conclusion.

The reason Part 1 worked so well was because it didn’t follow the mold of a typical episode. Part 2 picked up in the middle of all that drama, but once they are freed from the bomb-rigged theater, things settle back into the style of a regular NCISLA episode. They interrogate suspects, they follow leads, they get into a shootout, and they even do a brief bit of undercover work. (I’ve missed the undercover work, to be honest). It’s still an action-packed episode, but it just doesn’t carry the tension like Part 1 did.

I want to imagine what the episode would have been like if Sam and Callen had spent the whole time trapped in the movie theater (which is what I assumed would happen when the episode began), but Nell had some good advice when she said not to play the “what if?” game. Let’s focus on the what actually happened Part 2.

Like I said, there was plenty of action. Sam had another close call with a bomb. The team took out the bad guys in a blaze of glory shootout in the middle of a random street. All exciting moments. But on the down side, I thought the plot suffered a bit by being a smokescreen after all. In the end, the terrorists weren’t the ones involved but actually it was some South African mercenaries and a rogue agent (Ross). That was an unexpected twist, but it never quite made sense by the end of the episode. (Why was Ross dirty??)

In contrast to Part 1, the weakness of this episode was that there wasn’t as much focus on character moments. Previously, we got to see poignant moments with Deeks and Kensi as well as insight into what’s on Callen’s mind these days. Because of the urgency of the case, however, there wasn’t time for any of that. That’s understandable, but it’s still a bit disappointing after the really nice scenes we had in the last episode.

On a bright note, Part 2 finally wraps up a question that had been quietly dangling over the team since last season. Are they going to get broken up? Ochoa recommends to keep them together, thus ending that point of conflict. It’s nice not to have to worry about that in the future because it was kind of silly anyway. Of course the team is going to do excellent work together! Let’s move on to more interesting conflicts.

Notes from the Boat Shed

• I really liked Fatima Namazi. She was a nice support character who didn’t take away screentime from the main characters. I wouldn’t mind if she pops up again in future episodes to help out.
• Nice to see Sam cool under pressure. But him providing first aid was painful to watch for a squeamish person like me. It was like watching Chicago Fire for a moment there! (I watched an episode of that last week with my mom and had to cover my eyes at multiple points lol)
• My tv cut out during the 5 minutes when they got out of the theater. So it felt a little anticlimactic to me because I missed it. Maybe that skewed some of my perspective on the episode.
• Funny moment when Deeks talked so much, the suspect got annoyed.
• The tools banter was fun. But also yes, Callen, learn to fix your car! (I somehow don’t believe he’s that bad with tools though…)
• Sam survived so many bomb blasts in these two episodes. IS HE MADE OF STEEL? (The answer is yes)
• I liked Nell giving Fatima advice… but there’s no indication Nell is barely holding it together outside of this episode, is there? Usually she’s pretty chipper.
• I still don’t know who the undersecretary lady is. Should I have known her?
• Uh, wow random Ochoa family drama. Just like Mosley had random family drama. Hmm…
• I really liked the nice to wrap up with a vigil at the theater. It shows the resilience of people after a tragedy.

So what did you think? Like it or hate it? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.