NCIS Los Angeles review: “Angry Karen”

Photo credit @NCISLA

Here’s my review of NCIS Los Angeles season twelve episode “Angry Karen.” 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.

When I heard the title “Angry Karen”, I envisioned a much different episode than what we actually got. But as it turns out, the episode title has nothing to do with the current colloquial meaning of the name at all. It’s simply the name of a secret missile… which doesn’t actually exist. But none of that is ultimately as important as the storyline seeds which are sown here in between the regular casework.

You can probably tell that the pandemic is having an impact on how the series is filmed this season. With social distancing a priority for safety reasons, the team often ends up separated while they work, relying more often than usual on phone calls to communicate. Sure, they’ve had to exchange information that way before on many occasions, but it’s very prevalent now. The unfortunate side effect of this is that it slows down the pacing of the episode and makes it a bit more dull. The audience can only sit through so many back-to-back phone calls before it becomes visually uninteresting. This really made the first half of this episode lag while the team did the bulk of the investigation work.

Things finally picked up later in the episode when there was finally some action: Rountree catching the fake nurse, Sam and Callen easily taking down a guy in a lizard costume, and (my personal favorite) Kensi knocking a guy out with a garden gnome. Those scenes felt more like a typical NCISLA episode, and really made things more entertaining than just exchanging a bunch of phone calls. Perhaps it would have been better to spread these scenes out for pacing purposes, but I’m glad they were included at all.

But what I also enjoyed was this episode found the opportunity to plant a few storylines for upcoming episodes. This is only the third episode of the season, so it makes sense that the show is still setting some things up. There’s a continuation of Nell’s story from the premiere episode. (Can she step into Hetty’s shoes one day? Sam and Callen seem to think so, and even though it was very on-the-nose, it was nice to see them encourage her.) There was also an introduction to what Deeks may possibly be doing this season. (Police reforms have him temporarily recalled from his liaison position, and the bar doesn’t seem to be doing too well either. It looks like things could be leading to some major changes for Deeks and Kensi. Or maybe not! We shall see.) And of course, there’s always the ever present question of what’s Hetty up to now?

I was only really disappointed Sam didn’t get any hints to a storyline of his own for this season. Or even just some thoughts on surviving a murder attempt in the opening scene. But there’s still time as the season continues for a good storyline for him. It’s been a while!

In the end, the “Angry Karen” missile was just a moneymaking scam, and the “Angry Karen” episode got off to a slow start. But there were some pieces along the way which made it entertaining and reminiscent of what I enjoy about the series. I hope, however, the team gets to deal with “real” missiles in future episodes, just to crank up the excitement!

Notes from the Boat Shed

• Deeks’ line “recalled like a Ford Pinto” was pretty funny. But I am curious how the show will handle the topic of police reforms. I hope it’ll tackle such a serious topic well.
• Poor Rountree got bored keeping watch! Do you think accidentally sitting on a bomb during his first mission maybe raised his work expectations too high? 🤣
• Speaking of Rountree, can you tell that Caleb Castille is a former college football player? Ramming that nurse with the gurney looked exactly like a tackle to me!
• Just wanted to point out Fatima had cute skulls on her hijab this time, and I totally would have wanted that same pattern on any piece of clothing/accessories I owned back in high school 😁
• I mentioned it before but I enjoyed Kensi using the garden gnome as a weapon. It reminded me of when Granger once smacked someone with a bicycle tire. (RIP, I still miss him and his great moments)
• I totally could guess Keilani’s boss was the culprit. Oh well
• Favorite line of the episode goes to “she would have offered me a drink by now.” It was a good moment to end this episode.

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