NCIS Los Angeles review: “Russia, Russia, Russia”

Photo credit: @NCISLA 

Here’s my review of NCIS Los Angeles season twelve episode “Russia, Russia, Russia.” 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.

Stories of undercover agents, spies, and moles are not unfamiliar to NCISLA viewers. Over the years, we’ve seen the team use undercover work to their advantage to get information, and there’s been plenty of plots featuring moles and spies within various government organizations. So the plot of “Russia, Russia, Russia” isn’t very unexpected: Callen gets suspected of being a Russian spy and then the team flips the tables to try to find the actual Russian spy. But it’s the execution of the story which makes this episode one of the most entertaining of the season so far. 

When the series last checked in with Callen (in “A Fait Accompli“), he had just discovered that Anna had been lying to him and wasn’t actually off doing charity work. When he returns to Los Angeles in “The Frogman’s Daughter“, he just vaguely tells Sam it’s a story for another time. But this episode doesn’t continue the mysterious Anna storyline either. Instead, Callen comes under scrutiny as a potential Russian spy. 

This part of the episode was pretty entertaining as it’s not often we see Callen on the other side of the interrogation table. (Though as Sam notes, Callen’s still the one gathering information.) It was also pretty fun when Deeks showed up as Callen’s lawyer. The tone of those scenes were very lighthearted. We know Callen isn’t a spy, so we can just sit back, relax, and watch the team work to get him back out. 

Throughout the episode, things slowly get more intense as the investigation shifts to the team trying to find the real mole and get info on whatever high value, undercover asset is involved somehow. The action increases as the team kicks off a theatrical plot to convince the Russian pilot to work with them. (Said plot includes faking Adm. Kilbride’s death, bringing in Kirkin to help, and lots of dramatic yelling from Deeks). By the time they get to scene on the boardwalk, things get a lot more intense than before. Despite the team hanging around undercover, the Russian captain gets poisoned and they discover the culprit is Zasha (the Russian lady they paid for intel from) from the season premiere. Unlike several nonsensical cases this season, this story was simple enough to follow easily, which made it much more enjoyable to watch. 

I only have two real complaints about this episode. Firstly, it makes last week’s episode look even more terrible by comparison. Compare, for example, Fatima last week to Fatima this week. She’s immediately worried about Callen when they can’t find him, but she was pretty nonchalant last week when it was Sam’s daughter they couldn’t find. They’re like two different characters, and it’s not Medalion’s fault in acting. It’s definitely the writing. Similarly, Deeks and Kensi are much more focused on the case this week instead of discussing personal matters during work hours. 

Secondly, the episode demonstrates that a smaller cast of characters are a lot easier to deal with. Rountree is away this week, and there’s no mention of Eric or Nell. Even Kensi’s not around too much (tho that’s probably because Daniela Ruah was directing the episode). Even though I like all these characters, I didn’t feel like there was something missing this week. The smaller cast was able to get the work done, and no one felt extraneous. This is similar to earlier seasons when the main cast was a lot smaller. I don’t want to say there are too many characters now (especially because I really like Rountree and Fatima), but this episode clearly shows that the plots moves just as well when no one’s twiddling their thumbs. 

Overall, “Russia, Russia, Russia” was an extremely entertaining episode full of a twists and turns to keep me at the edge of my seat. The last scene, however, really provides the perfect hook to get us interested in the next episode. Callen confronts Zasha in a way that makes it sound like he might actually be a Russian operative. But I don’t really believe that’s the case. There seems to be bits of information the audience is missing (the “story for another time” perhaps?) and I definitely am looking forward to whatever will be revealed in the next episode. 

Notes from the Boat Shed 

• I thought the team seemed weirdly okay with Zasha getting away after poisoning the captain, so that’s another point that leads me to believe there’s more to this story than we’ve seen so far. (Or it could just be bad writing again, but hopefully not)
• I don’t really comment on directing styles that much (because I don’t know much about that topic to comment comfortably) but I thought Daniela did a great job with her first directing gig. 
• A line that got a good laugh out of me: “Difficult to believe sometimes but yes” -Callen, confirming that Arkady was, in fact, formerly a KGB agent 
• A line that got an even bigger laugh out of me: “I brought you a sandwich” -Deeks, opening up his lawyer briefcase to reveal he really did bring Callen a sandwich 
• Deeks in Lawyer Mode actually was super entertaining to watch. For me, it was the right balance of Deeks being silly but not too over-the-top 
• Usually I don’t like Kirkin because they always play into the WORST creepy stereotypes for gay men. But this episode really seemed to tone that down a lot. His “they fired you? You fired them??” bit was actually kinda funny and didn’t feel creepy at all. 
• For a whole commercial break, I totally thought Kilbride was dead for real, and I was furious about it! Thank goodness it was fake, lol 

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