North Korean defector Danny Su, working on a classified DARPA project, is shot while jetskiing. An old assassin nemesis of Vance’s (Kelly Hu) is caught on camera fleeing the scene, and Su’s American partner is found bludgeoned to death by a lamp.
“Killshot” was originally listed on IMDb with an earlier airdate, and it showed the same reliance on technology and plot weaknesses of episodes prior to last week’s “Search and Destroy.” There were also appearances by the original NCIS‘s Vance (Rocky Carroll) and Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette)—typical of a new spinoff trying to attract the classic show’s audience.
Most of the episode’s time was spent on the hunt for Vance’s nemesis, which was intense enough and watchable enough for Kelly Hu fans. The murder of Su’s business partner—the more intriguing mystery to me—became an afterthought. It turned out Danny Su’s brother Jimmy was the real brains of the family, and that fact was importantly linked to Danny’s partner’s murder, but Kensi came upon this information by reading Jimmy’s lips as he talked to his wife while at an NCIS safehouse. I would have been more impressed if Kensi had read Jimmy’s lips from further away. Why would Jimmy risk revealing this secret with Kensi anywhere in the same room?
More convenient developments: Vance’s nemesis called him in the middle of the chase to say she didn’t kill Su’s business partner. Later, Abby called with a crucial clue from the blood-spattered lamp as to who killed the partner.
“Killshot” seemed to hint that NCIS: Los Angeles intends to be more action-oriented and less complex than the original NCIS. This may be to some viewers’ liking, but I hope it isn’t the case.
