Asher Ross, former Marine Staff Sergeant and member of a bomb disposal team in Iraq, is killed by an explosive wired into his cell phone. As NCIS investigates, the other members of Ross’s team are targeted by the same killer.
In general, I find mad bomber plots simplistic, but I was fooled by the killer rigging his own vehicle to explode and framing another member of the team. In the killer’s paranoid state of mind, I couldn’t tell how much of his story was the truth. I had to wait along with the OSP team until more evidence came in.
I still think there are too many pep talks going on in the course of a case. This week, Nate the psychologist needed a pep talk from Hetty the office manager on how he should approach the team during upcoming performance evaluations. My question is, shouldn’t Nate be capable of analyzing his co-workers and coming up with the right approach himself? Why ask Hetty, who aside from having the wisdom of her years, isn’t a psychologist by trade?
Kensi also had a talk with Hetty after a cover identity based on key parts of her true background hit too close to home. This was a little more believable than Nate’s talk with Hetty. I have to admit these talks do reveal character, if not in the smoothest of ways.
This was NCIS: Los Angeles‘s first Christmas episode, and it wasn’t as hokey as others I’ve seen this season. One member of Ross’s team, Tariq, was so badly disfigured by an explosion in Iraq that he shied away from returning to his family. In the end, Nate brought him back home in time for Christmas. The only false note about this was Hetty’s monologue playing over the scene. I would have been more moved if I’d seen Nate say the same thing to Tariq before dropping him off.
