The body of Navy Lt. Commander Calvin Lee is found hanging from a bridge just as he was due to ship out as executive officer aboard a submarine equipped with advanced technology. NCIS must determine whether he committed suicide or was murdered and whether the advanced technology has been compromised.
This episode had a good mix of psychological depth and action. When Calvin’s parents were questioned, they claimed they had two children, but that Calvin’s older sister was dead. The OSP team had to dig to find out the sister was actually living under a new name. She told them that Calvin, whom his parents said was engaged to marry a woman, was actually homosexual.
Tracking down Calvin’s fiancee led the team to a Chinese spy ring that was trying to force Calvin to sneak a high-tech hard drive cloner aboard his sub. Calvin killed himself rather than obeying his handlers, and threw the cloner, disguised as a set of keys, off the bridge. Callen and Sam did not realize the cloner was in the keys until they began to ponder how the missing Agent Vail (Adam Jamal Craig) might approach this case. I was glad to see Vail finally contribute something meaningful to a case.
In the climax, Kensi tried to sneak Calvin’s parents out of their store before they could be killed by Chinese agents. Callen and Sam meanwhile tried to neutralize the various agents in a crowded marketplace. The final surprise was that Calvin’s parents were forced to raise him to be a Chinese spy ensconced in the U.S. military.
“Chinatown” was one of the better-executed episodes this season. With about one-third of the season left, I hope NCIS: Los Angeles continues an upward trend and finishes strong.
