Amateur videographers record a private jet landing. They realize a prisoner is being transferred and also happen to film the breakdown of that transfer. In the aftermath of a shootout, the prisoner escapes.
The OSP team is called in to cooperate with the Army CID, and the prisoner is identified as the terrorist leader Agent Vaile’s captors wanted in exchange for his life. I’m glad this episode continued last week’s storyline instead of moving on to an entirely new case. As it turned out, last week’s momentum was enough to drive this episode, as well.
The OSP team began by investigating one of the airport workers who was killed in the shootout. They discovered his wife was held hostage to force his cooperation. He was supposed to fly the terrorist leader out of the country, but with him dead, the OSP team had another chance to catch the leader.
Next, they tracked down Sam’s friend Mo (Ronald Auguste) and encouraged him to turn on the leader in exchange for leniency. I’m glad we’ve gotten to see Sam and Mo go through a full ordeal: first, they trusted each other like brothers. Then, Mo felt betrayed and joined up with the terrorists. And finally here, Sam and Mo reconciled.
The team also investigated the dead airport worker’s supervisor and found she was also involved in the breakdown of security. The final conspirator was one of the MPs tasked with capturing the terrorist leader. Even though this last piece of the puzzle was a bit telegraphed, I never expect that a “good cop” will turn bad.
While all this was going on, Hetty submitted her resignation letter to Director Vance. This close to the end of the season, I had to wonder if Linda Hunt was leaving the show. In the end, Callen retrieved the letter by picking Vance’s pocket–a move I gladly missed–and changed Hetty’s mind about resigning.
With the success of these linked episodes–“Missing”, “Found”, and now “Hunted”–I think the future of the show could benefit from longer story arcs where perhaps the characters stay undercover for several episodes.
