NCIS: LOS ANGELES Races a Deadline

Callen and the team investigate after local TV reporter Adriana Gomez is killed in a drive-by shooting. Gomez had done several reports on the unrest in Libya and had been contacted by Asaad El-Libi, a pirate broadcaster who had gotten around Gaddafi’s Internet firewalls to become a source of inspiration to rebel forces. NCIS became involved because one of Gomez’s sources was Cmdr. Gavin Madison (Jeff Denton) in Naval Intelligence.

Asaad El-Libi was described as an expatriate who had lived in the U.S. and moved back to Libya when tensions rose there. His broadcasts were thought to originate from Libya, but Callen and Sam discovered they actually came from a closed auto shop owned by one of Adriana Gomez’s contacts, Farag Hijazi (Piter Marek).

Eventually, tracking a car used by the Libyan hit team, Callen and Sam found El-Libi’s body; however, someone else soon assumed El-Libi’s identity, and the mission changed to finding the new broadcaster.

Keeping tabs on the new El-Libi’s electronic trail, Eric and Nell discovered he was sending messages to both the rebels and Gaddafi. They deduced that the new broadcaster was setting up the rebels to be ambushed by Gaddafi’s forces. If NCIS didn’t find the new broadcaster in time, the rebel forces would be decimated.

On a deeper level, “Deadline” made the point that a message is more important than the person who sends it. When the original El-Libi was murdered, an impostor stepped in and almost caused a massacre, but in the end, a righteous man found the courage to pick up the torch.

I liked how current the plot of “Deadline” was. Also, it wasn’t about a generic threat to U.S. security like a nuclear missile or dirty bomb. It dealt with unrest in another part of the world and was careful not to let NCIS play too large a role in the outcome. That said, early in the episode, Callen and Sam rescued Cmdr. Madison from the Libyan hit team. I’m not sure NCIS would realistically continue to be involved after ensuring the commander’s safety. Perhaps if the commander had been killed, NCIS would have cause to look into his life and still find their way to Asaad El-Libi.

The episode’s best twist, in my opinion, had to do with Farag Hijazi’s father, Ahmed (Tony Amendola). Early on, Ahmed turned Kensi and Deeks away from his house, professing that he and Farag were loyal tax-paying Americans who had a right not to be questioned. Ahmed turned out to be a Gaddafi loyalist involved in the attempt to ambush the rebel forces.

The case of the week was book-ended by Hetty and Callen talking about Callen’s past, picking up from last week’s episode. Since Hetty previously revealed this information in her talk with Alexa Comescu, I’m not sure why viewers needed to hear it again. It’s possible the episode ran short, and the writers needed fill time.