Time: 9:00-10:00pm
Cast: Chris O'Donnell, LL Cool J, Peter Cambor, Daniela Ruah, Adam Jamal Craig, Barrett Foa, Linda Hunt
Creator: Donald Bellisario, Shane Brennan
Summary: A spin-off of NCIS, this show focuses on the undercover operations department of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service based in Los Angeles. The show technically premiered as a two-part pilot in the sixth season of NCIS, when Gibbs and McGee go out to LA to investigate a potential terrorist sleeper cell. In this episode, what seems to be a kidnapping gone wrong turns out to be something completely different when Sam (LL Cool J) and Callen (O'Donnell) find out that the Navy officer in question was picked up and dropped off at home by his alleged kidnappers every day for a week.
Review: I'm going to to do my best not to give away too much about any episode of this show because half the fun is the twists and turns of the case work. Anyway, with a brand new show, I like to start with the characters and premise and work my way up to the plot.
Since NCIS: LA is a spin-off, it seems fitting that I should compare it to its parent show (not to be confused with its grandparent show, since the original NCIS was a spin-off of JAG). From the first episode, I already had some similarities and some differences. For one thing: team dynamic. Very similar, with a few mild differences. As much as I love the team in NCIS, I think I actually love the LA team more. Every single one of them is brilliant; they have street smarts and technological smarts. And it's a good thing, since the LA office is way more geek-chic than the DC office. They definitely got all the cool toys, and they all know how to use them.
Then there's the team itself. Sam and Callen are the lead guys, sort of the Gibbs and Tony of the show, but the lines aren't as clear. They're partners, not leader and sidekick. If I was pressed to say, Sam--a former Navy SEAL and all-around macho guy--would be Gibbs, and Callen--a joker with a vague past who tends to move frequently--would be Tony. But they're not carbon copies, so don't worry. Sam and Callen definitely have distinct personality traits that make them different from their predecessors. For example, Sam's way more fun than Gibbs is, and he's not above sharing a joke or a conversation with his colleagues. Callen doesn't do the playboy thing Tony does, and, while he is more of the joker than Sam, he's much more serious than Tony. The relationship between them is clearly the focal point of the show (anyone who watches the opening song can tell that). Unlike NCIS's ensemble cast feel, NCIS: LA is about Sam and Callen. The others are important, but clearly supporting, roles.
Kensi (Daniela Ruah) is the Kate/Ziva of the show. With both Kate and Ziva, there was definitely a warming period where I grew to like them. With Kensi however, I fell in love with her from the first episode. She's the only woman in this boys' club (with the exception of Hetty, who isn't an agent), and she handles herself with a self-deprecating humor and generally awesome attitude. Like Kate or Ziva, she can hold her own in a fight, both physically with the suspects and verbally with the guys. Unlike Ziva, she has a complete grasp of the English language and some quality that makes me really like her. She's the kind of agent I'd like to be if I ever became a fictional NCIS agent.
The role of McGee would have to go to Eric (Barrett Foa), but it's only about half true. In a world of techies, Eric is the resident computer geek. He's always on a computer, or a handheld, or a handheld computer. All their information is sent back to him. He can hack, although he's not as good as McGee. But the similarities end there. Eric isn't a field agent. I think the team would be frightened to give him a gun. And he's a surfer (and how LA is it for the computer geek to also be a surfer dude?). That side of McGee's job description would probably go to Dominic (Adam Jamal Craig). Dom is the rookie agent, brand-spanking new in this first episode (he wasn't in the two-part NCIS episode). He's the team's probie, and he's just as nervous and hesitant as McGee ever was. But he seems to be coming into his own pretty quickly, so we'll see how his character develops as the show continues.
Nate (Peter Cambor) would be Ducky... ish. Because the LA branch of NCIS is primarily an undercover agency, they don't have autopsy. There is a coroner, but she's not part of their team; they just call on her when they need information. Nate is the operational psychologist instead, hired to profile suspects and victims to help the team solve crimes (and be better, more effective undercover agents). So he's got, like, half of Ducky's job. And, really, no other relation to Ducky. He's not old, he doesn't tell cool stories, and he doesn't act like a parental figure to the rest of the team. Those honors go to Hetty (Linda Hunt), who is the other half of Ducky. Hetty coordinates the undercover missions for the team, and she's responsible for wardrobe. She's 4'9" and the entire team is scared of getting on her bad side.
There's no Abby. Whether that's because the undercover unit has no forensic team, or Bellisario realized he couldn't possibly come up with anyone as cool as Abby, we may never know. Either way, there's no team member that can possibly be compared to her.
Whew. OK, that's all the characters. As for the plot, that's pretty similar to the original NCIS too. Solve cases. OK, got it. The difference is, I'm not entirely sure what the LA unit's responsibilities are. They're not like our major crime response team in DC, who go out whenever someone was killed (or occasionally abducted). They go undercover, but I'm not always sure for what purpose. And that's a flaw in this new show. I enjoyed the first episode, but it was confusing. I couldn't follow the case, and I couldn't figure out why anybody was doing what they were doing. As the show continues, if it hopes to make it past the first season, they need to better define the responsibilities of the team and better explain why they do the things they do.
Overall, it's a good watch. It has it's problems, like all new shows, but I think, like the original, it's a show that will get better with age. It already has a few advantages. It's a spin-off of an incredibly popular show. It was created by Donald Bellisario, who has a laundry list of prolific and successful shows that I couldn't begin to list here. It has a pretty great cast of characters who have good chemistry. With a little refining and a little time, I think this show has the potential to be a very good one.
Rating (this episode):
[1] Run in the other direction
[2] Don't bother
[3] Worth a watch if you've got nothing better to do
[4] Definitely try it out
[5] A total keeper
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