S07E20 Seoul Man

After last week’s intense and immensely enjoyable The Seventh Child, any episode was going to struggle, but Seoul Man manages to hold its own with a light-hearted case, a standalone episode that showcases the team when Hetty assigns them to protection detail.  A South Korean Fleet Commander is in town and NCIS has been asked to assist in protecting him, an order which has Callen questioning why (he’s not done that for a while), and Deeks asking if he can have a cuff mic to go with his swish undercover suit.  But all is not as it seems and soon the team realise there is a mole in the South Korean team, a point which prompts Callen to again challenge Hetty; has she assigned them the case to flush out the mole? 

S07E19 The Seventh Child

Sometimes it is the simplest storylines which are the most rewarding. Without complex plot twists, the narrative can focus on character development, the themes and most importantly, the story itself.  This is the case with The Seventh Child; a child suicide bomber is talked out of blowing himself up.  The pre-opening credit sequence sets the mood and tone for the entire episode. Twin boys decide to run away from the men forcing them to blow themselves up. They inadvertently split up but one twin is hit by a car, his suicide vest instantly detonating.  The FBI call on NCIS as the explosive is Binetex, which the team investigated earlier this season in ‘Unspoken’.

S07E17 Revenge Deferred

Several episodes in season seven have set the foundations for the return of Tahir Khaled, warlord brother of Jada, whom Sam romantically befriended in season three.  Sam tricked her into leaving her home land, and destroyed her dreams when he abandoned her upon arrival to the US; Jada had to testify against Tahir or return home, where her brother would kill her.  In ‘The Long Goodbye’, Jada managed to escape witness protection and returned home, leaving the storyline open for her brother to finally seek revenge upon Sam, hence the title ‘Revenge Deferred’. 

S07E16 Matryoshka Part 2

 

“Matryoshka Part 2” – the episode which promises to reveal Callen’s name.  For the audience, it has been seven years in the making but for G. Callen, it’s been forty odd years – as long as he can remember…

Hetty has sanctioned Sam and Callen to rescue CIA Agent Sharov from the same Russian prison holding Arkady Kolchek, and part two sees the action move to Russia. Yet surprisingly this episode isn’t really about the prison break, even though a reasonable amount of time is devoted to planning the mission; in fact there is very little action at all during the episode.

S07E14 Come Back

Last week’s episode focused on Callen’s character, but this week the attention is clearly on Kensi, with Deeks also under scrutiny.  Kensi’s back story has been explored during earlier seasons; investigations into her father’s death led Kensi to be accused of murder and to the subsequent reconciliation with her estranged mother.  Kensi’s spell of living on the streets as a teenager was also touched on in last season’s ‘The Grey Man’.  She was previously engaged to a marine named Jack who suffered with PTSD and left her on Christmas day.  Hetty used this to her advantage when she sent Kensi to Afghanistan on the ‘white ghost’ mission.  She knew that when Kensi found and recognised Jack, she would not be able to pull the trigger, and would instead investigate.  But Kensi deliberately allowed herself to be captured and found Jack was also being held hostage (and that he had found peace in himself and moved on).

S07E13 Angels & Daemons

Angels & Daemons is another strong standalone episode from the solid combination of Andrew Bartel’s writing, and James Hanlon’s direction.  The pair have previously collaborated to bring us the important character based episode, The Grey Man (S6) and earlier this season, Driving Miss Diaz.  Bartels’ episodes may not (yet) form part of the season’s arc, however they do provide amusement (S5 Allegiance) and key insights to the main characters (also think S6 Humbug and Fighting Shadows).

S07E07 “An Unlocked Mind”

An Unlocked Mind is another episode from the pen of Frank Military and this time directed by NCISLA actor Chris O’Donnell.  As a result, expectations are already set that this will be a more serious episode, with a little less Callen than usual.  And these expectations are indeed met; the episode deals with a religious cult, the Church of the Unlocked Mind, who target emotionally vulnerable high level executives and manipulate them into revealing corporate secrets which they use for their own financial gain.  The wife of former DARPA engineer David Ramsey manages to escape the cult and turns to LAPD, who turn to NCIS.  Evidence has been uncovered which suggests David has revealed secrets about the DODs cutting edge technologies; an executive cult member has been seen meeting with a Chinese National who is a suspected spy.