Review: NCISLA “Field of Fire” (S6E22)
We’re coming down to the NCIS:LA home stretch and although Densi fans finally got to see their fairy tale romance become a reality, it’s overall been an unremarkable season so far. The May sweeps is about to begin and there seems to be a Russian connection to the final few episodes which started with last week’s episode, “Beacon”. Unfortunately, it looks like we are probably not going to get any more Deeks and/or Densi insight this season. After some speculation that a Deeks backstory would be revealed, it doesn’t look like that will be the case. So will Season 7 be the year of Deeks? I guess we will just have to wait to find out. But for now the team is off on a domestic mission to search for a former Marine who has escaped from a veteran’s hospital and may have ties to an extremist group. Gil Grant penned this week’s script and collaborated with director Robert Florio to bring us this week’s episode, “Field of Fire”.
Ah, the patter of little feet! And I’m not talking about our dashing LAPD detective! But does Deeks really think he’s going to find the time for a mentoring program in his busy schedule? Although I can definitely see him becoming a wonderful big brother, it’s kind of a strange activity to introduce into your precarious lifestyle particularly with an IA investigation going on and having to navigate a delicate romantic relationship with your partner. But Kensi is definitely proud of her man who can’t wait to pass along his life experience to the next generation… just as long as she doesn’t have to be the mother of said children. (Of course, our fun-loving Deeks is always able to interact with kids well because he obviously considers himself a kid too: Kensi: We’ve all been fifteen once. Deeks: Still am!). But the underlying theme of this week’s episode seems to center around the joys and tribulations of mentoring kids and becoming parents. While Deeks and Callen like to believe they’re up to the task, Sam bemoans the effort it takes to stay sane and evidently awake when you become a parent. Kensi, on the other hand, looks like a deer in headlights every time someone mentions having kids around Deeks. OK, we get it; you’re not ready yet, but I can’t wait for the conversation when Deeks announces he wants to start having those little Ninja Turtles! You can run, Kensi… but you cannot hide!
Frankly, I’m not sure what to write about these kinds of episodes anymore. There was some great tension build-up and excitement in the final action sequence as they stop the assassination attempt and save the Marine sniper. Yet I feel that there was something missing. I’m becoming a bit apathetic and indifferent as we watch the latest in a series of extreme leftist groups that the team is sent out to eradicate. Isn’t there something else new and unique that they can write about? The disturbed Marine is actually the one who has the story to tell. If this was an NCIS or even NCIS: New Orleans episode, they would have concentrated more on his story and less on the terrorists and we could have gotten a much more character driven, emotional tale. Even Sam’s attempt to make his teammates and the audience understand the Marine’s plight was just not enough. Maybe 43 minutes is never going to be enough time to tell the whole story, especially when dealing with the human condition.
Memorable Moments:
• Little lower case g’s running around? That’s got to be one of Sam’s more memorable lines!
• Talk about cracking me up….Neric’s comedy routine got a big laugh with Eric’s description of the getaway cart prompting Nell’s droll reply… wait for it: He’ll be here all week, folks! Love it when the nerds make me laugh!
• Sam’s heart to heart with the homeless guy was very sad but a very poignant scene. More please!
• There was a lot of ‘having kids’ banter in this episode. Sam just can’t wait for his teammates to experience the joys of parenthood so they can know what it’s like to go crazy too!
• I think Hetty was speaking from experience when she tells Deeks his new ‘little brother’ is going to be good practice for him when he becomes a dad. Hetty, of course, is the ultimate mentor. With all her background adopting future NCIS agents, she certainly knows how hard it is to predict what the future will hold for her difficult protégés.
Deeks Moments
Hetty: I think Mr. Deeks cleans up quite well, don’t you?
Granger: It depends on your standards but I get where you’re going.
Sam: What’s that… your first mug shot, Deeks?
Deeks: Why? Because he’s got style by pillow hair and he’s smirking? Actually that does kind of look like me!
• Surfing, fish tacos and the Three Stooges. Deeks loves the simple things in life and it doesn’t take much to make him happy. In many ways Deeks is a simple man.
• Always enjoy watching geeky Deeks although this was a much more serious version of his previous undercover personas than what we have seen in the past… but I’ll take it!
• I don’t think there is any coincidence that his undercover disguise goes by the name of Mr. Rogers, do you?
• I just love watching Deeks run. All that Viking mane flying through the air. Magnificent!
Densi Moments
• Deeks is thinking about becoming a father again and on that note, did you notice how fast Kensi ran back to her desk to distance herself from the topic? All I know is Kensi doesn’t want to go there… at least not yet.
• I don’t think I’ve seen Densi so unable to get a word in edgewise with the street merchant, Mr. Patel. The expressions on their faces were priceless, especially when he pulls out the Spidey lingerie. Kensi is not amused! For reals reals! Terrific Densi scene.
• Granger continues to be worried that Afghanistan is still affecting Kensi’s ability to ‘take the shot’. But I loved when Deeks repeated Kensi’s words to his boss that ‘she’s good’. No one is going to second guess his girl! (Deeks: That was a hell of a shot, partner.) This time it’s Deeks’ turn to be proud.
Obviously, this episode has nothing to do with the upcoming season finale and the Russian connection. But why throw this episode in the middle particularly after last week’s Arkady connection and the impending season finale episodes? Why not have an interweaving storyline that continues through to the end of the season? I guess I’ll never understand the method behind the madness. Sigh.
We have one more week off and then will return for the last two reviews of the season. Fingers crossed we get something meaty to really sink our teeth into! We have a Deeks’ Surf Log and Kensi’s Journal this week and another Writing Deeks as well! Check them out! See you next time!
Episode: “Field of Fire”
Writer: Gil Grant
Director: Robert Florio
Original Air Date: April 27, 2015
Diane Volpe is a Contributing Editor at wikiDeeks.com.
Follow her on Twitter: @phillydi
wikiDeeks | Marty Deeks | NCISLA 
It was a great episode. I loved Deeks’ line when Kensi said We’ve all been fifteen. Deeks: Still am.
He is one big goofy kid.
I was laughing at the beginning scene in the bullpen. And I liked geeky Deeks undercover. Oh my, I love Deeks with glasses. His attitude and confidence while undercover is impressive. When ECO published the photo with the glasses, I literally stared in his eyes for the longest time.
I know I trailed off from the ep with how much ECO is perfect in many ways, but I love him to pieces.
I love when Deeks talks about kids. Considering his childhood, I think that he has his reservations in that matter, but he’ll be a great father one day.
And we need little teenage mutant ninja turtles… a.k.a ninja assasins.
Lower case g’s definitely is my favorite Sam line.
Kensi is still afraid to talk about kids. She needs to make up her mind and quick.
I liked the Densi moment with the man on the street. Stripper? Really? Am I sounding like Deeks with that line?
However, I need to shut up here, hehe.
I know that the final two eps will be great. My favorite recurring character Arkady is back and the team will go undercover in Russia. The last time in Romania, it was hillarious and I hope this will be a season finale to remember, too.
I think that season 7 will be the season of Deeks, and possibly a wedding bells? I know, it’s just high hopes.
Also he needs to sign those papers and to become full time federal agent. He earned it.
I’m watching Plan B at the moment. Lots of feels right now.
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Great review, Di! All the high points and favs are covered. As per usual😄.
First we have Sam freaking Kensi out with the subject of unexpected babies and then all this talk about having kids, mentoring kids, trying to stay sane…no wonder Kensi looked like a deer in headlights. I could feel how uncomfortable Kensi was.
I did enjoy all the Densi scenes. Supportive Deeks confirming, “she’s good” was awesome. I really wanted Gunny to go back to his family, and the shot that Kensi made was incredible…a fantastic outcome considering what I anticipated. I expected Hetty to commend her on the shot back in OSP and when it didn’t happen, I realized that it was an expected shot from our kick-ass Kensi. Go Kensi!
I enjoyed Sam so much on this episode. “Little lower case g’s running around” really tickled my funny bone. And his empathy for Gunny suffering from PTSD was touching.
I two have given up on a Deeks backstory this season. That must mean that season 7 would be focusing on Deeks😄. One can wish.
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Sigh, indeed. For me this was an episode of missed opportunities. Of course the Densi with the street merchant was funny, and #scruffy is a new part of my vocabulary. I couldn’t figure out whether all the kid talk was just a nice way to carry the theme through the story, or whether they’re trying to foreshadow something. I hope it’s the former. Anyway, there were so many possibilities for great conversations about Afghanistan, about PTSD, and about so many aspects of Kensi’s past that overlapped with this case. But instead we just got her “I’m good.” This show will forever frustrate me with its lack of real conversations about real things and its insistent reliance on witty banter. At least the black t-shirt was spectacular, as was Running Deeks.
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Scruffy Deeks running in a black T-shirt…all I need…all I remember…although he did look rather sexy laying next to Kensi on that roof. I will take what they give…like I have any choice.
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I’m afraid this has become the show of “breadcrumbs” and missed opportunities.
Good ideas (I think there have been many throughout the season) are hardly ever supported by solid plots or tend to be superficially developed.
The authors like to tease us, they promise, but rarely deliver. When they finally do, we get excited and keep on watching for more but are only given more crumbs in return. Yet again.
I understand that following spoilers, promos and whatever kind of teasers I always have too many expectations every time there’s a new episode but this sense of dissatisfaction and disappointment has been quite recurrent for me this year.
I am only thankful and forever will be that Deeks and Kensi became official, but this can’t completely cover other defects of the season.
And all this recent “kids talking” is scaring me: before a Densi baby (if ever) I would definitely like to see more Densi!
What I liked in this episode was the rooftop scene, definitely my favourite this time.
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As always, a wonderful review Di!
But as others have already pointed out, it was still a little disappointing. As a former Marine, I was incredibly frustrated by the lack of emotional connection with the Gunny. I felt that the writer’s spent too much time with the ‘side’ characters (the nurse who was stealing drugs, the homeless vet, the mistaken identity driver) and failed to help the viewers connect with the main protagonist. The short interaction between Kensi and Deeks with the mother and daughter just wasn’t enough to make me really care if the man was really bad or not. At the end, at the final shot, it wouldn’t have mattered to me if was the gun or the man that the bullet struck. In fact, if the rifle that Kensi was using fired a .308 or the larger .338 round, the Gunny wouldn’t have walked away from the impact so close to his head.
The kid gloves that Kensi’s (and Deeks from the Sidorov incident) that the writers are treating her possible PTSD is really beginning to frustrate me. I have dealt with my own and tired to help others who are working their way through this brand of illness, and to see it treated as something that one can simply shrug off and get back to it, is disheartening at best. My own issues stem from my tour during Desert Shield/Desert Storm … that was over twenty years ago … and guess what? Sometimes I still have trouble being around large groups of people. What Kensi and Deeks (Sam too, if you remember) experienced was far worse than what I experienced, but to watch the show, it’s like they stubbed their toe while walking through the park. The touching scene with the homeless engineer was nice, but the true emotional moment was when Kensi lined up her scope on another Marine and put her finger on the trigger. Her father was a Marine sniper … her former fiancé was a Marine … and she had sighted in on Jack to possibly kill him … none of those emotions played out up on that roof. In fact, it seemed that Granger was the only character concerned about how this would all play out. Over all, I was sadly disappointed when the credits started.
I know I sometimes am a little oversensitive about certain aspects of the show, but when you are presenting something that will affect our returning warriors for the rest of their lives, I get a little overprotective and feel that the writers need to step up a notch or two. It is a sticky subject, but it now affects thousands of Veterans and their families … it needs to be treated with the respect it deserves … not just as a tag-line to a fictional show. I’ve watched other tv shows do a better job and would appreciate the same attention from my favorite one … NCIS:LA.
Sorry for jumping up on my soapbox, but this issue is near and dear to my heart and it’s one that’s worth fighting for.
Semper Fidelis
JS
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I guess I forgot to mention that in my comment and I’ve seen few comments about it. Yes, I agree, they took too much time on the side stories that we didn’t really saw the feelings of the Marine, why he did what he did.
And about the torture, I think that they didn’t portray the dealing witg the PTSD like they should have.
I mean, if I was Kensi and if I was forced to shoot at the man I once loved, I would definitely have issues. Plus she was tortured.
About Deeks and Sam, I could just imagine. The scene where Sam showed compassion, was emotional. I ask myself, what would have happened if they wrote a scene like that between Sam and Deeks in season 5. I still fear to come close to the dentist’s since I watched 4×24, imagine what it’s like to a man that survived that kind of thing.
And I guess, not only your stories, but your comments too, are making me to get more emotional.
I’ve come to realize that with the years I get more and more emotional.
I’ll stop the rant here. 🙂
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Jericho, Thank you for your service to our country. I agree with your assessment of how inadequate the attention has been on the PTSD and the lack of continuity from episode to episode. I thought all the scenes with Sam, Gunny and the homeless vet were spot-on but not enough. Sam’s line about expecting our young men to step up and they do. But when they come home, we step back..hit home. I also thought the sensitivity Sam showed Gunny when he was taken into custody was outstanding. Thanks for putting into words why I felt dissatisfied with this episode…which made me focus on Densi.
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Thank you for service and insight Jericho. You are right one so stay on that soap box. It has always frustrated me that this show does not follow up on real emotions from the situations the deal with. PTSD is a real issue and this show could highlight it. I was struck by the comment that said that by not concentrating on developing the characters in the main story. I don’t watch NCIS all the time it is something that is frequently done better. All the kid talk has me wondering and it would be a nice surprise if it was a long list sibling or Callen’s family, or something else then Kensi’s.
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Jericho, we need someone who has lived it to be our conscience and to stand for the men and women without voices. Thank you for sharing such a personal experience, my friend. You touched me.
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