Review: NCISLA “767” (S8E19)

After a challenging season filled with Kensi’s recovery storyline, a convoluted complex mole hunt, and the loss of Miguel Ferrer, writer Kyle Harimoto and director Benny Boom took us back to NCIS: Los Angeles basics with this week’s episode, “767.”

An Exciting Case (and a Classic Boom)

With a director named Boom, how could the episode not start by blowing someone up? That parking lot in Long Beach where the motor home explodes looked awfully familiar. I think they’ve blown something else up there, I just can’t recall the episode. And it’s far from the only motor home they’ve destroyed, either through explosives or crashes. Kensi and Deeks in “Getaway” just might be the only two people who’ve ever survived their scenes on such a set. Still, I never tire of seeing things go boom.

I enjoyed all of Sam and Callen’s scenes on the plane. The comedy over the first class/coach situation garnered many a laugh. And the action was all very well directed. It can’t be easy to frame scenes and move the camera around in such confined spaces. And while the whole thing was really just another Die Hard/”Spiral” scenario (not to mention Air Force One), I enjoyed the maneuvering Sam and Callen had to do to stay alive and solve the case. It may not have made perfect sense, but nothing was predictable. The guest actors, particularly the flight attendant played by Sara Fletcher, and the air marshals played by David Fumero and Nicole Pettis, were all strong. I particularly appreciated the time taken for the final scene on board where Sam and Callen reassure said flight attendant and give and receive respect from the wise captain.

Sexy (and Sweet) Densi

But really, I don’t think any of you are here to talk about fight choreography this week. I’m guessing you’d all rather discuss a certain bedroom scene between Deeks and Kensi, yes? It was all I could do to refrain from discussing it in my Paleyfest summary. I so wanted to say something encouraging about the episode but I didn’t want you all to jump to the conclusion that there would be a proposal.

Sometimes the writers make choices that feel like they just have to be paying attention to social media, and this was just such a scene. I loved everything about it. And I might have watched it more than once. Or more than a few times. But it’s my job to analyze all things Deeks and Densi, right? I’m just doing it for you, good readers!

First let me start with the most shallow comment of this review- yay for no more striped tank tops! The scene is quite sexy, with Kensi climbing on top of shirtless Deeks with one thing on her mind. I’m pretty sure at the screening last week my jaw dropped open and stayed that way through the whole scene. And what a shame that the Top 3 Densi Kisses had to run Sunday morning, for this would surely be a contender. It may also merit a revision to the Top 3 Sexiest Scenes. For the record, I’m happy to continue updating these lists if the showrunners want to keep giving us new candidates!

But it isn’t just the sexytimes quality that made it a winner. Even more significant to me are the insights about Kensi’s recovery. That they hadn’t been intimate yet, and that she’s been having trouble sleeping all this time, really gives us a window into her emotional well-being that we hadn’t been privy to. It was easy to assume that they’d been having sex more or less since she came home and that by now she is certainly back to full Wonder Woman status in all ways. It also provides a definite reason why Deeks might have put off proposal #4 for so long; he probably senses that Kensi doesn’t want it until she is completely back to her full self.

Scott Gemmill had mentioned something earlier this year about how Kensi’s recovery would span the length of the season. Showing her continuing struggles to get back to full strength and revealing her vulnerabilities, as this scene does, helps us understand her better. This show so often leaves things unsaid and unseen, and it’s always so much more emotional and involving when it lets us in on the what’s really going on with our favorite characters.

Eric Christian Olsen and Daniela Ruah were both perfect here; the expressions on their faces speak volumes. At first Deeks is happy to be woken by Kensi stroking his back, but then he’s immediately troubled as he realizes it means she wasn’t sleeping. And Kensi thoughtfully watches him, waiting for him to wake up so she can share her happiness at feeling so good. Deeks is happy for her, and immediately moves to make her even happier by feeding her so they can go paddle boarding together. It’s a nice tieback to Deeks’ talk with Sam in “Kulinda” about how Kensi didn’t want to do any of their usual activities with him, and showed how far Kensi and Densi have come.

And then there’s this wonderful side of a fully recovered Kensi who shares not just her happiness with Deeks, but her gratitude for all his love and support. This is the second recent occasion where we see a Kensi showing appreciation and affection for Deeks. We had the “I have you, that’s all I care about” line from “Queen Pin,” and here we get her expressing gratitude for all of Deeks’ support.

Kensi: I just wanted to say thank you.
Deeks: Thank you for what?
Kensi: For everything.
Deeks: You were the strong one. I was just along for the ride.

Also very sweet is Deeks’ keeping his hands completely to himself until he confirms that Kensi really feels ready to continue what she’s starting. Once he gets the green light, he doesn’t hesitate. Of course, the sexytimes aren’t allowed to continue, but the interruption is successfully played for a lot of humor. Deeks’ requests for “four minutes” and “two and a half” were followed by roars of laughter from the Paleyfest crowd.

We also have two very good Densi investigative scenes, first a very funny scene where Densi interact with the public relations VP (played by Ally Maki), which feels like very vintage Densi mixed with a relatively new sureness about their relationship. How many past scenes have we had where Kensi expresses jealousy when another woman shows interest in Deeks? Here, she just rolls with it and gets her job done. And the mirroring scene with Sam’s SEAL buddy Lincoln was also well done. I liked Lincon, played by Dylan Kenin, who has enough military seriousness to put Deeks back on his heels. And this time Kensi uses her feminine charms to earn his cooperation while Deeks just stands back and watches. It feels so good to see these two on the job together again!

Plus we get Deeks planning a semi-surprise get-together for Kensi and her friends to celebrate her recovery. He sure caves quickly here, spilling his plans to Kensi- I’m glad he’s better with on the spot lies when it comes to undercover (or covering up his involvement in possible murder)! I was a bit surprised at how little screen time the party got, given that it made the press release story summary. Perhaps it will come up again, or maybe there’s a deleted scene? While I’d love to meet Kat, Mindy, Mandy, Tiffany and Tiffani, I’m not sure we ever will (maybe at the wedding?). It does feel like everything is falling into place for Deeks to launch proposal #4. We just need to be patient. (I hear you already saying you’ve been patient for years! Just a little longer- I have faith in R. Scott Gemmill.)

On the other hand, let me be Debbie Downer for a moment and point out how painful it is to have Deeks’ confession to Detective Whiting just hanging over all his interactions with Kensi. I assume that he hasn’t told her, although with this show we can never be too sure. As happy as I will be to get that proposal, I’d actually prefer to have Whiting’s investigation resolved before he pops the question so that it can happen without that particular specter of doom in the background. At the very least, I’d like Kensi to be fully updated before she goes all in with Deeks.

Words of Wisdom from the Operations Manager (and the Showrunner)

While of course I’d have liked to see the episode end with Densi picking up where they’d left off in the morning, I knew better than to actually expect that. Instead we get an interesting scene with Hetty, Callen and Sam. Maybe it’s just me, but Hetty these last few episodes seems a little lonely, needing to wait around to talk to her team because she no longer has Granger to share a drink with. Regardless, it certainly seems that she is summing up not just what her team has been through in the last year, but what this group of cast and crew have experienced as well.

Hetty: Oh, the past 12 months for our family here, it just plain sucked. There’s no better way to say that. Moments that I felt were the darkest, they were eclipsed by complete blackness. But today, days like today, what you did on the plane, what the rest of our team did on the ground? When our purpose is clear, these are the good days. We will write the pages of this year’s book together. Let’s make it one hell of a story… And to hell with last year.

What’s great about this toast, which I see as a message straight from Mr. Gemmill, is that he is raring to go for Season 9, to tell the story he wants to tell. I can’t wait to see what he does with the opportunity.

Memorable Moments

• In the opening explosion, that was a very quick but cool shot of the car’s window shattering from the blast. I love how they’re able to place cameras in so many interesting locations to capture the action.
• I guess CBS isn’t too anxious to bring Samsung on as a sponsor, what with Eric’s joke about someone bringing a Samsung phone on board the plane.
• Good job Competent Deeks noticing the motorcycle surveillance camera (I am unfamiliar with such things). And I think “Darlin” is my very favorite nickname he uses for Kensi. There’s just something so sweet and old-fashioned about it.
• It seemed like a stroke of very good luck that with all that shooting in the cargo hold, no one put any holes in any key pieces of the plane. And those popping noises were cargo shifting during turbulence? I don’t think I’d have bought that one if I’d been one of those passengers. On the other hand, nice detail about the Taiwanese baggage handler paid to stash the guns the bad guys used on board. It was a small plot point that could have been left unaddressed, but I appreciated the attention to detail.
• Plus we got another opportunity for Deeks/ECO to show off just a tiny piece of his Japanese.

For all you Densi lovers desperately awaiting a proposal, I say hang in there! In the meantime, what did you think of “767”? Was it all you wanted (other than that proposal of course)? Come back later this week for Deeks’ Surf Log and Kensi’s Journal, plus the Drabble of the Week.

Finally, let me say a belated Thank You to my fellow wikiDeeks contributors Brenda and Jericho for covering for me the last few weeks. If you missed their fabulous reviews, it’s not too late to check them out!