Review: NCISLA “Under Pressure” (S9E12)

Happy New Year everyone! I’m afraid I’m a bit under the weather (and under the influence of cold medicine) so this review is going to be short and sweet. Or maybe not so sweet, as I only found a few things to enjoy in “Under Pressure,” written by Joe Sachs and directed by Diana C. Valentine.

Where’s the Deeks?

I am very happy for Eric Christian Olsen, who seems to have negotiated multiple weeks off from what must be an exhausting NCIS:LA shooting schedule. On the other hand, I am quite a bit less happy for us Deeks fans. “Under Pressure” felt like the most Deeks-free episode since the completely Deeksless “The Gold Standard.”

Nevertheless, having the entire team together for the opening and closing scenes felt like old times. Of course, Detective Deeks, who takes great pride in his “detecting” skills, would practice honing them. It actually reminded me of the scene in “Backstopped” where he offered to run lines with Sam before his undercover. The man doesn’t get enough credit for taking his job (what he’d likely call his “craft”) seriously. And while Kensi may have been unnecessarily unenthusiastic about his little game, Sam and Callen refreshingly ignored the chance to mock him for not being a “special agent.” Plus his cheekiness with Mosley (“Is this punishment because I asked if ‘Mosley’ was Irish?) was much appreciated. This woman needs to be teased at every opportunity, and yet her complete lack of a sense of humor makes me feel like even The Deeksness won’t be enough to make her less stiff.

Memorable Moments

No Deeks means not much to review here at wikiDeeks. Let me just share some random thoughts:

• For those of us obsessed with Deeks, there was a lot to read into his reference to the LAPD dental plan. And yet somehow I feel like this was just a random joke inserted by the writer or improvised by ECO.
• For as much as I like Hidoko, she still sends signals that she’s with Mosley and not the team. Here it was reporting to Mosley on their progress without Kensi knowing. Not a big deal, but she’s sending a message that she’s not 100% trustworthy.
• As much as I love the girl power of the Kensi/Hidoko partnership, there’s no humor in that relationship whatsoever. It’s a really telling illustration of what Deeks brings to the show, and what it lacks when he’s not around. It would actually be nice to see the silliness that Deeks has brought out in Kensi displayed when he’s not there, as a way to bring Hidoko out of her shell even more.
• Maybe I’m just too old to tell, but Tara Robinson, the actress playing Amanda, looked like she was about 25 years old.
• I don’t need any of Deeks’ deductive reasoning exercises- it was completely clear to me that the solar power guys were evil right from their opening scene. (And I’m guessing I’m not the only one.) It was so obvious that it made Kensi and Hidoko look bad for not being more suspicious.
• Again, it’s just us obsessed fans, but it’s hard to think about Kensi in high school without wondering how her year spent living on the street affected her experience. It must have had a huge impact. Of course, it’s also not something we’d expect her to share with Hidoko.
• Eric’s quoting Hetty (“In the words of a great woman, ‘I sense impending mayhem.'”) just made me miss Hetty. Yes, as much as I have come to dislike her character, I do appreciate all that Linda Hunt brings to the show. (And in comparison, all that Nia Long has been lacking.)
• So many traffic miracles were included here, with Sam and Callen getting from the desert back to town and with Nell, Eric and Mosley getting their drone airborne over fictional Bayside in less than an hour in rush hour traffic.
• Although the team brought a good sense of urgency to tracking down the bad guys, the final confrontation seemed bizarrely relaxed. The bad guys, particularly the father, just seemed way too laid back. I was never convinced that he was prepared to die for his cause.
• The final scene with Sam talking to Kamran was a perfect ending, tying in the episode’s bullying theme and showing us what a caring dad Sam is.

It’s hard to believe,  but we have one more episode before a very long NFL-Grammy-Oscar-Olympics hiatus for the show. Hmmm, I wonder if we’ll have a mini-cliffhanger next week as the team heads off to rescue Hetty?

In the meantime, come back later this week for new installments of Deeks’ Surf Log and Kensi’s Journal, plus the Drabble of the Week. And tell us what you thought of “Under Pressure.” Did you enjoy it despite the lack of Deeks?