Review: NCISLA “Superhuman” (S10E02)

What a whirlwind of a wikiDeeks week it’s been! After so much Eric Christian Olsen goodness, it was nice to sit back and relax and take in the first case-of-the-week NCIS: Los Angeles episode of the season, written by Kyle Harimoto and directed by Dennis Smith. By the way, according to Eric, wikiDeeks is back, and who am I to say otherwise? The reviews must continue!

Unfortunately, Harimoto was given the rather thankless and difficult task of moving us forward in time several months after last week’s dramatic season premiere. Ah, the procedural- as Eric told us last week, it never allows enough time to examine the impacts of trauma and drama, for the next case is always right around the corner.

The Deeks and the Densi

What we saw from both Deeks alone as well as from Densi felt like a return to form. First, Deeks himself was a breath of fresh air throughout the episode, whether he was ranting about bachelor parties (surfing instead? be still my heart), cutting the tension by suggesting mediation could take down the bad guy, or riffing on truck tacos, he seemed relaxed and happy to be on the job.

The bachelor-bachelorette party discussion also felt relaxed, lacking the underlying tension I felt during some of last season’s wedding planning discussions. But why? How? How did Densi get to be this happy couple planning their wedding after all the angst going into the Season 9 finale? I get that we have to skip ahead, but it doesn’t make it any less painful to be cut out of those important discussions. Fan fic writers, can you please help me out?

When they rescued the mother and child from the trunk, did anyone else channel the end of “Drive” and the end of “Resurrection”? “Drive” involved Deeks pulling a nearly unconscious woman out of a car, and “Resurrection” involved a kneeling Kensi being strongly affected by a young person in peril. Here, I adored Deeks reaching out to provide Kensi with a comforting gesture. I would have loved to see the aftermath there. I’m sure I was reading far too much into this, but my mind went to their ongoing discussions about having kids. Did the rescue trigger those thoughts in Kensi?

And for goodness sake, where are we exactly in those discussions? Even if we couldn’t see how they got to this happy place, I sure would have liked some sort of indication about what their current plan is, other than to get married. Does the fact that they’re continuing the bar renovations mean Deeks’ plan to leave his risky profession is still alive? What about the potential mutant ninja assassins? Until we get more information, it feels like their disagreements from two episodes ago have been simply erased. I need to know!

Rant of the Week

Sigh. I had a few issues with the new credits. I loved ex-SEAL Sam in his wetsuit, but that’s about all. My biggest groan of the night came when Mosley popped up third in order. That she’s in the credits at all disappoints me- she broke so many laws, she should be prosecuted and carted away to prison. And she appears third in line? Is Nia Long getting higher billing than Daniela Ruah and Eric Christian Olsen? That’s what’s implied. Have we ever seen the order of appearance for the main four change? It gave the impression that Mosley is going to have a bigger part than Deeks, Kensi, Hetty, Eric and Nell. Oh, and the editing choice to have Kensi scoping out Deeks through her sniper rifle felt a bit unnerving as well- what, is she going to take him out? And finally, I miss moving-and-shooting Deeks.

Everything Else

I had read that there was a 3-month time jump between “To Live and Die in Mexico” and “Superhuman”, so my expectations for seeing the team’s recovery time were low. Still, overall the episode had more than a few seemingly unrelated scenes that gave it a kind of disjointed feel, beginning with Sam’s visit to the autistic brother of a bad guy he and DeChamps locked up last season. There was nothing wrong with the scene, but it didn’t link up to anything else. Perhaps it’s setting up a story we’ll see more of later on this year?

We also had Admiral Kilbride popping up to update Callen (and us) on the fact that neither Hetty nor Mosley is around and they’re both in hot water. Oh, and to revisit the investigation into Anna’s shooting. And, in a shockingly unsurprising development, someone wants the team disbanded. I am so over this plotline!

Then there was the also unrelated, but totally adorable, Neric scene. These two are super sweet together, and here they got a chance to shine as a couple, and to move their relationship forward.

Finally, there was the lovely scene at the end with Hidoko’s mother-in-law. I was glad they paid tribute to Hidoko, even if they actually spent very little time talking about her. And although the story was a timely and important one, it just felt kinda long-winded. Is this a set-up for another plot to come? I’d have killed for a much shorter version in conjunction with a 60-second continuation of the boatshed scene to get that Densi update I’m craving.

Remaining Questions

• What is Densi’s plan for the future? And when will they share it with us?
• Will Deeks and Kensi get to talk about anything else this season except wedding planning? It’s actually one reason to look forward to getting the wedding done, so these two can find new topics of conversation.
• Who’s actually in charge at the moment? Callen from the boatshed sofa? Or Sam out in the field? Why don’t they let Kilbride stick around?
• Will Callen really move in above the bar, and can this please please be part of my spin-off idea for a sitcom where Roberta moves in with Kensi and Deeks?

What did you think of “Superhuman”? How did you cope with the lack of post-premiere follow-up? Did you approve of the party planning? Tell us in the Comments below.