What did you think of “Decoy” (S11E2)?
In lieu of a review, we want to know what you thought of this week’s episode! Share your thoughts in the comment section and let’s discuss!
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wikiDeeks | Marty Deeks | NCISLA 
It wasn’t the worst episode ever, but the show seems lost. I never like the episodes when the team is separated. Also there is no heart anymore. I watch it and think eh, I should have watched something else. I will probably take one of my hiatuses again.
And I want to point out that Deeks gets shit on, even when he is barely in the episode. Lance said he wouldn’t spend money on Deeks and would buy the sushi at a gas station. I know they think it is funny, but it’s just old.
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I didn’t like it much at all. Apart from Deeks only having a few minutes screentime, Kensi was partnered with Bill Goldberg, he’s a wrestler for goodness sake!! he is a terrible actor, whenever i hear him speak I cringe. His addition as a guest cast member is not what this show needs. The first 2 episodes of this season have been very weak, unlike last year, but we had Frank Military to thank for that with his excellent storyline and directing.
Having different writers and directors for each episode is not working, it is killing the continuity of the show and its’ characters.
I am so looking forward to Ep3 with Gerald McCraney as Hollace Kilbride ( love this character, he fits so well) and it is a Frank Military story I believe, I can’t wait, redemption is at hand !!
Best thing also too is Hetty is back YEAH ….
Sorry for the rant
Kathleen
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I found it very dis-jointed. The usual flow between characters was missing. The different story lines had nothing in common to connect the characters. I AM so happy that Hetty (Linda Hunt) is back…love, love, love her connection with G, Sam, Kensi, Deeks, Nell, Eric….she makes the show much better!! I am looking forward to the next episode written & directed by Frank Military! The episodes he’s involved with are always my favorites and his “signature” is easy to detect.
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I agree with what’s been said. At least we knew going in that the ep was going to be light on the Deeks time, so I was mentally prepared. Beyond that, it felt so disjointed to me because of the way each of the remaining three main characters was in a different place. Like they all could have filmed their scenes on totally different days. I normally can at least pretend that actors are speaking to one another when there’s a phone conversation, even if they do film each side separately, but here I had no illusion that Chris and LL were working together. Was this the last ep filmed last year, or the first one filmed this year? I’m hoping that accounts for the crummy separation of the team, and that going forward there will be an improvement.
Other than that, I was reminded of better episodes by the liquor store robbery/shooting a la “Personal,” and the little girl at the hotel was right out of “The Frozen Lake.” I liked Kensi’s fight at the end, and I liked her and Nell’s girltime. I liked that Callen’s ex-girlfriend was a better actress than Anna. And I liked the actor who played opposite Sam, although I thought Sam’s need to fight him to assert dominance was pretty silly. That’s all I have to say, except sorry for no review!
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I liked the beginging the middle was okay and the last scene sucked.
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Except for the first two minutes of Deeks arm porn, I hated everything about the show. It left me feeling as cold as the Densi ice bath. (Was anyone else reminded of the Cialis commercial?). I hated that the team was so splintered and not working together. Kensi’s case was based on a prior episode that I absolutely can’t remember, and the writer did nothing to help jog my memory. And who thought it was a good idea to pair her up with the bad actor/ wrestler guy? This man is a terrible actor and very clumsy looking. I can only imagine that the writer’s devotion to wrestling is why they keep having this man return to the show. I found that the scenes between Kensi and the little girl and then Kensi and Nell to be very cloying, and they added nothing to the episode. I agree with the poster who said that Callen‘s old flame was a better actress than Anna, but my jury is still out on their chemistry together. I will take a wait and see approach on this. Callen and Sam at least were working on the same case, but you would never know it as they never shared a face-to-face scene for the entire episode. I imagine that they shot their scenes being fed their lines by an off camera show staffer. I was so unimpressed by that storyline, that two days later, I can’t remember how it was resolved, and I didn’t feel like re-watching the episode to find out. I missed Beale, which surprised me, because he got on my nerves a lot last season. He does add a lot to the show. I am kind of used to Hetty not being there all the time, but I do miss her.
I hate that the Core Four don’t seem to work cases together anymore. I hope that this isn’t a sign of what’s to come. I fear that this will be the last season. When they are split up, working with other agents, or on separate parts of the globe, it ruins the camaraderie that I have come to love and expect. NCIS LA has always been a character driven show, and without that, it would be just another cop show. It changes the whole dynamic of NCIS LA. I know that the actors have all negotiated more and more time off, and more power to them if they can get it, but it is detrimental to the show, in my personal opinion. You can’t have a team if everyone is missing most of the time. I know they have outside interests, or maybe they are just tired of playing their characters, but I hope that they can remain committed to our favorite agents. We know that the writers can put out higher quality shows. We have seen them do it consistently.
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Not expecting anything (as I knew Deeks was not going to be present) I was in the end positively surprised by the episode. It had few nice moments: Densi is so natural now, it is like the breathing for ECO and DR to act together; Deeks looks great with little bit longer hair and sleeveless shirt; Kensi is still badass Blye, the small talks between Kensi and Nell were great as they succeeded to show us piece of their interaction that we do not normally see and I like it very much. I also liked how Kensi needed to mention Deeks in the final scene at the boatshed, but I was at the same time pissed with Lance’s comment on too good sushi for Deeks. Hello, we are talking about the only person (besides Hetty) in the show that knows something about food. Yeah, make Deeks again the butt of a joke – is it the best they can do (again)?
Apart from that, I must admit that I do not have the slightest idea why Callen and Sam had to stay in Tel Aviv to work on their case, but I noticed that Callen had a fair share of love interest among colleagues from his trade – no wonder he swore off dating them, I must add pretty much unsuccessfully. Unfo, lack of chemistry between he and Mossad agent (don’t know her name) didn’t persuade me in their love story.
At least Sam found something that could be called (boat)shed in Tel Aviv, so he was his usual self. Otherwise as everybody before commented, it felt completely disjointed and blank. Everything that is NCIS LA was missing from this episode. I understand that actors are sometimes tired of playing the same role or want to engage in other interests, and that writers need to play make the most of it, but that deteriorates show and it is not fair towards audience.
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This was a forgettable episode. Even after a couple of days key moments have faded…not that there were any. I agree with all the criticism posted above, and especially hated the swipe at Deeks at the end. Dani was the strongest actor in this weak story, and Sam had the best scene. What they were doing with Callen and another love interest confused me. He didn’t seem the least bit interested. Actually he was kind of annoying the way he smirked through the scenes with that very attractive Mossad agent. The show is starting to appear as if it is a dating app for Callen to find the love of his life. I would love to see him fall passionately in love with a woman who rejects him out of hand, simply so we could see some emotion and intensity in his character. His aloofness is starting to wear on me. I remember some amazingly emotional Callen scenes, like the one where he is watching that old film of him and his father, or the one where he is looking through the file Hetty gave him on his mother, and finding her picture. As much as I love Deeks, I feel as if the show has baled on the Callen character. Originally his character’s storyline was supposed to be the main emphasis of the show, but since Brennan left, that emphasis has wallowed in nothingness. Anna was supposed to be the love of his life, but that didn’t work…thank god. I guess what I’m saying is give us more meaty storylines, more intense character studies, and more depth…before we run out of time.
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Went into watching this episode with the bar set low, as the promo photos/trailer suggested a Deeks-light episode. After reading on another social media fan site that the premiere episode and the upcoming one with Kilbride were filmed last spring before the summer hiatus, and that this one was the first filmed after the break, I was expecting part of the team being absent, with them being busy with other projects, like ECO being busy with the Hulu series his production company is working on, and his probably working on his Hetty backstory. This was definitely a “phoned in” episode, even with the team members present. (Glad to see Nell back, though.)
Surprisingly I liked the Kensi/Hamilton pairing a little better than a lot of you, but I agreed that the snarky remark about Deeks and sushi was certainly not needed. Their case started in season 10 “One of Us”, which first introduced the Lance Hamilton character, but I didn’t think the case needed resolving after that, and was certainly not memorable, as other people have mentioned.
Even before this episode aired, I was looking more forward to the third one, as I’m intrigued with a Military/Gemmill written show and always look forward to seeing Gerald McRaney.
It was rather ironic that before I watched “Decoy” Sunday night I was finishing up the NCIS:LA marathon on ION, and one of the episodes was season 4’s “The Gold Standard” in which Deeks is mentioned but never seen at all. Even when Deeks is not seen physically, that episode works much better than Decoy IMO because the rest of the team (Including Granger – RIP) are together in solving ONE case (not two disjointed ones) and the banter between them all is working much better.
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I found out early on in the episode I missed Deeks too much to completely enjoy it. And that was it. Quite boring, too disjointed and with too little Deeks. I do hope the level of the season will go up soon because the first two episodes were not as good as I expected after the very long summer hiatus. I know I can always watch reruns of past seasons (especially of Season 4 which is, and forever will be, my favorite), but brand-new Season 11 high-quality episodes would be greatly appreciated after sticking with this show since the very first moments of Season 1.
Thanks for everything you do here at WikiDeeks!
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Firstly, thanks for giving us a place to talk about the episode. Secondly, I have to admit I mad a short visit to ‘Shark Tank’ during it.
To me, it felt like a bunch of ‘filler’ scenes in a ‘filler’ episode, one that existed only to advance us from 1101 to 1103. It was extremely slow in parts. For example, the scene where Nell and Kensi discussed Nell’s mother and Eric was unnecessarily and unhelpfully long and plodding, with awkward gaps between the lines. It was there for exposition, but this show has always been clever about inserting exposition in ways that enhance the episode–not so this week.
I’m also not a fan of stunt casting, especially when I have no idea who the stunt actor is. I get that, after ten years, the main cast actors feel the need to stretch, but it’s no fun for the fans. I agree with those who said that a Deeks-less episode would have been much more palatable if the rest of the team had been together. I like all of the characters, but I especially like their interactions with each other. I can enjoy an episode with a primary focus on any one of the team, but this episode lacked focus altogether.
I call it ‘Deeks-less’ because the ice bath scene was also awkward and rough around the edges, and obviously inserted so that it wouldn’t be a Deeks-less episode. Call me a demanding fan, but I want my Deeks, and I want a full episode of him!
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Here are big questions I was left with. What exactly was Kensi alluding to when she seemed to be concerned about Deeks going to LAPD for the day? How did Deeks get to LAPD if he and Kensi ran to work? When IS he going to get a trim? How did Kensi sneak out of the house at 4 AM to fill those tubs without Deeks noticing? Doesn’t submerging oneself in a tub of ice water hurt!?! (The Mythbusters did several experiments on pain tolerance and used soaking their hands in ice water to cause the pain).
That is it.
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I agree that the only thing that caught my attention was Kensi’s concern to Deeks’ training. Why? The rest could have been called in. And are we really go back to the Deeks bashing days? Really?
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I see it like this:
Kensi is still concerned about Whiting and Deeks’ confession to her
It never occurred to me that they actually ran to work. If I were them I would come to work with a car first and then run
Deeks doesn’t need trim at all. He looks better with longer hair (at least to me)
Deeks apparently has healthy and deep sleep and Kensi was extra careful not to wake him up as she wanted to surprise him
Submerging oneself in cold water triggers adrenaline rush that makes you feel more awake and alive at the same time it functions to reduce pain by taking your mind off of minor aches and pains (it actually hurts so much that you do not feel anything else 🙂 ). Seriously, it is known that soaking an injury in an ice bath reduces the flow of blood to the muscles, allowing them to fill back up with fresh, more oxygenated blood that reduces soreness and promotes healing.
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I prefer Deeks with shorter, layered hair, but that’s just my personal opinion. I am fine with him wearing it long (although I think it ages him), but I do wish he would run a comb through it occasionally, lol.
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I have been disappointed with the first 2 episodes. After the cliffhanger of how will Densi get out of the firefight in the trailer, the simple “we shot the bad guys” was a let down. And like many above have stated, is this dump on Deeks month? No support from his wife/partner in the first episode. And then when he isn’t there to at least banter back, Hamilton takes a shot at him, and again nothing from Kensi. It felt like almost everyone was sleepwalking through this episode.The writers have said Deeks and Kensi will go through something significant this season, what you mean….again like the last 9 years? Let’s hope it gets better as the season progresses….
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Sigh. What are they thinking? I just really don’t know. And they don’t listen much to us, apparently, as we give feedback to what works and what doesn’t. I hope it changes. Right now it feels like they’re treading water until they’re not renewed anymore. They’re not going to walk away from a good job but they’re all phoning it in.
I meant to mention last week that I don’t like the new opening sequence with the freeze frame and animation thingy.
What do I like? I don’t know yet. I really don’t know yet and that makes me sad.
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Totally agree. It does seem that they are floundering, and indeed, it is sad.
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Well I thought ep 1 was bad but ep 2 was even worse.The writing thus far has been very bad. Disjointed storytelling, separating the main cast is always bad for ncisla.I realize that if Deeks is not in it and not really interested. The wrestler dude is a great wrestler but he can’t act for shit.And the writers need to lay off the deeks bashing.They are gonna need all the deeks fans they can get if the writing doesn’t pick up.Season 11 has been a flop so far hope it gets better. The ice baths are something Eric and Dave Olsen have done for a few years after training. Finally last year after Dani hurt her legs/ankle running,they got her to try the ice bath,so real life invades characters life,so I enjoyed that part!!
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I agree with everything that has been said. Disjointed show, what was the point in callen love interest except to fill time, the cast needs to work together, too many guest actors taking up time, the wrestler is not a credible agent, stop the Deeks bashing and no support from Kensi
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Yep Deeks is not in most of the ep ,but they (the writers) still manage to bash Deeks at in of the ep.At little help from Kensi/Dani they could stop it from happenening since Eric not there to take up for his character.Kumito or whatever his name is need to fired if he can write Deeks without bashing him and malking look n act like an idiot.It reminds me of earlier bad writing for Deeks in 2nd season.Hire better writers or hire the old ones back who knew how to writer Densi scenes.They are writing like they r pissed at eric or trying to get show cancelled.Hope writing gets better and enough with stunt casting.Get the main characters together working a case together.Let Deeks and Kensi work together. That when the show really works.
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Yes to all the above. Nothing has improved in the last year. For two successive episodes I looked to see how much longer they went on, not because I didn’t want them to finish. The optimist in me stopped me from switching off. Slightly amused that Hamilton seemed to think he was better than Deeks.
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