Review: NCISLA “Sleeping Dogs” (S14E16)

This episode was “Deeks-less” and “Kensi-less” because they were “visiting Rosa’s aunt.” So this review is a bit shorter than usual and instead of the usual format I decided to just go with a few memorable moments that were significant to me, especially as we are looking ahead to the upcoming end of the series.

Random Memorable Moments

• SCIF mode in Ops: always a sure clue that something bad is going on. I always like when they go into SCIF mode, a) because it looks cool and, b) it signifies the seriousness of the work they do.
• Hetty references: I know there are mixed views on Hetty in the NCIS:LA fandom. I’ve had more than a few beefs with her over the years, but am more a fan than not these days. Especially with the series winding down, I would like to see her again or at least have some sense of where she’s at. Seeing the references to her in this episode gives me some hope that we will get that. At the same time, as Callen said, if Hetty wanted to be found, she would have told them where to find her. He and Anna have apparently been waiting for Hetty’s reappearance to set the date for their wedding and may just have to go ahead without her.
• I got a chuckle out of the “Top secret butt dial” comment about Hetty from Kilbride.
• Of course, she is sending secret messages from a decommissioned SCIF- why would Hetty do anything the usual way? A functional SCIF? Nah, why do it the easy way?
• Another Kilbride comment: “Do not attempt to divine Henrietta’s intentions. That way lies madness.” Actual LOL at that. It is true. And while I fall more on the “pro” Hetty side these days, I have definitely taken issue with her intentions in the past and felt they were sheer madness, so I did appreciate the gentle dig. Fist bump to Kilbride for that.
• Hetty gives them a clue that doesn’t look like much, but ends up being very illuminating and essential to solving the case. That was very cleverly written. Andrew Bartels, who wrote this episode, has written so many of my favorite episodes over the years. I was impressed, but not surprised, at how he constructed the case so that at the beginning the clue didn’t make much sense, but at the end it was totally obvious. I write as part of my work, so I’m always thinking of how to make persuasive arguments with my words, and sometimes that involves creating a story of sorts. But I’m always hanging it on facts and evidence, which gives me a starting point and a loose structure. One of the consistent things I’ve been impressed with, and I’ve said it many times before, is that the writing on NCIS:LA is smart and the stories often have complex layers. Starting from a blank page and coming up with something that is so vague to start with, comes into focus gradually, and then is suddenly so clear once when the pieces fall together, is really impressive. It’s like driving the Icefields Parkway (between Jasper and Banff, Alberta) on a foggy or rainy day, where you know there are mountains, but can only see vague outlines and then suddenly there’s a mountain in front of you and you wonder how this wasn’t obvious a minute ago. (Beautiful drive, highly recommend.) Anyway, I say all that to say, I would love to be a fly on the wall of the writer’s room to watch the creative process and see how they put the script together from idea, to skeleton, to completed episode.
• Coming full circle: For me, one of the most powerful moments of the episode was when Sam and Callen located Beltran and there was this exchange:

Beltran: Who are you?
Callen: I’m Grisha Callen. I’m subject 17. You’re safe.

That scene was really impactful. I wasn’t able to do a search of all of the moments where Callen has questioned who he is or looked upset when asked his name or who he is, but I thought of the team’s trip to Romania, Callen finding out about his sister, the series of episodes with his father, and finding out his first name, to list a few. He has certainly introduced himself as Grisha before. But the combination of his full name and his subject number, while speaking to a fellow survivor, is a perfect scene as we near the end of the series. I have no doubt the writers could have come up with more answers to other mysteries and questions of his past if there were more seasons, but I am satisfied that they gave us enough answers over the past 14 seasons to the series’ original questions about Callen. Obviously, they couldn’t have known how many seasons this would run, but looking at the series as a whole, the writers have done justice to the questions of Callen’s life and past and more kudos to the writers across all the seasons for not leaving us with an unsatisfying lack of detail.

• The case: Drona was horrific and Pembrook is a monster. Callen’s ambivalence about letting Beltran go is exactly how one would expect a survivor of such abuse to feel. The range of emotions and responses in the “subjects” provides a gut-wrenching portrayal of the many ways that survivors of abuse and trauma are impacted. It’s tough content and I don’t mean for the inclusion here to imply that the abuse itself is a memorable moment, but just wanted to note that accurate portrayals of the psychological impacts of trauma have been consistently addressed and accurately portrayed across the series, including Deeks’ PTSD after Afghanistan, for which ECO, LL Cool J, and NCIS:LA were nominated for Prism awards in 2014. Another round of applause to the writers for the consistency in doing this well.
• Sam and Callen: I liked how Sam forced Callen to actually ask him to be his best man. I mean, there has to be some retribution for all the years of “mathlete” jokes, right? Great banter there. I also loved the final scene with them on the deck at the boatshed. Those scenes are always so beautiful too. My favorite place for the end of an episode.

So, in conclusion, I guess this “review” ended up being a farewell love letter to Andrew Bartels for this episode, and all the writers through 14 seasons of NCIS:LA. The incredible writing is one of the things I will really miss about the end of NCIS:LA, as I don’t find this high caliber to be present in a lot of scripted series. Since I do write for work, I will confess that I’m not terribly patient with obvious or annoying plot lines that don’t hang together well. I’m one of those weirdos that sees visuals when I read books and plot structures when I watch TV/movies. And I’m not satisfied with just being entertained, I want to be impressed by a writer’s ability to draw pictures or outlines in my head and this series has consistently done that. APPLAUSE.

I have been watching NCIS: Hawai’i to help ease the transition for next year and I am finding the same excellent writing and storytelling over there (and a couple of Canadians in the cast!). Leaving old friends is hard, especially when they’re super amazing, but I’m happy to have found some new cool kids to hang out with and I’m hoping that some of the old friends from this show might end up writing over there from time to time. I’ll be watching the credits for you.

What did you think of “Sleeping Dogs”? Tell us your thoughts in the Comments below.

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Disclaimer: I watched this episode and wrote this review with the tail end of a migraine, so there is a chance this doesn’t hang together logically as well as some of my reviews. Ironic, given the content, I know! Thanks to Karen for checking to make sure I didn’t say anything totally incomprehensible and fixing any typos she found. I decided to go ahead with the review because I figured even if it came out slightly less articulate than usual, I didn’t want to give up a chance to say, “I love your work and I’m going to miss you.”