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NCIS: Los Angeles Season 1 Episode 5

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6.6

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 10/20/09

When a man is found dead, the team is assigned to find if anyone else has the classified information he was working on. They discover that a well-known assassin, who has a history with Director Vance, murdered him.

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Fan Episode Reviews (6)

Director Vance tracks an assassin from his past.

8.5

By DexterMorgan2, May 05, 2013

This was a good start to a crossover episode between the two NCIS shows When a man is killed by a dangerous assassin who Vance has been tracking for twenty years he makes sure he gets to LA to stop her It was also good to see Abby in this episode when she is phoned to help NCIS LA However with the help of so many people Kai was able to escape but not without taking a shot and there is only one place this storyline is heading Maybe the original NCIS team can help Vance catch Kai.moreless
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I wanted to give this 6, and in many ways it deserved it but for the one flaw...

5.0

By CatStewart, Nov 22, 2011

In many ways this was a typical NCIS style episode, which means it was good. It was fast-paced, with some nice banter between Callen & Sam, good vignettes by Rocky Carroll as Director Vance (or, as we learned in NCIS itself, the man who may have been masquerading as Vance for several decades), some sharp scenes from Hetty and good work from the other characters - Eric, Kensie, Dominic, etc. There was a small but decent red herring in that the killer of the business partner wasn't who everyone thought, and we got character development in that Kensie is revealed to be able to lip-read. Unfortunately, I couldn't give it more stars because Vance said the assassin was a fanatical North Korean "who hasn't been home in 3 decades". 3 decades is 30 years and I'm sorry, she was patently too young. Unless her character was despatched as a literal child killer by Kim Il Jong, her character had to be at least 46 years old as we were supposed to believe her to be a contemporary of Vance. If he's said, "a decade," that would have been perfectly plausible, or even "two decades" - still believable if pushing it. But no way was she old enough to have spent 30 years living hand-to-mouth on the run across the entire planet. I know this is my soapbox a bit, but whether you a writing a novel a play or you're a scriptwriter for a TV show, you have to make your characters realistic according to the 'universe' in which they inhabit. There are great actresses that can play that age role - Mary Steenbergen in Back to the Future III was perfect casting - Susan Sarandon, Sigourney Weaver, Meryl Streep, etc, etc. NCIS is a good show, but Shane Brennan needs to keep his eye on things like this, which let down a fairly good episode. For example, rumour has it Pauley Perrette will guest-star and be kidnapped. Since we all know that LJ Gibbs will move the stars in their courses to protect his Gothic Girl, does that mean Mark Harmon will also guest-star - it would completely wreck plausibility for Callen and Sam to make the save and Gibbs (not to mention the rest of Abbie's friends McGee, Ziva, etc) not to turn up because he got stuck at Dulles airport. You have to make sure the writing is completely believable within the scenario you are creating - it's why shows like Stargate and Supernatural and Bones are so good, because they make it possible that, 'yes this could happen in the real world'.moreless
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Keep the action up, the comedy down.

6.8

By thefanof, Jul 19, 2010

If NCIS: Los Angeles adds more action sequences like we saw tonight, and minimizes the "comedy roundtables" the show would be much better. NCIS is known for its characters often making wisecracks, but this show should be a little different, its a spin-off not a remake. A few good jabs are always welcomed from this TV reviewer, but that should not dominate the show. People tune into NCIS: Los Angeles to see LL Cool J go nuts, chasing down cars, shooting down bad guys, or at the very least that's why I watch. Make that the focus and my scores for this show will improve.moreless
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Finally, a real NCIS episode.

8.0

By bearcatjb, Jul 19, 2010

Just when I was starting to fear that this show wasn't really about an NCIS team, but the Navy's answer to Starsky and Hutch, we finally get an episode that makes full use of the whole team.

Up til now, unlike the original series of NCIS where each member of Gibb's team works independently of one another, to advance the goal of finding the suspect, in NCIS LA each team member's major role was to support Callen and Hanna in their efforts. I was almost going to argue, just call this show Callen and Hanna (hence the Starsky and Hutch reference) and let's have another NCIS spinoff, a series that makes use of the whole team as individual valuable assets.

Then along came this marvellous episode, where all the members were allowed to shine. Finally! This is what I had been waiting for.

(Anyway Callen and Hanna couldn't pull off a Starsky and Hutch, nor even a Cagney and Lacey, as I still think they haven't any real chemistry together, to pull it off.)

Even Operational Psychologist Nate Getz, who has been to date quite underused –expect for the Legends episode- proved his worth. I hope the writers keep it up.

As well, we finally found out Hetty Lange's role; so she is the team leader. Despite her mysterious past, she is no Special Agent Lara Macy, whom is still sorely missed.

Now the team needs to get its own Abby and Duckie equivalent, and they'll be all set.

An enjoyable story. Keep it up.moreless
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A decent episode, but nowhere near as good as some of the last few.

8.0

By amazing_race, Mar 02, 2010

I thought that this episode tried a little too hard2 to focus on the comedy aspect and didn't work enough on what could've been a great case.

I did like the concept to the episode, with a killer from Vance's past, but I don't think it was all that easy to follow and in my opinion, it became quite confusing at several points.

Moreso, I didn't find myself laughing, unlike the last few episodes, and in that sense, it was a double disappointment.

I will recommend this episode, mainly because it ties in very closely to an episode of NCIS, and for that purpose, this one needs to be seen first. However, the episode in itself is not the best and I wouldn't recommend it too highly.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Linda Hunt	Henrietta 'Hetty' Lange
Chris O'Donnell	NCIS Special Agent G. Callen
LL Cool J	NCIS Special Agent Sam Hanna
Peter Cambor	Operational Psychologist Nate Getz
Daniela Ruah	NCIS Special Agent Kensi Blye
Adam Jamal Craig	NCIS Special Agent Dominic Vail

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Pauley Perrette	Forensics Specialist Abby Sciuto	Guest Star
Kelly Hu	Lee Wuan Kai	Guest Star
Kelvin Yu	Jimmy Su	Guest Star
Rocky Carroll	NCIS Director Leon Vance	Recurring Role
Barrett Foa	Tech Operator Eric Beal	Recurring Role

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Featured Episode Clip

Watch Clips: NCIS: Los Angeles

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A Whole Pile of Trouble

10/20/09 (00:31)
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Eric's Obsession

10/12/09 (01:16)

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (3)
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- Vance and Hetty have know each other for at least 11 years.
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- Hetty says that DARPA is the Defense Research Projects Agency. She omitted Advanced.
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- Kensi has the ability to read lips.
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QUOTES (6)
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- Sam: I guess they are still working on your office.
  Nate: Yup.
  Sam: Know when it's going to be ready?
  Nate: I don't know.
  Sam: Who knows?
  Nate: Hetty.
  Sam: You wanna ask her?
  Nate: You're armed, you ask her.
  Sam: You're the psychologist.
  Nate: Look, I've been trained to profile suspects and brief you guys on operations. And with three years of college, not to mention two more years to get my masters and doctorate and when it comes to Hetty ..... Clueless.
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- Callen: He's a bureaucrat, Sam thinks I have a deep-seated suspicion of them.
  Director Vance: I'm a bureaucrat, Agent Callen.
  Callen: I don't have a deep-seated suspicion of you, uh, Director.
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- (Callen, Sam and Jimmy dive for cover behind a car from an assassin firing at them)
  Sam: You want to peek your head over and take a look?
  Callen: I'm good.
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- Kensi: (about a married couple they are protecting) They're going all married couple on us.
  Nate: They're kissing?
  Kensi: Fighting, Nate.
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- Dominic: Oh sh…. Oh.. Uh, guys, I think I lost a button.
  Sam: You lost a button?
  Dominic: Camera button.
  Nate: Whoa, whoa, you lost Hetty's camera button?
  Sam: (shaking head) Where'd you lose it?
  Dominic: If I knew then it wouldn't be lost.
  Callen: Well, it's got to be around here somewhere.
  Sam: We've got to find that button.
  Nate: How could you lose Hetty's camera button, I mean…
  Sam: (pointing) Just look under there
  (Callen, Sam, Nate and Dominic begin looking around the scene)
  Dominic: Oh, nooo, Hetty's going to kill me.
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- Hetty:And the duress word is...? Dominic:Uh, uh. Hetty:He who hesitates... is lost, Dominic. In your line of work... dead. Dominic:Uh, "shadows." Hetty:And with the utterance of that single word the cavalry will race to the rescue. Let's hope they don't get caught in traffic.
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NOTES (2)
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- The plot line of this episode concluded in the NCIS episode "Endgame."
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- International Air Dates:
  Australia: October 28, 2009 on Channel Ten
  United Kingdom: November 4, 2009 on Sky1/Sky1 HD
  Sweden: December 8, 2009 on TV3
  Norway: January 4, 2010 on TV3
  Germany: August 7, 2010 on SAT 1
  Finland: September 8, 2010 on Nelonen
  Czech Republic: December 3, 2010 on AXN
  Slovakia: July 12, 2011 on Markiza
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ALLUSIONS (0)
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