NCIS: Los Angeles
When CBS finds a formula that works, they stick with it. NCIS: Los Angeles is the newest crime procedural to glut the network’s prime-time docket, and as such it deviates little from its predecessor, NCIS (or for that matter NCIS’ predecessor, JAG). Each episode serves up a self-contained mystery to be cracked through nifty technology, creative problem solving and a shoot-out or two. Granted, the crime-fighting environs are a bit sunnier than the original NCIS (which takes place in Washington, D.C.), but beyond that small detail, along with a few new faces, this could be NCIS on TiVo.
Senior Special Agent "G" Callen—renowned for his uncanny ability to work undercover—is the man on point here, supported by partner Sam Hanna, forensics expert Kensi Blye, psychologist Nate Getz and brainy dorm mom Hetty Lange. Together, they solve the Navy’s thorniest crimes—outside the unsolved case of who kidnapped Bill the Goat during the Navy football team’s last swing through the West Coast, of course.
Episode Reviews
"Random on Purpose"
The NCIS: Los Angeles gang gets a visit from a familiar face when Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette), NCIS’ forensics specialist extraordinaire, arrives to capture a serial killer she calls the Phantom.
Yes, it does sound a little like the beginnings of an amped up Scooby-Doo episode, so we shouldn’t be surprised when the Phantom—thinking Abby’s both kinda cute and a serious threat to his lethal hobby—kidnaps her with the intention of a) turning her to the dark side, b) chopping her to death with a fire axe, or c) both. Only a nifty bit of sign language and a timely rescue by Callen manages to save the metaphorical bacon of television’s most famous vegan.
Viewers are subjected to a shooting, a throat slashing, a fake marital squabble (Blye flings a crystal vase at Callen), a bloody body and more than a dribble of subpar dialogue. Sam and Callen knock a bad guy off a motorcycle, causing the villain serious cuts and bruises. "Are you hurt?" Callen asks. "Good." We also see some serious glass clinking at a bizarre, goth-inspired nightclub.