#Reiley McClendon | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

typingtess · 5 years

Video

youtube

NCIS: Los Angeles Season Ten Rewatch: "Joyride"

The basics: After two Marines take out a Christmas Tree lot in LA, one with some past issues is missing with a weapon. The team wants to find him before he hurts himself or someone else. In prison, Anna is beaten in a fight.

Written by: Erin Broadhurst wrote or co-wrote “Praesidium”, “Unspoken”, “Come Back”, “Sirens”, “Getaway”, “Forasteira” and “Venganza”.

Directed by: Tawnia McKiernan directed “Exchange Rate", “High Value Target”, “Kulinda” and “Assets”.

Guest stars of note: Vyto Ruginis as Arkady Kolcheck and Bar Paly as ATF Agent Anastasia “Anna” Kolcheck return from "One of Us". Marsha Thomason as NCIS Special Agent Nicole DeChamps is back from "Superhuman". Back to back episode for Peter Jacobson as Special Prosecutor John Rogers. Reiley McClendon as Marine Staff Sergeant Brad Hawkins, Michael Galante as Marine Reserve Staff Sergeant Ernie Garza, Sarah-Nicole Robles as Maia, Rich Hutchman as Alvin, Hira Ambrosino as Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Evans, Albert Kong as Maze Cooper, Kate Mines as Vicki, Nazo Bravo as Joe Jirani, Janora McDuffie as Nurse Natasha, Dustin Green as Wasted Guy and Skyler Davenport as Mellow Woman.

Our heroes: Do the annual holiday hour.

What important things did we learn about:

Callen: Cares "deeply" for Anna. Sam: Spending the holidays with Kam in DC. Kensi: Pulls the friend card to get the holiday party decorations done. Deeks: Pulls a stolen bottle of tequila from Nora in accounting. Eric: Gives Nell the gift of a 17th Century English Christmas Feast in Yosemite. Nell: Give Eric the gift of a rock climbing gym membership. Hetty: Loved and remembered.

What not so important things did we learn about:

Callen: Skipping the holiday party to sit with Anna. Sam: Letting Aiden spend the holidays with his girlfriend in Brooklyn. Kensi: Agrees Eric and Nell are cute. Deeks: Thinks Eric and Nell are the cutest. Eric: Rightly considers "Die Hard" a holiday movie. Nell: Prefers "Three Days of the Condor" Hetty: Hopefully returning with great stories and great scotch.

Who's down with OTP: Kensi and Deeks are the host and hostess with the most-ess, Eric and Nell are cute and cuter. Callen and Anna seem to be in a better place. Even Aiden Hanna has a nice girlfriend who can't cook but otherwise passes the Sam Hanna muster. It's a holiday episode love miracle.

Who's down with BrOTP: Not a lot of Callen-Sam time today. The Callen-Arkady rift is healing, however.

Any pressing need for Harm and Mac: Since there will be no charges against the young Marines, no.

Who is running the team this week? Rogers is the Grinch who moved the holiday party from the office to Kensi and Deeks's bar.

Mosley watch: The toast to Hidoko is lovely at the end – finally getting a little of the recognition the character deserved after dying in Mexico. No Mosley mentions.

Fashion review: Blue plaid long sleeve button-down shirt for Callen. Black jacket and henley for Sam. Kensi starts the episode in her dark blue/black/grey striped tee. Deeks begins the episode in a long-sleeve dark blue tee. At the holiday party, the two are dressed for the event. Kensi is in a dark plaid dress. Deeks is in a grey dress shirt. Eric starts the episode in the gym wearing a black tee-shirt and charcoal grey gym shorts. Dark blue large paisley print shirt and long pants for Eric while at work. Blue dress shirt, red plaid bow tie at the holiday party. Great dark red dress for Nell with a Hetty-like Christmas tree holiday pin. At the party, Nell is in a red plaid dress with a bow (feh) and a black velvet jacket with a different holiday pin - Santa. Hetty would approve.

Music: As always, the holiday episode is filled with holiday tunes. The Brian Setzer Orchestra's rendition of "Jingle Bell Rock" opens the episode. "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" remix by Figure and Groove is playing at the party. "Christmas Memories" by She & Him is playing when Garza and Hawkins are fixing up the Christmas tree lot. "Hey Skinny Santa" by JD McPherson is playing in the bar during the party.

Any notable cut scene: No gifts under the DVD disc tree this year.

Quote: Callen: "Nurse said Anna's gonna need a few more days to recover before they take her back to Alton." Arkady: "That place. Lately, I have an idea. And after today, idea is clear." Callen: "Keep talking." Arkady: "This business with Anna. She was sentenced many years in federal prison, then moved suddenly to state prison. And then she has a horrible injury. You get feeling somehow none of this makes sense?" Callen: "Yeah, Arkady. I do."

Anything else: Happy holidays from Los Angeles where, to the grooving "Jingle Bells Rock" holiday classic, two young men are just trashing a Christmas tree lot – driving their jeep around, knocking down trees, shooting up the decorations and lights. When the jeep crashes into some decorations, one of the men – Garza – takes off. The driver can hear sirens. LAPD ends the naughty and not so nice fun.

Eric is climbing the rock wall in the gym. This is the third time Nell found her "mountain goat" on his way up Not really up, more bouldering. It is about strength and strategy as you climb. It is chess but for the whole body. Nell sees bouldering as mountain Twister except nobody plummeted to their death playing Twister. Or chess for that matter. Eric brings up a family member who wound up in a coma after an aggressive game of KerPlunk.

Nell gets a text message – Sydney just sent a photo of a French bulldog wearing a Santa hat (I believe Renee Felice Smith has a French bulldog). Jumping from the wall, Eric warns Nell to put the photo away. Rogers has banned the office holiday party, walked away with a mysterious phone call when Eric wanted to speak to him about holiday decorations.

Nell asks Eric why is he avoiding their annual holiday tradition – cookie baking. He's climbing the wall when he could be baking cookies. Knowing the wall is not going anywhere, Eric wants to start their Christmas-adjacent holiday movie night. Nell is in for tomorrow. Seeing the coast is clear, Eric wants to see the photo of the bulldog.

At the bar, Kensi and Deeks are decorating. Bertie is in Miami. Deeks is stressing out – the office is having their holiday party at the bar because Rogers would not let them have it at the office because of a federal regulation about liquor and firearms. A teetotalling party would be no fun. The FBI's party at the backroom of a Sizzler sounded equally sad.

Kensi isn't sure why Deeks is worried about having the party at the bar. "Because it is brand new and I've got a gold freaking shark, right? And they're all going to come here and just mess it up." They discuss Nora from accounting breaking the stemware because she has to get her drink on. Deeks makes a fake call to the Sizzler. Kensi wants a theme holiday party – "Deeks the Halls". Chuckling, Deeks asks her if she's having a stroke.

Handing Kensi what looks like the clump of tangled Christmas tree lights from season eight's holiday party, Deeks wants Kensi to think about what she just did. Kensi is proud of herself – she made him laugh.

Agent DeChamps walks into Ops. Callen, Sam, Eric and Nell are there. She drove up from Oceanside at 5AM. The security footage from the Christmas tree lot is on the big screen. The jeep driver is one of her guys from Camp Pendleton. Callen wonders why they're looking into a pair of drunk Marines. Saying this isn't her type of case either, the guy who ran – Ernie Garza, is more of a concern.

Garza is in the reserves after two tours in Afghanistan as a sniper. He as has not had an easy time returning to civilian life. He is currently working at a waste management site. In 2017, he did some time in rehab and is under treatment for PTSD. Everyone is worried about a Marine sniper with drug and PTSD issues running around LA with a gun. The holidays are always hard on members of the military – many stationed away from their family. It is equally hard for someone like Garza with his issues. Garza is from San Antonio. His only "family" in the area is a girlfriend named Maia.

The driver, Marine Staff Sergeant Brad Hawkins, has a clean record prior to this. LAPD turned him over to NCIS. After being given a blood-alcohol test and being treated for his injuries, Hawkins is in the boat shed. Kensi and Deeks are off to see Maia. Callen, Sam and DeChamps are on their way to see Hawkins when Rogers pops up on the big screen. He needs to see Callen in his office immediately. His office being Mosley's old office.

Looking at his Microsoft Surface, Rogers asks Callen if he knows a former ATF Agent Anastasia Kolcheck prior to her arrest and confinement for shooting an unarmed suspect. Callen confirms that Agent Kolcheck worked with the office in the past. Agent Kolcheck was injured in an altercation (lots of vowels in that phrase) at Alton State Prison. Callen isn't sure why Anna would be at a state lock-up. Rogers isn't sure why there are marijuana dispensaries on every corner and what's going on in the traffic set-up on Wilshire and Santa Monica (which I checked out online – wow, that's horrendous). Callen asks Anna's status. She is at St. Anne's. Rogers wasn't sure what the team's status was with Agent Kolcheck but thought he should pass it on. Callen is grateful.

Hawkins stands when Sam and DeChamps enter interrogation – shakes their hands. He was proud he made it to Staff Sergeant without ever speaking to NCIS. Sam is sorry about the lost streak. All NCIS wants to do now is find Garza. Hawkins wants to as well. The two went to a bar and had a couple of beers. The next thing Hawkins knows he's driving his jeep in the Christmas tree lot and Garza is firing a gun.

DeChamps tries to walk Hawkins through the prior night. They got to the bar at nine, they don't drink much together – beers when playing Madden – "nothing crazy." The reason for going out was that Garza was acting a little strange – not a conversation you'd have playing video games. DeChamps asks if Hawkins thought Garza was using drugs again. Hawkins is surprised NCIS knows about Garza's problems. Hawkins was worried that if Garza was back using, he'd lose his job and get kicked out of the reserves.

Sam thinks something is not adding up. Asked if they were do drugs, Hawkins makes it clear, "No. No sir. Not my thing." Asked if Garza would slip him something, Hawkins is just as sure Garza would not do that. Sam gets a text. Hawkins's blood-alcohol was 0.03 – well below what would cause Hawkins to black out. He didn't have a concussion after the crash. Sam asks if it is possible Garza isn't the man Hawkins thought he was.

Callen arrives at the hospital just as Arkady shows up. Arkady makes it clear Callen is not family. Anna is in surgery for a forearm fracture. She also has broken ribs. Arkady gives Callen a dirty look.

Kensi and Deeks show up at Maia's house. The place is filled with holiday treats, Maia is baking away. She last saw Ernie was at a holiday craft fair �� a friend was selling some jewelry. Maia found some hydrocodone in Ernie's car. He was doing so well with his recovery but a shoulder injury after a kayaking trip had him sliding back into old habits. After Maia confronted him, Ernie was mad, made excuses. Kensi is supportive. So was Ernie – that was Maia's point. Ernie helped everyone – he made scones with her for her baking blog. She wants him to be well. Kensi and Deeks do too. Maia offers Kensi and Deeks some gingerbread – she made way too much. Deeks happily takes it.

Nell is tracing Garza's phone while Eric is looking into his finances. He finds nothing unusual though Garza does like to do things on or near the water. Wisely, Eric suggests "Die Hard" as their holiday movie for the night (because it is a holiday movie – don't fight me on this!). Nell recommends "Three Days of the Condor" – a film Eric says he's always seen but he actually hasn't.

Rogers suddenly appears. As smart as Eric and Nell are, he says, he can't believe they are tracking Garza's phone and finances without a warrant. He orders those investigations shut down – which surprises Nell, they can find him using the phone. No, Rogers thinks the office looks far too deeply into suspects' lives. Eric asks if he can speak freely. Since it is a free country and Rogers is actually fighting them to keep it that way, Eric is allowed. Eric argues that they aren't looking for evidence against Garza, they are looking for Garza before he is hurt or some innocent bystander is hurt. Rogers has to take a call – the financial records are off limits. He says nothing about the phone. They are going to search before he returns.

Sam doesn't like the look of the tree lot. DeChamps asks about Sam's holiday plans with the kids. He doesn't have any big plans. Aiden is going to Brooklyn to share the holidays with his girlfriend and her family. Sam and Kam are going to DC to visit the Navy Museum, see some cool historical sites. DeChamps is going to Louisiana for some great food, great family and LSU football. Nell calls – Garza's phone is at a marina in San Pedro. Sam and DeChamps are on their way.

At the marina, Sam sees a boat called "Diddy Bop" – Marine Corps slang for sloppy marching. The boat belongs to a Reggie Hyland, a Marine Garza served with who is currently deployed. Garza comes out of the boat and tries to run. Sam stops that quickly.

In the upstairs interrogation room, Sam and DeChamps question Garza. He doesn't know what happened between meeting Hawkins for a beer and the accident at the tree lot. He didn't know the last time they asked and he won't know the next time. Sam is not thrilled with the attitude. DeChamps tells Garza he is safe with NCIS. Admitting he's had blackouts before, Garza tells them this blackout was different. Sam mentions the hydrocodone but Garza claims he only used them for his injured rotator cuff. He stopped using them. He's clean. And he didn't give any to Hawkins either.

In the boat shed's main room, Kensi and Deeks are watching Sam, DeChamps and Garza. Eric and Nell pop up on the TV screen. Hawkins tox-screen is in. There was a high concentration of scopolamine in Hawkins's system. It is an anti-nausea med used by scuba divers and pilots (and chronically car sick women named Tess) but not in that high concentration. Someone drugged Garza and Hawkins. There were thieves in South America drug victims with scopolamine to empty their bank accounts and hand over jewelry willingly. The drug allows you to function just a little impaired. In high concentrations, the person looks fine but isn't. Kensi and Deeks realize the Marines were drugged at the bar.

An agitated Arkady is getting a rundown on Anna's condition from her doctor. She fractured her forearm and ruptured some tendons, likely from a direct blow from a hard object. During surgery, he arm was re-set using pins and wires. Anna can be seen resting in her room with a prison guard standing over her bed. Callen asks if Anna is in pain – she isn't now but she's in for a long recovery.

Towering over the doctor – a smallish woman - Arkady leans in and asks if she did the surgery. Taking a step back, the doctor says she did the bulk of the surgery with some help from her team. Arkady sniffs the doctor. "I smell vodka." Callen pushes Arkady away and instructs the doctor to ignore him. Asking when can they see Anna, Callen is told she needs to be settled in and seen by the nurse.

As the doctor walks away, Callen wants to know what is wrong with Arkady. Arkady did not like the doctor. He believes she saw Anna was in handcuffs and phoned in the surgery. Callen mentions the Hippocratic oath. Arkady remembers an oath he took to Mother Russia and look where he is now. The man is an international treasure, a gift to two countries.

Arkady asks if Callen believes Anna will be alright. He does. Arkady figures that is the only way Callen can sleep at night. Callen makes it clear – he told the truth at Anna's request. Arkady makes it clear – he believes all this is Callen's fault. Callen can't believe Arkady thinks he'd want to see Anna hurt. "Hurt people hurt people," Arkady explains (Vyto Ruginis is killing it here going from comedy to drama sometimes in the same sentence). He believes Callen told the truth in court, he does not believe him now. Arkady walks away.

Sam and DeChamps enter the bar where Hawkins and Garza met. It isn't the fanciest place. Sam flashes his badge to the bartender. She swears she warned Jim not to sell his power tools in the parking lot. DeChamps has photos of Hawkins and Garza on her phone. The bartender recognizes Garza immediate – he's a regular. DeChamps asks about the prior night but she wasn't working. The bar has a new security system, however, and she's happy to show them what they need. Using a tablet to show the bar, it is obvious to Sam that Hawkins and Garza – who played pool – were being watched.

A terrified Eric runs into Ops. Rogers saw him near the copier and wants to talk about something personal. There are concerns Rogers heard Eric call him a Grinch. Nobody ever called someone a Grinch in a positive way, Eric tells Nell as he hides behind one of the screens in the back of Ops. Rogers arrives with a personal question he has for Eric and Nell. Where's Eric? "Around" is the best Nell can do.

Rogers soldiers on – he has company in town and is looking for a "season activity" that has nothing to do with watching movies or talking about movies. Eric jumps into the conversation from his hiding place. Eric and Nell are full of suggestions for Christmas, Hanaukkah, Boxing Day but everything really depends on Rogers's guests. Rogers decides Trip Advisor is more his style.

Kensi and Deeks meet with both Hawkins and Garza in the downstairs interrogation room. They have video of the guys following them in the bar. Hawkins remembers talking to one of the men. Garza says he talks to people in that bar all the time – everyone's friendly. Hawkins remembers talking sports with the guy and about Garza's job. Garza is suspicious – most people don't care about waste management.

There is footage of the scopolamine being slipped into the Marines's drinks. Scopolamine makes you chatty but to an outsider, it would look like a couple of guys having a beer and a talk. DeChamps volunteers herself and Sam for a trip to the waste management plant. Deeks thought they'd have to draw straws since the place probably smells like pine cones and cinnamon. Kensi and Deeks are going to see if the men remember what they talked about at the bar.

Anna wakes up with a tiny Christmas tree on her hospital table and Callen by her side. She reminds Callen she wanted him to stay away. She ever told him about the hospital, Callen answers. Anna promises she took care of the people who put her in the hospital. Callen pours her some water and promises not to make a bionic woman joke about Anna's arm. The nurses have that covered. Callen tells Anna to rest. She can do that. Callen will enjoy the rest. Arkady has been talking in another Russian couple in the waiting room and now has New Year's Eve plans.

Arkady watches as Callen kisses Anna on the forehead and sits with her as she dozes off.

At the waste management facility, the foreman explains to Sam and DeChamps that business is great. They are so busy that every job is scheduled to the minute. DeChamps asks about Garza, who is well-liked even if he talks about playing Madden too much. The foreman wants to know if Garza is OK. Sam asks if the facility processes hazardous waste. They do no, according to the foreman – regular household items – used paints, cooking oil, expired medicines.

The expired medicines catch Sam's attention. The facility processes about three loads a week of unused pills, expired meds, overstocks at the hospitals. Deeks sends a text message to Sam – Garza mentioned one of the cameras is faulty at the facility. According to the foreman, the drug shipment arrived at 10AM and was going to be burned in an hour. The foreman walks Sam and DeChamps to the loading dock where the meds are parked. The foreman opens the back of the truck only to find it is empty.

In the gadget area, Eric shows Nell the flaw in the waste management plant's security. The company won't hand over any security footage without a warrant. They thinks this will make Rogers happy. He likes asking for warrants.

Facial rec ID's the guy in the bar with the Marines. Maze Cooper has some low level misdemeanor arrests in his background. He is on a DEA watchlist for doctor shopping. He is also on Joe Jirani's social media feed. Jirani is a real estate developer with a high social media profile due to big parties and a festive holiday cat. The DEA believes Jirani is a drug dealer. His ranch in Agua Dulce could easily hide a truck full of drugs.

Sam and DeChamps arrive at Jirani's ranch. There is a party going on. Kensi and Deeks are right behind them. Deeks sends up a mini-drone from "Asesinos". Eric is flying. Eric and Nell find the truck while Kensi and Deeks notice the drugs being used at the party.

Without much resistance, Sam and DeChamps just walk into the party. They are looking for Cooper and Jirani. Kensi and Deeks are out back looking for the truck. They have instant success as the truck has two guys inside who are fighting. One is knocked out by the other. The man standing takes a swing and Deeks and misses, collapsing to the ground.

With the drugs in custody and SWAT 15-minutes out, Sam and DeChamps are going to quietly take down Cooper and Jirani. There is no heavy security at the party. Splitting up, Sam asks a young woman if she's seen Maze. The woman wants to run in a maze – it would be a-maze-ing. She can't stop laughing.

A man approaches DeChamps on his motorcycle. She blows him off but sees Cooper nearby. Calling her Leila ("It's Nicole.") and remember her from a past event ("It's my first time here."), Cooper introduces DeChamps to "JJ". "JJ" is a bit surprised to see Sam join them. DeChamps wants to make a better deal – Sam offers more money for the drugs. Jirani snaps his fingers and a member of the security team is foolish enough to think he can take down Sam. That goes poorly for the guy. Also not going well for a different man on the security team who tries to drop DeChamps. She makes quick work of him. While the fighting was going on, Cooper and Jirani run right into stiff-arms from Kensi and Deeks.

At the hospital, Arkady is eating kutia (a holiday pudding) made by the Russian lady he was talking to in the waiting room. She made it for Anna but Anna doesn't like kutia. Callen is drinking vending machine coffee. Arkady does not like to waste food. Callen offers to stay – the staff will understand him skipping out on the holiday party. Callen and Arkady and split time over the next few days keeping Anna company before she has to return Alton.

Arkady is unhappy about Alton. He is also suspicious – Anna is given a really long sentence to a federal prison, is moved to a state prison and now is in the hospital. None of this makes sense.

Garza and Hawkins are back at the Christmas tree lot. They are repairing the damage they've done. Maia arrives with Sam, DeChamps and gingerbread for Garza. Sam tells both men their CO's have been briefed on what happened. There will not be any punishment. Hawkins is relieved but Garza is grateful they trusted him. Sam tells Garza to get himself right. "I will sir."

At the holiday party, Deeks thinks elves are real – the place is totally set up. Kensi called in the friend card. Tiffany, Kat and Mandy set up the bar. Deeks loves Kensi's elves. Kensi loves the barkeep. Eric and Nell arrive. Kensi is a fan of their outfits, Eric and Nell love the festive look to the bar. Rogers is not coming, making everyone's day festive and bright. Eric and Nell are going to make the rounds. As they leave, Kensi thinks Neric are cute. Deeks thinks the cutest.

Eric is given a gift membership to a rock climbing place called "This Place Rocks" from Jingle-Nell Rock. Eric is taking Nell to Yosemite for a 17 Century-style Christmas feast at a hotel inside the park. The two kiss – they are the cutest.

Sam is talking to Kensi and Deeks about Aiden and his girlfriend. Kensi remembers Aiden starting middle school (really? Because in season two, they didn't know Sam had kids and in season four, they didn't know Sam was married). Sam likes Aiden's girlfriend – she's good for him. He hopes to see Aiden in the spring. A staffer approaches Deeks. Nora from accounting stole a bottle of tequila. He's going to wrestle it back.

DeChamps is at the party. Her flight was moved until the next morning. She's partying with the group.

Deeks gets everyone's attention with a lovely toast. They remember those no longer with the team – Harley Hidoko and Owen Granger. Deeks wants them to know the group loves and misses them. Also loved and missed is Hetty, who is hopefully home soon with great stories and scotch.

At the hospital, Anna is having a nightmare but doesn’t wake. Callen calms her shaking hands.

What head canon can be formed from here: The is a mid-level holiday episode. Early in the show's run the holiday episodes were always good with "Merry Evasion" being probably the best of the bunch. This was fine, nothing great. It sets up whatever Anna was doing later in the season. Rogers becomes a less "screaming boss" and more just a guy doing everything by the book. Hidoko and Granger getting some love at the end was nice.

Episode number: The tenth season's 11th episode, overall it is episode 227 in the show's run.

#NCIS: Los Angeles Rewatch #NCIS: Los Angeles #NCIS: LA #NCIS Los Angeles #ncis la

16 notes · View notes