#otp: ali and peter | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

typingtess · 2 years

Photo

NCIS: Los Angeles Season 13 Rewatch: “Genesis”

The basics: The disappearance of an ONI Officer has the team running up against Iranian intelligence agents. Callen continues to dig into his past.

Written by: Andrew Bartels wrote or co-wrote "Allegiance", "Zero Days", "The Grey Man", "Humbug", "Fighting Shadows", "Driving Miss Diaz", "Angels & Daemons", "Where There’s Smoke…", "Glasnost", "Old Tricks" "Battle Scars", "Fool Me Twice", "Warrior of Peace", "Reentry", "The Prince", "Smokescreen", "The One That Got Away"/"No More Secrets" two-parter, "Yellow Jacket", "Missing Time", "If the Fates Allow", "Red Rover, Red Rover" and "Divided We Fall".

Directed by: John P. Kousakis directed "Imposters", "Sacrifice", "San Voir" part one, "The Fifth Man", "Parley", "Inelegant Heart", "Chernoff, K.", "Active Measures", "The Long Goodbye", "Talion", "Glasnost", "Unleashed", "Party Crashers", "This Is What We Do" (episode 200), "Goodbye Vietnam", "Ninguna Salida", "The Guardian", "High Society", "A Tale of Two Igors", "Under the Influence", all of the Afghanistan scenes from "Iron Curtain Rising" to "Zero Days" in season five and all of Kensi’s injury/recovery storyline scenes from "The Queen’s Gambit" to "Sirens" in season eight.

Guest stars of note: Peter Cambor returns “MWD” as Nate Getz, Bar Paly returns from “All The Little Things” as Anna Kolchek. Both Duncan Campbell as Agent Castor and Beckett Gunderson as Young Callen are back from “Pandora’s Box”, Ashwin Gore is back from “Divided We Fall” as Akhil Ali and Milissa Sears returns from “Lost Soldier Down” as Leah Novak. Jere Burns as Arnold Baines, Layla Alizada as Dr. Roxana Jarrahi and Andrei Dolezal as Young Baines.

Our heroes: Try to find an ONI Officer while Callen mucks around some more in his past.

What important things did we learn about:

Callen: More flashbacks tie him to Katya’s trainer. Sam: Knows the SAC for the FBI in the Middle East. Kensi: Wants to do the right thing by Pilar. Deeks: Visiting the Refugee Relocation Center before talking to an immigration lawyer pal. Fatima: Fatima Khadem. Rountree: Working Ops today. Kilbride: Got a sexy call from Callen.

What not so important things did we learn about:

Callen: Moving. Sam: Jogging on the beach with Kensi. Kensi: Calling Rosa. Deeks: Gave Rosa’s phone number to Kensi. Fatima: Ghosting boyfriends. Rountree: Danny Tanner-like with his dating advice. Kilbride: Using the firing range to wash the sexy Callen call from his brain.

Where in the world is Henrietta Lange? Nobody knows but Callen has a question or two.

Who's down with OTP: Not a lot of Deeks around but he gave Kensi Rosa’s phone number. Happy wife, happy life. Like the Ali pining for Fatima.

Who's down with BrOTP: The Callen and Nate show was interesting.

Fashion review: Callen is wearing a dark shirt watching the Katya video. The following day, it is the green and blue plaid button down. Sam is jogging in a black hoodie over a white undershirt. Later he’s in a black long-sleeve heavy tee-shirt. Kensi is jogging in an off-white fleece jacket over a medium blue tee. Later in the day, she’s wearing a white henley. Fatima starts the episode working out in a red sweatshirt. Working in Ops, she’s wearing a blue and white striped shirt under a dark blue jacket. Deeks is wearing a pale purple hoodie. In the field, Fatima is wearing a concert tee-shirt under a brown sweater. Rountree is in a black sleeveless muscle tee-shirt working out. He’s wearing a brown sweater with a green jacket later in the episode.

Music: No tunes today except for a clip of a song by Googoosh.

Any notable cut scene: Two:

As Fatima changes in the relocated wardrobe dressing room, Ali fills in Fatima about Dr. Jarrahi’s work. She is working on changing mosquitos so she can help stop the spread of malaria. Her detractors think she is trying to eliminate an entire species of insects. Fatima said growing up in LA, there were no mosquitos, now the city is full of them. Ali thinks they can bond over a shared dislike for the bugs. Fatima snarks that she will then casually turn the conversation to the officer’s disappearance. This goes into the scene where Fatima models her tee-shirt for Ali, who is a bit surprised she did that. He thinks she looks cool but he doesn’t spend a lot of time with undergrads. Fatima is relieved he does not.

From the episode, at the beach, Callen is trying to explain what he did to Leah. Nate is shocked – Leah was a subject just like he was. Callen brings up her work at Homeland Security and her redacted personnel file. If she didn’t want to be found, Callen thinks his approach was better. Nate mocks Callen’s alias. Greg is the English version of Grisha.

Cut from the episode is Nate getting back on topic, asking if Callen ever learned why Leah’s file was redacted. He didn’t. Leah isn’t with Homeland anymore, she’s freelancing as a negotiator for companies dealing with ransomware issues. Her background is likely classified cyberwarfare.

Nate asks if Leah spoke about the Drona project. Callen says he and Leah had dinner a few times, he tried to ask about her past but she didn’t want to give him much. Then Callen had to cut it off. He wasn’t interested in going any further. It wouldn’t be ethical to sleep with her, especially since he’s with Anna. Nate asks about Anna, Callen says she’s good.

Quote: Kilbride: “I believe that this whole thing is Looney Tunes. If you had told me a year ago that I would be dealing with mischievous digital facsimiles of my agents trying to seduce me with prank phone calls, I'd have moved to a yurt in Mongolia, never to be heard from again, but, apparently, this is the idiotic world we have chosen to live in.��

This may be the finest rant ever uttered on this or any other program in the last year.

Anything else: Setting up the old-school projector, Callen is once again watching the Noble Maidens ganging up on one of their own. The Russian instructor can be heard saying “Seventeen”. Suddenly, the young woman is not standing up, it is young Callen. Callen has a flashback to being tested by as a child. The man is saying “finish the job” in a similar tone as the man speaking to the Noble Maidens. Anna wakes Callen up. They need to finish packing.

Asking if she recognizes the voice, Anna does not. But she is pretty sure that is Katya in the video. Anna tells Callen she was not treated that way at the Institute. Anna almost feels sorry for Katya – “Almost.” She asks if Callen ever figured out what “Pembroke” meant. Callen has a list of a few Pembrokes, including a breed of corgis, but he thinks it is the name of the instructor. They need to finish packing – there are movers coming the next day. Callen is going to watch the film one more time.

In the gym, Fatima is working the heavy bag and discussing her dating life with Rountree. He thinks she “ghosted” the guy she’s currently dating. Hasn’t spoken to him in three weeks. She tells him ghosting happens after four. After saying a little prayer, Fatima wants to know what she is doing wrong. She meets these nice guys and after a few dates, she’s out. “It’s me, isn’t it.” Rountree thinks she has trust issues. With the quality of people NCIS deals with on a regular basis, why wouldn’t Fatima have trust issues.

Rountree mentions the deep fakes boyfriend and Fatima quickly corrects him. They met once. Though Rountree thinks there was a connection, Fatima tells him it wasn’t real – she was being played. “But it felt real.” Rountree feels it messed with her head and her heart. Fatima thinks Rountree is well on his way to being a great dad like Danny Tanner. Rountree finds her real problem – “you’re a jerk.” The two laugh.

On the beach, Sam is jogging with Kensi. Kensi is talking about Pilar, who learned how to speak English by watching horror movies. Now she’s making her own movies at 14 with her phone. Rosa asked Kensi and Deeks to watch over Pilar and Kensi doesn’t want to let her down. Deeks is going to meet with the Refugee Resettlement Office before talking to a friend who is an immigration lawyer. They’re going to find out how hard it is going to be for Pilar to stay. Kensi remembers not having a safe home to go to – she wants more for Pilar. Sam knows Pilar will be fine with Kensi and Deeks watching her back, “just like Rosa was.”

Wrapping up a call, Anna tells Callen she’s going to stay with Arkady for a while. Callen reminds Anna they just signed a lease for a place by the marina. He asks if she is breaking up with him. She is not – she loves him. The last few months have been hard and since the film reel showed up, Callen is obsessed. Callen thinks the key to finding Katya is in the video – surely Anna understands that. She does but she is tired of Katya defining their relationship. They’ll take a step back, just for a little while. Callen’s phone rings – it’s the Admiral. Anna tells Callen to go, they’ll talk later. An unhappy Callen answers the phone.

In Ops, the Admiral reintroduces Fatima and Rountree to ONI Officer Akhil Ali. Rountree asks what are they being investigated for now. Nothing – Ali has been promoted to running ONI’s LA field office. His biggest area of responsibility is running the collectors – he trains Naval Intelligence Officers to meet and collect foreign assets who provide intelligence information. Ali seems impressed Fatima knows his job. Kilbride explains one of the officers has gone missing and NCIS is there to help find her. When the Admiral leaves, Ali asks Fatima for access to the system. She’s going to get him set up.

Marching down the hall, the Admiral calls to an arriving Callen to go to the fishbowl office, “now.” Kilbride has a voicemail from Callen and his desire to see the Admiral in a “sexy little sailor suit.” Callen denies making the phone call. The Admiral asks if Callen thinks he’d still be alive if he did. Vance and hundreds of other federal officials got similar calls. There were also inappropriate social media posts. Callen looks sick – NCIS CYBER was supposed to be protecting him. They were but Katya has bot accounts that are amplifying whatever she sends out. Callen thinks it all goes back to the film reel and how Katya probably wants him sidelined.

Taking a seat, the Admiral tells Callens that the deep fakes were mostly a nuisance. They are the product of a psychopathic troll. But this escalation is interfering with Callen’s ability to do his job. Callen tries to interrupt the Admiral but Kilbride plows on about Callen not being able to represent the agency. Callen asks if Kilbride really believes that. He believes the entire set-up is “Looney Tunes.” Vance is not only worried about the trouble Katya has already caused but the trouble she is looking to cause. He has asked Kilbride to remove Callen from the field until the deep fakes stop. “What if they don’t stop?” The Admiral does not have an answer.

With Sam and Kensi in the boatshed, Ali, Fatima and Rountree review the case. The missing ONI Officer is Maria Varza. She’s been a collector for six years and has cultivated a relationship with Dr. Roxana Jarrahi. Jarrahi is one of the top genetics in the world, working at The Curie Institute and MIT. Varza was working on Jarrahi, whose research is funded by groups with ties to the Iranian military. ONI wanted to see if Jarrahi’s work would lead to a genetic weapon – something that could target specific sections of DNA. An inert virus could be released that would only hurt people with a specific genetic sequence or a family or a whole race of people.

Varza was just getting friendly with Jarrahi. A planned dinner the prior night is where Varza was going to make her official offer. Ali was hoping Fatima could get access to the restaurant’s security cameras. Varza was supposed to call in this morning but didn’t. Ali tried to call Varza with no luck. He drove to her home to find the door unlocked and no Varza. Kensi wants to know if Jarrahi's relationship with the Iranian military is deeper than just funding. Jarrahi may have been collected – just not by the US.

In the firing range, a shooting Callen is joined by Nate. Nate asks how Callen is doing, he’s fine. Callen doesn’t want to talk about Katya, he wants to stop her. So does Nate, who drew up a profile on Katya. Callen’s already read profiles on Katya by both the FBI and CIA – she’s a sadist driven by revenge. Nate disagrees – she’d driven by obsession. When only plays out, like Anna, another pops up – Callen. If they could identify a new obsession, they could draw her out. Callen thinks about an old obsession he thinks he found, though Nate may think it’s crazy. Nate is not a fan of the word crazy.

Checking out Varza’s house, the place is not a mess. Kensi finds her keys right away so if she was taken, they didn’t bother to lock up the house before going. Sam thinks she may have run. Kensi asks about Callen, who says he’s fine. Sam doesn’t believe Callen. There is no computer or cell phone in the house. Rountree in Ops can’t trace the phone – it’s shut off. With only external security cameras, Varza’s car is seen pulling into her garage but the system was turned off at 2:14AM. Sam wonders if Varza took her system offline and is selling secrets. No witnesses, no cellphone, no computer – they don’t have much. Looking at Varza’s car, they have one set of computers.

An unhappy Nate just finished watching the Katya video. Nate asks Callen if he’s sure he’s heard that voice before as a child in Hetty’s version of the Institute. The KGB man was also involved in the CIA project. Callen believes that Katya was looking for the man in the video when she was stationed in the US as a spy. The film reel was her only lead. “You think I’m crazy,” Callen says to Nate, who doesn’t like the word. He switches to delusional. Nate explains that Callen could be seeing similarities in his and Katya’s upbringing. That would make the instructor sound the same. But it isn’t impossible for the instructor was KGB – the CIA took a lot from the Russians, including the Drona project from the Institute of Noble Maidens. Callen stops Nate – how does he know that the Drona program is based on a Russian program. “Admiral Kilbride told me.” That’s news to Callen. Nate is surprised the Admiral kept that secret but Callen brings up breaking into a sealed archive and how he was almost fired for that. “Since I’m half way out the door,” Callen wants to explore what the Admiral knows.

Wearing a concert tee-shirt under a brown jacket, Fatima asks Ali how she looks. He says she looks cool but he doesn’t hang around much with college coeds. Fatma would hope not. Usually, Jarrahi has lunch at the university cafeteria at 12:30PM but she’s fasting for Ramadan, as is Fatima and Ali. Ali tells Fatima is he also going to the mosque. She’s glad to hear it. Ali asked if she had plans for Eid but Fatima say she usually does something with her family.

Watching what’s going on, Rountree waits a beat before updating Fatima and Ali on Varza’s credit cards and bank accounts – nothing there to indicate she was up to something. Looking into the Varza’s car’s computer, the trunk was opened and closed at 8:16 PM around when she left the restaurant. It was opened again six-minutes before the security system was taken offline. Varza was kidnapped. They didn’t break in, they were hiding in the trunk of her car.

As the Admiral is about to go into the gun range to purge the memory of Callen’s voicemail, Callen confronts Kilbride about the Russian connection. The Admiral is not happy with Nate who broke confidentially. Nate pushes back – no patient-doctor confidentially between them. The Admiral brings up the idea of classified material but Nate pushes back again. He’s there to help Callen. Callen explains his theory about Katya looking for someone from the Drona project. The Admiral thinks Callen sounds crazy, causing Nate to flinch. Callen asks and the Admiral confirms that the Drona project was based on the Institute of Noble Maidens. The name Pembroke means nothing to the Admiral. Callen storms off.

The Admiral goes off on Nate, who instead of pulling Callen out of a rabbit hole is pushing him down deeper. Knowing Callen for years, with or without him, Nate knows Callen will see this through.

On campus, a casually dressed Ali is wearing headphones and pretend working on a computer. Fatima passes him as she approaches Jarrahi. Introducing herself as Fatima Khadem, Fatima sits down to speak to Jarrahi. Fatima is so happy to meet another Iranian scientist. Explaining that she’s graduating in a few weeks, Fatima is waitlisted for the graduate program in bio-chemistry. Jarrahi can do nothing to help Fatima with that. Ali tells Fatima that Jarrahi is a workaholic, focus on her research. Speaking glowingly of Jarrahi’s work, Fatima asks what is holding it up. “Fear.” Saying she has a lot of work to do, Jarrahi dismisses Fatima.

Ali tries to move to plan be – wealthy parents who will fund her research. Fatima pulls out her phone and starts to put in her earbuds. Googoosh, a popular Iranian singer starts playing so Jarrahi can hear. Fatima blames the Bluetooth sync. Jarrahi is a fan. Fatima has tickets to see Googoosh at the Hollywood Bowl that summer, as does Jarrahi. Fatima isn’t surprised – “Pretty sure half of Tehrangeles will be there.” Fatima has a favorite song – “Gharibe Ashena” – and hopes Googoosh sings it at the concert. “Oh, she has to. If she doesn’t, the crowd will revolt.” Fatima will lead the revolt. Jarrahi starts chatting with Fatima.

Showing Nate the files he has of the other subjects, Callen admits he hasn’t ID’d many of them. The ones he has, most are dead. Two died in action, two died by suicide. The only one alive is Leah. Nate asks if Callen has spoken to her – he has. Did she recognized the voice, Nate asks. Callen has some explaining to do.

At his desk, Deeks has his laptop opened when Kensi arrives. He’s catching up on the Varza case – “where’s Sam?” Sam is at the university as back-up. He dropped Kensi off at the office. Kensi asks about the Pilar. There is a lot for Deeks to go through. He doesn’t miss being a lawyer. Pilar’s parents were murdered by a gang and the gang threatened Pilar too. Kensi is upset for Pilar. The good news is that Pilar has a strong case for asylum. Kensi and Deeks need to find someone who Pilar can talk too about what happened. If she can be comfortable explaining what happened, it will help her case. Kensi thinks of Nate or someone who Nate could suggest. Nate sounds like a good idea to Deeks.

Rountree joins Kensi and Deeks with security cam footage from the restaurant. Varza and Jarrahi enter around 8PM. Two men are just behind them. One of the men leaves around the time Varza’s trunk was opened. The second man stayed inside to watch Varza and Jarrahi. Varza left about 8:38PM as did Jarrahi, but they did not leave together. The two men are not coming up in a facial rec search.

Nate is surprised Callen tried to trick Leah. He explains that with her redacted file, he wondered if she was hiding something. Pulling up to her home, Callen explains why he broke it off with Leah before going “oh” in recognition. Callen knocks on Leah’s door – “we need to talk.” In her backyard, Callen is playing the audio for the Noble Maiden instructor. Leah went to a special school because she had ADD. She’s stunned this is why Callen lied to her. Nate tries to cover for Callen – as an agent, it is hard for Callen to trust people. As someone who works in cyberspace, Leah doesn’t need to be told the world is full of liars. She asks them to leave. Callen asks if Pembroke means anything to her. Leah tells him to go to hell.

While Fatima and Jarrahi area walking and talking about science, Sam joins Ali who is following the women. There are no IDs from ONI on the two men who tailed Varza and Jarrahi into the restaurant. They are likely Iranian intelligence agents with non-official covers. This makes finding Varza harder.

Through comms, Sam tells Fatima to push Jarrahi harder. Talking about Jarrahi being new to LA, Jarrahi says she works all the time. She hasn’t even seen the ocean in her five months in LA. Fatima talks about the number of Iranian ex-pats in LA and Ali knows Jarrahi is lying about not knowing any. Varza’s cover was as a pharmaceutical businesswoman from Tehran. Fatima tries to weave Varza’s cover into the conversation but that tips off Jarrahi, who storms off.

The two men who grabbed Varza are now following Fatima. Sam has Ali follow Jarrahi and tells him to approach her after she’s clear of the men. As Fatima is getting into her car, the two men approach. She asks if she could help them. They order Fatima to come with them. Sam arrives saying he’d like the same thing. When he says “Federal Agents”, the men run. Sam follows one who is nearly hit by a truck. He and Sam fight. Sam wins. As Fatima chases the other man, Ali holds up his ID and tells the man to stop. He gets run over for his trouble. The man trips and Fatima keeps him on the ground. While handcuffing the second man, Fatima asks Ali about Jarrahi. She’s with campus security. Ali has a busted up nose for trying to help.

In the main part of the boat shed, Jarrahi tells Fatima and Ali that she cut dinner short because Varza said she was ONI. Varza wanting Jarrahi to spy for ONI was “the most ridiculous thing I ever heard.” She would have laughed if she wasn’t so angry. Ali says she takes money from the Iranian military, a military that is interested in genetic weapons. She claims that she does not do business with the military – any military. She’d like to help find Varza but she can’t. Jarrahi would like to leave but since they don’t know the names of the two men in interrogation right now who were following Jarrahi, it may not be safe. Besides, they are still looking for Varza.

Over comms, the Admiral has an update. As Ali brings Varza to the upstairs interrogation room, Kilbride heard from the FBI. The two men in interrogation with Sam are Iranian intelligence agents who will likely die before talking.

Back on the beach, Nate wants to look at the Drona files – maybe he can help figure out who some of the subjects were. While Nate knows Callen feels he’s back at square one, Nate believes Callen is making progress. Callen drops the bomb that Anna moved out. Nate is sorry. Callen wonders if he is ruining his life more than Katya is. Nate talks about Katya’s obsession with Callen feeding Callen’s obsession with Katya. If he stops obsessing on Katya will she do the same. Nate says no because she’s…. struggling to find the word he goes with crazy – “pure, unfiltered, bat poop crazy town.”

Callen gets a call from Leah. A few years ago, she reconnected with one of her foster moms. The woman gave Leah some personal belongings including a special ed enrollment form with an address in Cypress Park. She texted a photo of the document to Callen.

Since the two men aren’t talking, Sam wants to backtrack their movements. Kensi, Deeks and Rountree pop up on the plasma. Deeks has an idea he thinks is solid gold, Kensi is worried he’s overselling it. One of Jarrahi’s biggest funders is an Iranian-American businessman, Reza Shaheen. One of the Iranian Intelligence Agents called Shaheen that morning. Since Shaheen is out of the country, why call? According to Rountree, Shaheen is closing his LA businesses but he still has one property – a warehouse in Hawthorne. Kensi and Deeks will meet Sam at the warehouse.

At the address Leah sent, Callen and Nate are looking around. There is a sign “Plants for Sale”. Going to the back of the house, there is a man tending a number of bonsai trees – trees he’s shaped into what they are today. That’s not creepy at all. Callen stops – he recognizes the voice. The man faces Callen – he is an older gentleman. Callen remembers him as a younger man.

The man introduces himself as Arnold Baines. Callen is too stunned to talk. Nate tries to fill in, asking about a plant to buy but admitting he doesn’t know much about plants. Baines says most people don’t. If it was up to Baines, he’d teach kids about flowers in grade school. Give them a lily, let them nurture it and then take it away so the kids can watch it wither and die. Yeah, not creepy at all. Nate thinks it is a little intense for elementary school kids. Explaining that kids are tougher than people think, the children will learn the true way to respect life.

Suddenly chatty Callen asks if that is why Baines works on bonsai trees – there are comparisons to foot bonding. Baines disagrees – bonsai does not stunt growth, it encourages it. Baines even corrects the way Callen says bonsai – “it’s Japanese. It’s a beautiful language.” Baines spoke it years ago but is out of practice. Callen tries some Russian but Baines plays dumb. Callen pushes because it is obvious Baines speaks Russian. Offering Nate a snake plant – one of the hardiest houseplants out there. Doesn’t need a lot of water or light, just time.

Returning to the armory, Sam, Kensi and Deeks did not find Varza. Sam knows the SAC in the FBI’s Middle East office, he can get Shaheen picked up – it isn’t over. The Admiral disagrees. LAPD found Varza an hour ago. She was in a state of delirium about a mile from her house. The State Department orders NCIS to release the Iranian intelligence officers for the greater good – “or so they claim.” Nobody wants to ruffle feathers. The case is closed for now. Shaheen is on their radar however.

In the boat shed, Fatima apologizes to Jarrahi. Jarrahi is sorry the world doesn’t see her research for the good she wants to do. Castor walks her out. Ali arrives. Varza had benzodiazepine in her system – it is a drug used to extract information during interrogations. Since it is almost sundown, Fatima asks Ali to break the fast. He offers her three dates to break to the fast. She jokes about one date and then see how things go. It takes him a second to catch on. The dates got a little smushed when it was tackled.

In the bullpen, Deeks gives Kensi the phone number for Rosa’s aunt. Kensi calls immediately. She and Rosa chat while a happy Deeks watches his happy wife.

Callen is watching the video again when Nate arrives. He’s sure it is Arnold Baines in the video. Checking out the house where Baines lives and is growing his plants, it was purchased in 1986 from a behavioral psychiatrist named Howard Pembrook. The only a slight spelling difference. Pembrook died in 1986 on record. But Arnold Baines is Pembrook. Callen is 100% sure, Nate wants to look at it tomorrow with fresh eyes.

Later that night, Callen starts looking around Baines’s house. All the plants are gone. Anna calls to apologize. She wants to move in with Callen, she doesn’t want to take a step back. Callen promises his obsession is over. Lying to her that he’s finishing up at work, he’ll be home soon. Callen looks at a security camera on the house. Baines sees Callen and says “Seventeen”.

What head canon can be formed from here: I remain so done with the Callen childhood nonsense but am intrigued by Jere Burns being involved. Burns is a quality character actor who has been terrific in any number of programs. He was the head of the Dixie Mafia in Justified. If he returns, I may be interested but otherwise, nothing new here. Nothing at all.

I’m sort of into the Ali-Fatima ship. Hope she hops aboard soon.

Episode number: This is episode 17 of season 13, episode 297.

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

7 notes · View notes

clinquaant · 2 years

Text

12 DAYS OF GIFMAS / Day Four, Your OC in Another Universe/Fandom (PT. 1 / PT. 2 / PT. 3): Ali Blaire from Dazzler in the Multiverse: The Amazing Spider-Man Duology

FUCK CHEMISTRY. Ali’s life would’ve been completely normal without it—the class, that is. It’s impossible to exist without chemistry since essentially all matter is composed of it—but that’s irrelevant. Fuck chemistry…class.

If Flash Thompson hadn’t screwed up their experiment and caused Ali to not only do the dreaded eye wash, but also be immediately transported to the hospital, she wouldn’t have weird sound-light-ray powers and be obligated to use them for the greater good.

And yeah, sure she didn’t have to use them—and for a while, she did everything she could to conceal them—but she felt that it was a pretty dick move since apparently everyone and their mother had some sort of otherworldly power now and decided to use them to cause chaos?! What the hell’s up with that?!

Well��Ali supposes chemistry did do one good thing for her: putting her in contact with Spider-Man. They became a “vigilante dynamic duo” in the words of The Daily Bugle, but working alongside someone else who understood the pressure of being a so-called “hero” made the entire situation a bit more bearable.

The longer they worked together under their aliases, the more each of them became more curious into investigating the identity under the other mask and spandex. Unknown to one another, Ali and Peter Parker respectively spent every available moment in researching every news article about their corresponding alter ego, coming up empty-handed on a real name and face.

Their budding feelings eventually began to interfere with their work, and they mutually decided to unveil their true selves to one another. Once the masks were off, it was safe to say that the faces behind each one were a very unexpected surprise.

pinterest / spotify (i. ii.)

57 notes · View notes

beidak · 6 years

Photo

m-my baes! <3

#Lawrence of Arabia #orenc #OTP #sharif ali #artists on tumblr #art #digital art #peter o'toole #Sherif Ali #arabian #desert #babes #loa art

253 notes · View notes

kiraziwrites · 5 years

Text

Author interview

Tagged by: @slipsthrufingers

Name: Not telling (but it starts with E).

Fandoms: Game of Thrones (JxB) is the only one I’ve really written for seriously so far, but I regularly read and have toyed with writing (to the point of having some dusty fragments that never made it to story status on an old laptop) in a bunch of others: Vorkosiverse (all kinds of pairings and stories), Queen’s Thief (ditto), Wimsey (mostly Harriet/Peter), Rivers of London (anything that gets the canon tone and voices right, but I’ve got a soft spot for Peter/Nightingale or Beverley/Peter/Nightingale as a v-shaped OT3), and Broadchurch (Hardy/Miller, both as OTP and BroTP). I’ve also read a fair amount of Yuri!!! on Ice and Veronica Mars and random other things, but I’ve never felt the impulse to write for those.

Where you post: AO3 and here. I did put a piece of Babylon 5 fic on a listserv sometime in the 90s and I hope internet entropy has erased any trace of its existence (I was very young and it was almost certainly terrible).

Most popular oneshot: Going by kudos, Rescued Again, my first proper fic. Going by comments, its sequel Adequate Vocabulary.

Most popular multi-chapter story: Ring Them Bells, which doesn’t surprise me, because it’s the longest, it contains several plot elements that are popular in the fandom (i.e. J&B go to Tarth, meet Selwyn, etc) and it was written at what was probably the peak of appetite for S8 fix-its (not that that’s stopped me from continuing to write more of them....)

Favorite story you wrote: Ring them Bells is still dear to me, but A Great Fountain has mostly displaced it from the no. 1 spot in my heart—both because it feels more real to me (my head has been stuck in that continuity since late June, between writing it and the companion story) and also because I think I put more of myself in it. I wrote RTB for the fandom (and for myself, as a member of it), whereas AGF was for myself first, if that makes sense.

Story you were nervous to post: I feel like I ought to have been nervous before posting Rescued Again, but I’d been up all night writing and I think I was too high on the glee of it to feel nervous. Maybe a little bit about A Satisfactory Maneuver because it was my first time posting porn? TBH it’s probably Winter Should Have Meaning because this one has been much harder to write than the others and I’m both less sure of what I’m trying to do, and whether it’s working.

How you choose your titles: It depends! The first three were all references to lines within the story; Ring Them Bells was after a Dylan song because I was thinking about bells and 8x05 as the turning point and a cover version got stuck in my head and many lines suddenly seemed to fit the story beats I wanted (which is why it’s the only one with chapter titles). As previously noted, AGF/WSHM are both titled after lines from one of my favorite books of poetry, Louise Glück’s The Wild Iris. If I continue to be on my bullshit, I forecast a high probability of either lyrics from The Mountain Goats, or more poetry (likely candidates: Seamus Heaney, Richard Siken, Agha Shahid Ali, Adrienne Rich....)

Do you outline: Not at the start; everything begins with vibes and feels and scattered clumps of text emerging from the depths and cohering into a scene or two. And then when I get stuck, or need to try to make sense of the larger picture, I outline. Sort of. It’s more like a jumble of incoherent notes-to-self with lots of ????? and idk, maybe X, and [something goes here] and ugh fml than anything as organized as the word “outline” would imply.

Complete: 5 stories so far. All about our favorite dumbass knights in love.

In-progress: Just the one! Well, maybe two, if we count the fragments of porn-in-Winterfell that might turn into something someday. I wrote a version of their first time for the Winterfell Sequence, but there’s a different, 8x04-compliant version of it (and the second, third, etc times) in my head that would be a sort of background/prequel to the fix-its.

Coming soon/not yet started: See above, re: porn-in-Winterfell.

Do you accept prompts: Sure, why not? I can’t promise I’ll fill them, since I’m having trouble keeping pace with one story at a time right now, but it might be fun to play around with some short and different stuff, especially since Winter is hard going at present (I expect it will get easier once I can go back to writing all the post-reconciliation softness, but I have banned myself from writing any more of the soft parts until I get through the middle section of the story). Anyway, the ask box is open; fire away.

Upcoming story you are most excited to write: Any of them, but I think I might sign up for Yuletide this year to push myself to try writing in another fandom, probably Queen’s Thief or Broadchurch.

Tagging @agirlnamedkeith, if she hasn’t been tagged yet, and anyone else who wants to jump in.

#author interview meme

18 notes · View notes

margoshansons · 4 years

Note

dick/liana and scott/ali + explain the tag

Dick + Liana

Otp: you taught me what a life is for

This comes from the title song Light me up. My thought process was that both of them have been living sort of half-lives up until the point they meet and then they finally realize how much of life they have been missing due to their own seclusion.

They teach each other to live

Otp: I just wanna be somebody to you

This one is more of an afterthought, but it comes from the song Someone to You by the Banners. It reminds me SO much of their relationship and gets to the core of their feelings for each other.

They wanna feel a part of something. But they wanna feel like that with the other person. Liana and Dick may not care about others’ opinions, but they do care about each other’s.

Scott and Ali

Otp: never fall in love with a dead man

This is actually ripped straight from season 6 when Peter tells Malia not to fall in love with Scott. That conversation happens but with Ali instead. It also shows up the prologue of RWW as the final line.

...told her to never fall in love with a dead man. Too late.

Otp: he sings for the love of a girl

This comes from Hadestown and it’s a line between Hades and Persephone as the latter is trying to convince him to give Orpheus a chance.

Hades and Persephone have the same dynamic as Ali and Scott (although the roles switch every now and then) so it was only natural I chose a song that explored that dynamic.

send me a ship and I’ll explain their otp tag!

#oc: ali ayers #oc: liana abrams #graybrams #scalice

2 notes · View notes

brightica-a · 7 years

Text

SHIPPING INFO !! answer the following for your muse(s) so people know how shipping works on your blog. repost ! do not reblog.

what is your otp for your character?: longshot/ali is my otp simply because she loved him so much and he has such a special and vital place in her history and development. it’s possible she’ll never love any man as much as she loves/d longshot and that kind of worries her a bit.

what are you willing to write when it comes to shipping?: i honestly can’t think of much of anything atm but if it comes up i’ll let you know.

how large does the age gap have to be to make it uncomfortable?: age gaps don’t really bother me usually if it’s two consenting adults. i can’t really think of a time where i was actually disturbed by a relationship with two consenting individuals of age where one was significantly older.

how far do steamy moments have to go before they are considered ns.fw?: usually when pants/skirts/bottom halves have been removed or genitals are being touched.

who are the characters you ship your character with?: UUHHH i used to have more but some haven’t really been active so i’ll just list the ones that have been touched upon recently. Peter Parker, Flash Thompson, Remy Lebeau, Jazmine/Jericho, Booster Gold, and Dante.

does one have to ask to ship with you?: i guess so. i’ll probably be pretty dry about it if we’ve never interacted before though.

how often do you like to ship?: i love shipping, give it all to me.

are you ship obsessed or ship more - or - less?: obsessed is a strong word. but it’ll be hard to find a ship that i say no to.

are you multiship?: yes.

what is your favourite ship in your current fandom?: is it bad i can’t think of one? i haven’t really been reading comics recently

finally, how does one ship with you?: yell at me, don’t be a coward.

tagged by: @mannamedafterwire tagging: @fangedfirecracker, @focusedtotality, @wobblemywebs, @looktotheants, @youusedme, @leftsomescratches

#✧ ▒ SOUNDCHECK ( mun speaking. )

4 notes · View notes

bellabooks · 7 years

Text

“Pretty Little Liars” recap S7 Ep18: Chose or lose

Previously on Pretty Little Liars, Aria had the most glorious fever dream involving Mona singing and dancing as a prison guard, and it was so good that it almost made me forget about Mona and Emily pretending to be a couple. Making out with Emily Fields is the cure for morning sickness Alison is back in town and cuddling on the couch with Emily, who tells her she’s pretty and instigates some morning sex. They kiss and stumble into the bedroom, but OF COURSE they are twat-blocked by that damn board game, which is taking up space in the bed. Is that thing a drone? How does it keep moving so fast? Suddenly, the police bust in with a search warrant and start packing up evidence, including their phones. This is a coordinated effort across Rosewood, as the rest of the Liars are forced to turn over their phones and belongings to the cops. Aria manages to shred the last page of her file literally as the police walk in. The Liars wind up at the police station, where they’re met with Detective Tanner. Hi Tanner! Welcome back to Rosewood. Tanner quickly explains that Marco has recused himself from the case, what with sexing up Spencer and all. Wow, doesn’t he know that Rosewood has an open door policy on cops hooking up with suspects? It must be in the handbook. Tanner is smug as all hell and ready to lock up the Liars, which is pretty bold considering she knows their backstory and rescued them from the dollhouse. “Rescued” is a strong word, she merely let Caleb use police software and complained the entire time. She assures the Liars that she’s going to nail them on something, because the second rule of Rosewood Policing (after sleep with your suspects) is to always blame the victims. I’m here to chew bubble gum and make accusations, and I’m all out of bubble gum. Back at the Brew, Aria finds a hidden cell phone in the wall…a gift from A.D. Aria demands to meet them, and A.D. agrees to meet that night, telling Aria to wear the uniform. We then cut to Mona’s apartment, where she has been listening in on the call this entire time. Hanna shows up at Radley, where Ashley is waiting for her with a suite for the Liars. She demands that Hanna tell her the truth so she can Mama Bear the situation, but Hanna refuses to involve her because she loves her too much to make her an accomplice. Ashley Marin is the best mom in Rosewood, which is a low bar, but a bar nonetheless. One day I’ll own my own vineyard and be free of this nonsense The Liars and Caleb are holed up in the suite, trying to plan their next move. Spencer gives everyone a burner phone, because she is never not prepared. I would not be surprised if Spencer just has a stash of like, 20 burners on hand at all times. Emily tells the gang that A.D. was watching her and Ali sleep last night, and Hanna is the only one who is like, “y’all sleeping together? Nice!”. All we need is Sparia to come to their senses, then we’ll all be #queerendgame Caleb tries to track the missing board game on his laptop, when Hanna finds the board game phone on the room service cart. The phone tells them that they have 36 hours to decide: either one of them turns themselves in, or they all go down. Just then, Mona walks in and tells them that she thinks Aria has switched teams. At first the Liars refuse to believe her, but Mona came with proof. I magically manifest whenever someone says #queerendgame Spencer runs into Toby in the Radley lobby, who has been brought into town for questioning. He’s been living in a cabin in the woods, with a mountain man beard to prove it. He invites her to visit him, and asks what is going on, but Spencer assures him that it’s better if he doesn’t know. Ah, just like old times. Aria sneaks out of the house and goes to meet A.D. in the woods, where she is of course busted by all the Liars. She tries to explain herself, but everyone is furious, especially poor sweet Emily. Aria asks them if they remember when Ezra spied on them and exploited them for a book, as if that’s something anyone would forget. She tells the Liars that she was so mad she wrote a police report against Ezra for being a pedophile, but never filed it. She claims that she had no choice, but everyone rightly calls her out for putting Ezra’s needs above the group. But…but…but…my boyfriend tho Aria reminds them that they’ve all done terrible things for A, like that time Spencer kidnapped a kid (which I totally forgot about) but Spencer fires back that her parents are getting a divorce because of Aria’s actions. I mean…let’s be real: this divorce is a solid move. I think it has less to do with Aria than it does with Peter screwing every mom in Rosewood. But I digress. The Liars storm off, leaving a devastated Aria alone in the woods. The Liars are summoned to the police station, where they ice out Aria. Tanner sits them all down and lays out the evidence she’s gathered: bloody windshield glass in the shower drain, plus windshield fragments under Archer’s finger, plus video footage. It doesn’t look good. Tanner says she wants to give them a chance to tell their story, and claims that, had they been honest from the beginning, they never would have been kidnapped. God I wish I had cheese fries right now The Liars stonewall Tanner, who reluctantly lets them go. In the car, Aria calls A.D. and yells at them for ruining her life. She’s about to throw her phone out the window when A.D. tells her to wait. Okay, aside from bloody glass, video footage, and fingerprints galore, what evidence do you have? The rest of the Liars convene at the hotel and watch as the phone counts down. Hanna offers to confess, since she was the one driving. Spencer then offers, since it was her credit card mistake that nailed them. Ali expresses guilt that she married him in the first place. Emily tells the Liars that this is A.D.’s plan, for them to bicker and fight and fall apart. They already succeeded with Aria. Spencer blames Aria for her part in it, but Emily reminds her that she also played for the A team, and that they’ve all been forced to do terrible things. Meanwhile, Ashley confronts Caleb and demands the truth…and he tells her what happened. I mean, at this point, why not? Spencer goes to Aria’s place, and Aria begs for her forgiveness. They seem to be mending their friendship, when the cops arrive to return Aria’s belongings. Apparently, there is (doctored) camera footage of Aria in New Hampshire that exonerates her, a parting gift from A.D. Spencer is furious and storms out. New plan- I got us all tickets for the next Olivia cruise leaving the country, let’s go! Aria realizes that she has to tell Ezra the truth, but he already read the file before she shredded it. She tries to apologize (FOR WHAT THO) and Ezra tells her that he doesn’t blame her, and that he probs deserves to go to jail. This is the only smart and self aware thing Ezra has ever said. Aria is ready to tell him the whole damn truth, but first she wants to have a goodbye kiss/bang. Caleb brings Hanna to the courthouse, where her mom is waiting with a justice of the peace. They decide to get married because they’re running out of time, plus they won’t be forced to testify against each other. It’s a win-win! I also built a tree house with solar panels and wireless internet so we literally never have to leave the woods. Alison brings Emily into the woods, where she’s set up a beautiful romantic picnic at the kissing rock. It’s very sweet, even though none of these ladies should ever be alone in the woods. They start making out and we get a sex montage of all the Liars: Caleb and Hanna get married, Ezria has sex, Spencer goes to Toby’s cabin and seduces him, and Emily and Ali roll around together in their sex picnic. Is it sweet? Yes. Do the lesbians get a tamer scene than everyone else? Obviously. But nonetheless, it’s still a love scene, and for now we get to see Ali and Emily in love under the stars. Also, having a sex picnic in the woods is an all-star gay move. We get it Ali, you’re a top The next morning, the Liars (sans Aria) gather around the phone to watch it count down. When the clock runs out, Spencer smashes the phone with a giant rock…I mean…maybe she could have done that before the clock ran out? I don’t know, guys. They all swear to each other that no matter what happens, they will understand and forgive themselves. Meanwhile, Aria calls A.D. and tells them that she’s turning herself in…but the clock is already up. Aria has won unlimited freedom, and her friends are going down. Aria’s phone bursts into flames and she drops it on the ground. It’s a FIRE…sale Caleb and Ezra get a ping on the game, and track it to Mona’s house. They use a heat vision iPad (wait what) and see Mona cuddling up to the board game, as a jail cell rises onto the board. She’s wearing her nerdy Mona glasses and looks strung out…has the game activated her adrenalized hyperreality? Mona + glasses is my new OTP Aria is driving to the police station when she feels something rolling around in her trunk. She pops it open, and there’s Archer’s decaying body. Suddenly, a police car sirens and pulls over. Close that trunk, girl! Next week we find out who killed Charlotte. Only two episodes left! Tweet me your feels and A.D. conspiracy theories at @ChelseaProcrast http://dlvr.it/PMVlMk

#Television #PLL #Pretty Little Liars

2 notes · View notes

lying-little-legend-blog · 7 years

Note

pretty little liars

otp: Spoby!favourite canon pairing: Aside from Spoby, I liked the dynamic between Jason and Aria, Spencer and Alex, Hanna and Travis, as well as Emily and Samara. worst pairing ever: I don't care all too much about Emison (sorry), Haleb (right now, anyway), and Spaleb was.. umm... gross and OOC.guilty pleasure pairing: Ezria, probably? I'm opposed to virtually everything about their relationship but I LOVE how Ian and Lucy play off of one another.a pairing you want to see more: Errrm.. Ted and Ashley? I don't know. Maybe Spoby given their limited screentime.. that pairing everyone likes but you’re like “lol no”: Haleb (oops)! favorite non-romantic pair: Spencer's relationship with her mother (Veronica!), Melissa, and Peter. Spencer and Jason, Toby and Emily, Aria and Holden, Hanna and Mona (sometimes), CeCe and Ali circa S3-4, and of course, the friendship between the core-four!

#PLL #PLL Ships #Answered #ask tag

2 notes · View notes

stilesstylelinski · 5 years

Text

𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐎 𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐆

WHAT’S YOUR OTP FOR YOUR MUSE? : My OTP? Truly torn between Sterek and Stydia.

HOW LARGE DOES THE AGE GAP HAVE TO BE TO MAKE IT UNCOMFORTABLE? : Uh...no more than 10 years? I’m not sure it depends

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WHEN SHIPPING? : As long as I feel like there’s chemistry between the muses, things will usually flow, however this doesn’t go for everyone, and I’d let you know if I was struggling.

HOW FAR DO STEAMY MOMENTS HAVE TO GO BEFORE THEY’RE CONSIDERED NS/FW? : As soon as things get bluntly suggestive, or clothes come off, I usually start tagging NSFW

WHO ARE OTHER MUSES YOU SHIP YOUR MUSE WITH? : Hmmm, a tough question. Scott, Malia, Danny, Theo if we’re talking show based. Otherwise it really depends on the writing and chemistry. ANY NOTPS? : I don’t really have any NOTPS, but there are some ships I’m iffy about, like with Liam, Kira, Peter Hale

DOES ONE HAVE TO ASK TO SHIP WITH YOU? : If we’ve never interacted, I’d prefer being asked first, but if we have and things have gone well, then we can ship all the time.

HOW OFTEN DO YOU LIKE TO SHIP? : Stiles just LOVES people okay? Whether sexual or platonic.

ARE YOU MULTISHIP? : yes! ARE YOU SHIP-OBSESSED OR SHIP MORE-OR-LESS? : SOmewhere in the middle WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SHIP IN YOUR CURRENT FANDOM? : Uh? Sterek, Stydia, Scira deserved better!

FINALLY, HOW DOES ONE SHIP WITH YOU? : IM’s go a long way! Even if you’re just sending me something from my wishlist wanting to do it!

TAGGED BY : @hesacrifices

TAGGING : @calvaluna @alis-valot-propriis

#the mun #ooc #:: OUT OF ADDERALL ::#:: Rules ::#rules

0 notes

clinquaant · 2 years

Text

12 DAYS OF GIFMAS / Day Ten, A Gifset of Your Favorite Couple (PT. 1 / PT. 2): Ali Blaire and Peter Parker from Dazzler

ACROSS ALL THE YEARS THAT THEY LIVED NEXT DOOR TO EACH OTHER, Ali Blaire and Peter Parker could count on their hands the amount of times they held a conversation consisting of more than short, one-worded sentences. They both kick themselves for not getting to know one another sooner since now, they’re best friends (and more, but friends first because they are the epitome of friends to lovers, duh) and could’ve started the beginning of their relationship much sooner.

Alas, though they couldn’t exactly go back in time and change how they met (well actually, they could if they wanted to mess up the entire space-time continuum and cause dire consequences…oh wait—), now that they have gotten to know each other over the past few years, they were inseparable. They understood each other so well that they were essentially extensions of one another in every way.

Ali Blaire never truly believed in the concept of “soulmates,” but if she knew one thing to be true, it was that Peter Parker was hers.

find on: pinterest / spotify (i. ii.)

53 notes · View notes

clinquaant · 2 years

Text

12 DAYS OF GIFMAS / Day Four, Your OC in Another Universe/Fandom (PT. 1 / PT. 2 / PT. 3): Ali Blaire from Dazzler in the Multiverse: The Raimi Trilogy

AS CLICHÉ AS IT WAS, the love story between Ali Blaire and Peter Parker was…unforeseen, to say the least. Everyone knew who she was, yet no one had ever heard of him. When they were partnered up in chemistry class and began dating a few months after, the entirety of Midtown High School—for lack of a better term—shit a brick.

Following graduation, Peter moved onto Empire State University while Ali pursued her dream of becoming a pop star, and became an immediate hit. Her small, local shows began to sell out, lining her up for the big leagues.

Then, everything hit the fan once Ali found out Peter was the famed Spider-Man—in true Peter fashion of showing up to her apartment beaten and bloodied, both eyes nearly swollen completely shut. Her happy-go-lucky attitude was plagued with constant worry about Peter, anxiety erupting in her gut whenever she read about him in The Daily Bugle, heard about him on the radio, or saw his alias in a bold, red headline on the news.

Despite opposing his extracurricular endeavors, Ali accepted that Spider-Man would always be a part of Peter and she couldn’t let herself stand in the way of that. However, when an electrical malfunction during one of Ali’s sound checks lands her in the hospital with a funny feeling running through her veins, it seems that all along, she was destined to serve the world all the same.

pinterest / spotify (i. ii.)

42 notes · View notes

clinquaant · 2 years

Text

OC NEW YEAR’S CHALLENGE / Day Four, Cleaning Up Bottles With You (Crossover w/ @underoosparker): Briar Langford from Forever + Ali Blaire from Dazzler

BRIAR LANGFORD WOKE UP AFTER ERUPTING INTO DUST FIVE YEARS PRIOR, expecting things to have remained the same only for her entire life to have been flipped upside down. Her parents got divorced, half of her grade had already moved onto college and beyond, and her boyfriend (ex-boyfriend?) was not only the new head of Stark Industries, but also engaged.

ALI BLAIRE WOKE UP AFTER ERUPTING INTO DUST FIVE YEARS PRIOR, immediately thrust into the end-all war that defined the fate of the universe as they knew it. Her parents were already divorced years before the Blip, her boyfriend disappeared and reappeared alongside her, but now she and her younger brother were the same age and he was growing dangerously close to the world Ali’s attempted to shield from him ever since her sophomore year of high school.

WHEN DR. STRANGE CONDUCTS A SPELL THAT BREAKS DOWN BARRIERS BETWEEN UNIVERSES, not only are villains that different renditions of Peter Parker have faced introduced into what’s assumed to be the primary timeline, but Briar and Ali are brought into the same one. As well as their own Peters: two men who share the exact same face with the exception of the one who is five years the other’s elder bearing slight wrinkles and frown lines, and exceptionally deep pockets…

+ bonus:

24 notes · View notes

clinquaant · 3 years

Text

12 DAYS OF GIFMAS…IN AUGUST! | DAY TEN: A GIFSET OF YOUR FAVORITE COUPLE — ali blaire and peter parker from dazzler

it feels like coming home, after being gone too long, the way i gravitate to the good in you…

how i just crave that goodness in you

— @butterfliesrising

36 notes · View notes

typingtess · 4 years

Video

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Eric Christian Olsen (@ericcolsen)

instagram

NCIS: Los Angeles Season Eleven Rewatch: “Mother”

The basics: Someone from Hetty’s past puts the team in danger.

Written by: Eric Christian Olsen and Babar Peerzada - first writing credit for both men.

Directed by: Dennis Smith directed “Fame”, “Standoff”, “Rocket Man”, “Cyberthreat”, “Exit Strategy”, “Patriot Acts”, “Out of the Past” part one, “The Livelong Day”, Between the Lines”, “Deep Trouble” part two, “Black Budget", “Black Wind”, “Blame it On Rio”, “Defectors”, “Matryoshka” part one, “Granger, O”, “The Queen’s Gambit”, “Hot Water”, “From Havana With Love”, “Plain Sight”, the delightful romp that was “Monster”, “Superhuman”, “One of Us”, "Smokescreen” part one and "Decoy".

Guest stars of note: Peter Jacobson is back from season 10’s “No More Secrets” as Special Prosecutor John Rogers, Carl Beukes as Ahkos Laos, Nitya Vidyasagar as Natasha Ali, Todd Jeffries as Barrett Fimmel, Brian Leigh Smith as Bomb Tech Aaron Roberts. Episode co-writer Babar Peerzada plays Oratile Wallace, the man who approaches Hetty in the cemetery.

Our heroes: Get put through the ringer by Eric Christian Olsen in episode 250.

What important things did we learn about:

Callen: Will deal with whatever woes are coming Hetty’s way as a family. Sam: Fell in love with the country when he joined the Navy. Kensi: Pulls Deeks from a fiery, explosive death. Deeks: Door-surfing away from a fiery, explosive death. Eric: Call him Carmen San Diego because he traced a call made with a sat-phone that was routed around the world four times. Nell: Realizes what is happening occurs when someone plays God in the lives of people they say they love. Hetty: Brought up Callen and the anti-Callen.

What not so important things did we learn about:

Callen: Draining three-pointers. Sam: Doesn’t judge a fish by his ability to climb a tree. Kensi: Surprised Deeks shops at Walmart. Deeks: Stares at security cameras at Walmart. Eric: Wants to be high-fived or told he is a genius when he discovers secret files. Nell: Finds it is faster to high-five Eric to get it out of the way. Hetty: Still has the courtside Lakers tickets.

Who's down with OTP: Kensi and Deeks are having a family, home schooling the kids, teaching them French and surfing as they live in a van right after Kensi hits the restroom. Eric has to work a little to get Nell back into saving the day and away from looking at what Hetty’s done with a critical eye.

Who's down with BrOTP: Sam wonders why Callen does what they do.

Any pressing need for a young FBI Agent: Any and all help would have been greatly appreciated today.

Who is running the team this week? Hetty but as the center of the case, a returning John Rogers has some pull. He also has some evidence against Hetty’s past actions.

Fashion review: In the gym, Callen is wearing a blue tee-shirt with grey gym shorts. Sam is in a black tee-shirt with black and red long basketball shorts. Kensi is wearing an off-white sleeveless cut-off tee with black leggings. Deeks is in a grey tank top, dark blue joggers and a backwards blue baseball cap. Eric wears a white tank top and oh-so very short red shorts. For the majority of the episode, Callen wears a blue button-down shirt. Sam is wearing a plum long-sleeve tee. Kensi is wearing a long-sleeve v-neck tee. Deeks is a medium blue long-sleeve sweatshirt. Eric is wearing a red rugby top with blue and off-white stripes – I think that’s a new addition to the Eric Beale style book. Nell is in a dark dress – she’s in Ops for the entire episode and often with the power out - it is hard to see. Hetty wears a dark blue suit. In the cemetery, she wears a spectacular blue/grey herringbone trench coat with a cameo broach.

Music: “Fourth of July” by Sufjan Stevens is playing in the enclosure in the warehouse, drawing Deeks in. An instrumental portion of the song is playing as Laos dies.

Any notable cut scene: No, but the DVD had a 3-minute vignette about the episode. Executive producers R. Scott Gemmill and Frank Military thought the 250th episode was a good place for a mythology (hey, an old X-Files line where Military was a guest star/vampire back in the day) episode about Hetty, writing by ECO and his friend Babar Peerzada. Military said that when a non-staff writer writes an episode, they are not usually involved with the show’s history – they do more a standard case-of-the-week hour. Having this deep dive into the show’s history and Hetty was “cool” according Military.

Callen, according to Gemmill, goes into the episode to save his “mom” and “finds out your parents had nine other kids just like you.” The idea was to throw the characters into “a spin” that keeps them interesting not only to the audience and the writers but also to the actors.

Hetty is an interesting character where those around her think she’s their “best friend” but she also has an agenda that is much bigger than that. She is committed to “the cause” but not everyone knows what the cause is. Hetty’s actions are the personification the question of the ends justifying the means It makes the characters more interesting – they think what they’re doing is right but do they have the right to do it.

Quote: Nell: “This is what happens when you try to play God in the lives of those you say you love.”

There are a ton of great lines – both deadly serious and unbelievably funny in this hour.

Anything else: A bright red Porsche pulls into a gated mansion in the Hollywood Hills. In the driveway is a restored Ford Mustang convertible, a military-style Hummer and a motorcycle. An older man leaves the Porsche and uses voice activation to open to front door. “Welcome Home Mr. Fimmel,” the security system replies and he’s inside.

Grabbing a beer from the fridge, he’s surprised to see a tea cup with a tea bag sitting on the kitchen island. Opening the weapons drawer on the island – probably not a common upgrade on the typical island – he finds his guns are gone. Taking a knife from the kitchen’s knife set, he walks to the living room.

At the top of the stairs, with the sunlight behind him, is the intruder. Fimmel pretends to know the intruder, promising to kill him and his whole family. As the intruder walks down the stairs, Fimmel does recognize the man. “You, you died,” Fimmel tells the very not-dead man coming at him with a machete. Fimmel takes a weak hack at the intruder who not only brushes it away but winds up taking the knife from Fimmel. Asked by Fimmel what the intruder wants, the man answers “everything.”

The team is playing basketball – Kensi and Deeks vs. Callen and Sam. Winner gets Hetty’s courtside seats that night for Lakers-Clippers. Giving Callen the ball, Deeks allows “age before beauty.” Callen sinks a three-pointer. After dribbling for a while, Deeks passes to Kensi who is fouled by Callen. She misses, Callen calls the shot clean.

Kensi gets two free-throws. After she successfully shoots the first one underhand, Eric arrives dressed in very tight red gym shorts and a white tank – very 1970’s gym teacher complete with whistle. After trying to imply he was left out for his great skills, Eric is calling them to Ops with a security breach. Sam passes Eric the ball who obviously is unfamiliar with the basketball.

Up in Ops, Nell has the security camera outside the office’s driveway on the screen. A woman wearing all black is sitting the driveway with a square box, about 12X12. Sam thinks she’s lost but Nell points out the woman is staring directly into the security camera. Deeks says he does the same thing when he shops at Walmart. Callen doesn’t understand why, Kensi didn’t know Deeks shops at Walmart. He thinks they should talk more.

The woman starts writing on the box. Turning it to the camera, she wrote “Hello NCIS”. Callen orders a perimeter set up around the office. The box could contain a bomb.

Callen, Sam, Kensi and Deeks are at the office door while the woman is still focused on the camera. Kensi grabs the woman, who is brought into the office and taken, with Deeks, for fingerprints. Bomb expert Sam thinks he’s over his union quota for defusing bomb.

In interrogation, Deeks is impressed the woman did not speak the entire ride over. Kensi notices scaring from burns on the woman’s face and right hand. She is not talking in interrogation either.

The box is inside the office with a member of the bomb squad when John Rogers walks down the hall. Callen and Sam are surprised to see Rogers. Rogers says he was only there because someone promised sandwiches. The bomb squad tech announces there is no bomb in the box but “you might have preferred a bomb.” Inside was an amputated hand with a knife through it.

After Sam makes a joke about Callen’s exes while Callen reads the note with the hand: "Through me you go into a city of weeping; through me you go into eternal pain; through me you go amongst the people lost.” Rogers would have preferred a bomb. An arriving Hetty recognizes the quote – it is from “Dante’s Inferno”.

Eric can’t find anything on the woman with the box. He’s checked US and international databases – “she’s a ghost,” according to Callen. Rogers points out she’s a ghost with the classified location of the office. Sam doesn’t believe in ghosts. Nell, however, believes Eric can find the woman’s background. He’s already found the “owner” of the severed hand. Barrett Fimmel was CIA, head of covert operations from 1998-2008 in North Africa and the Middle East. He led a destabilizing force, which Sam translates as running an assassin team. Eric corrects Sam – Fimmel, a former Marine, trained the assassins in methods like car crashes and drug overdoses.

Callen asks what happened in 2008 to cause Fimmel to leave the CIA. He retired to become a private contractor, working for the top bidder. “Less oversight, more money,” according to Kensi, who is still at the boat shed with Deeks. Sam wonders if the career move was worth his hand. Either dead or being held hostage by the “sociopathic poet”, the team needs to find him. With the woman not talking, Callen and Sam are off to interrogation.

As Callen starts an interrogation, the woman is writing on the desk top with her finger. After Callen passes her a note pad, the woman scribbles something that Sam photographs and sends to Eric.

Callen and Sam join Kensi and an annoyed Deeks in the main room of the boat shed. Deeks can’t understand how they interrogated the woman for two-hours with no response while Callen said two words to start the interrogation and is suddenly sharing. Sam tells Deeks not to worry, “I don’t judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree.”

Eric and Nell pop up on the plasma. The woman wrote the address of two locations in Los Angeles. One is a warehouse downtown, the other is an estate in the hills. Both are owned by a shell corporation based in Liberia. Deeks’s guess was Bette Midler. Both properties are off the LA grid – no power from the electric company, not water from the city. They are completely self-sufficient. Kensi jokes about preparing for the zombie apocalypse. Sam thinks it is something worse. Kensi and Deeks are off to the hills, Callen and Sam are going downtown.

In the warehouse, there are some desks tossed on their sides and file cabinets in the middle of the room. There are no lights.

Kensi and Deeks enter Fimmel’s home. He goes upstairs, she’s checking out the first floor.

Deeper in the warehouse is a screen showing the bombing of a home somewhere from what looks to be a drone or military jet’s camera. Sam can’t figure out the location – Afghanistan, Pakistan or Syria. Callen thinks Fimmel ran his business from this location – Sam points out the amount of high-end tech in the building that was all beat up and pulled apart. A phone rings – Sam tries to find it.

In the house, Kensi finds the tea cup – now without the tea bag. Instead, it is filled with blood. Deeks wonders if Kensi is speaking metaphorically like the tea cup is filled with wine like the blood of Christ. She’s not.

Sam finds the ringing phone in a box. After checking for bombs, he opens it. The phone is in what is likely Fimmel’s other hand. Callen answers, identifying himself. “My brother, I am you when the pennies drop,” the voice on the line tells Callen. “Once the favorite son, now a fallen angel.” Callen is sorry to hear that and asks about Fimmel. The man on the phone says he saved humanity from Fimmel’s transgressions.

In Fimmel’s bedroom, Deeks calls for Kensi.

The man on the phone asks Callen to “tell Mother, I’m coming home.”

Kensi enters the bedroom and is stunned. Fimmel’s body has been cut in half. His upper body - torso, handless arms and head - are “sitting” on top of the white bedding in a pool of blood. AHKOS is carved into his chest.

In Ops, Nell provides a rundown on the word Ahkos. It is from an ancient Greek dialect that in its more accurate translation means “the grief of the people.” Callen brings up the fallen son, mother statement. Hetty pops on the screen. She is mother, the message was for her. Sending Eric a file, Hetty provides the background on an Ahkos Laos. As a child, he was sent to Botswana because his parents believed he was “devil born.” Hetty assures the group he was not.

Hetty saw a young boy who was misunderstood looking for what everyone is looking for in life. Callen says “a mother” but Hetty disagrees. Laos was looking for a home, an identity, “and something to keep the darkness at bay.” Hetty took him in, trained him. Everyone is working hard not to look at Callen.

In 2006, Laos was part of a black site military R&D project run by Fimmel. The knife in Fimmel’s hand was the last gift Hetty gave Laos – a parting gift. His file has him dead for over ten years. John Rogers pops up on the big screen. The woman in the boat shed gave him another address – the Hollywood West Cemetery. While Callen and Sam were ready to go, Rogers notes the instructions for the address included “For Mother Only”. Hetty is going with a tracking lapel and Callen and Sam running overwatch duties.

At the cemetery, Hetty has not only the tracking lapel but the overwatch spray. Sam notices that Hetty is not pleased.

Back in Ops, Eric traced the location of the phone that called the severed-hand, routed off a sat phone that sent it around the world four times. He also found LAX security video of the woman in the boat shed leaving the airport. Her passport is a fake from Canada but her name is listed as Norma Baker. Her flight was in from Pakistan. Kensi and Deeks are off to visit the location where the call to the phone was made, Eric is going to send the passport details to Rogers.

Sam asks Callen if he can ask a “real talk” question. Callen says no – “real talk” questions means Sam wants to know something deep and important from Callen and right now he’d just like to work. Sam asks anyway – “do you love what we do? Is this what you wanted to do with your life?” Callen does not think sitting in a cemetery waiting for a psychopath to kill “my coworker” was a life plan. Sam talks about his life in the Navy, how it made him fall in love with the country. He became a SEAL to protect the country and the world for Michelle, for his children, “God willing for their kids.” Sam wants to know if Callen ever asks himself why he does this job. He started doing it so young he knows no other life. Callen doesn’t have kids, doesn’t talk about having kids. Why would he do their job?

Standing alone, Hetty remembers sitting in a museum, reading “Dante’s Inferno” to the young Laos. A man walks up to Hetty. She asks, “where is he?”

At their workstations, Eric and Nell are waiting for an update from Rogers when all the power goes out. The entire system goes down. Nell orders emergency protocols.

Rogers interrogates Norma Baker who is really Natasha Ali, daughter of Zakir and Ayesha Ali, born in Pakistan. He asks about the scars on her face and right hand. She calls them the scorched earth of US policy. “Henrietta’s debt has now come due.”

Kensi and Deeks pull up at a warehouse in an area full of warehouses. As Deeks is about to crowbar open the warehouse’s door, Kensi is able to pick the lock to the warehouse garage entrance. The warehouse is largely empty in the front. In the rear, they find an office filled with papers, file cabinets, an old desk with equally old desk lamps.

Kensi finds a large bulletin board with a map of LA and dozens of pins in different locations, all connected with red string. As Kensi takes a look at the map, Deeks sees something in the distance. She takes a photo of the map while Deeks investigates what’s in the distance.

Everything has gone to hell in Ops. There is auxiliary power but comms are down, trackers are down. Eric calls Callen and Sam on a landline – he’s heard from Rogers, this isn’t a meet, it is something else. As Callen and Sam get the call, a helicopter flies over the cemetery. Callen runs on foot to Hetty, Sam takes off in his car trying to track the helicopter. Callen finds Hetty’s handbag, along with her phone and a photo of her with Laos on the ground. Sam crosses by. Callen realizes Laos is going to kill Hetty.

Deeks makes his way alone to a structure built inside the warehouse. As with all key Kensi and Deeks moments in the last few seasons, Sufjan Stevens is playing in the background. This time, “Fourth of July” with the lyrics “”What could I have said to raise you from the dead” playing as Deeks walks into the structure.

Kensi removes a pin from the map – one on the California coastline. She sees something under the pin and starts pull at it.

Deeks picks up piece of cardboard with the words “The path to paradise beings in hell.” Written on it.

Pulling away the map, Kensi sees a photo from the wedding. She calls to Deeks.

Moving the piece of cardboard away, Deeks sees the wiring for a bomb and a countdown clock in a glass-covered case. The door behind him slams. He’s got less than 15-minutes before the bomb explodes. He yells for Kensi as she screams for him.

Eric tells Callen he thinks the office was hit by an EMP while Kensi explains to Sam that Deeks is trapped in a room with a bomb. Callen and Sam aren’t sure what they’re supposed to do. Callen orders Eric to find Hetty’s lapel pin. Sam has Nell calling the bomb squad to free Deeks. The bomb squad’s ETA is 15-minutes. Eric cannot connect to Hetty’s pin or the overwatch spray.

Sam wants direction from Callen. Callen has Eric tell Rogers to interrogate faster. With 15-helipads to their west and 200 to their east, Callen and Sam are going east.

The room is nearly soundproof. Kensi asks Deeks how much time is left on the clock. Just over 11-minutes makes the ETA “the wrong side of 11.”

Knowing that the country hurt Ali, “maybe orders, maybe an accident,” Rogers understands her anger. Laos, however, is not some idealist looking to take down the country. He is on a personal vendetta against Hetty. Rogers wants to know why Ali is helping. Explaining that eight years ago at her brother’s wedding – a joyous time for all – their home was bombed. She lost everything and everyone. A drone “wiped out” everyone she loved. Laos dragged her from the rubble. He not only saved her, he trained her.

The helicopter with Hetty had no tail identification and no transponder. Hetty’s lapel pin comes on line – it is the middle of Echo Park Lake. Callen wants to know what that means. Eric has three options – the helicopter crashed, someone in the helicopter found the lapel pin and tossed out or some in the helicopter tossed Hetty out.

Sam is working with Kensi on the phone, warning her to keep Deeks from touching any of the bomb wires. Deeks can’t touch any of the wires – they are under thick glass. After not being able to understand what Kensi is asking about the bomb, Deeks shoots out the door’s window. They are nine minutes left.

Callen wants to go to Echo Park Lake. Sam does not – he does not believe Laos set all this up to throw Hetty out of a helicopter in the middle of the day. Sam is sure Laos’s men found the lapel pin and tossed it. “You want to take that chance?” Callen asks. Sam says the bigger risk is stopping the chase to look at the lake. They are going downtown.

Rogers is sympathetic to Ali’s losses. The US had inaccurate information about her father. Rogers passes how the inaccurate information about her father came to the US’s attention.

Calling Callen, Eric tells him there is a body in Echo Park Lake. Sam turns the car around – they’re going to Echo Park Lake.

Deeks is trying to open the case holding the bomb with no luck. Trying to shoot it causes the bullet to ricochets around the room holding Deeks. He won’t be doing that again.

As Callen and Sam pull up to Echo Park Lake, Eric has news. Hetty’s overwatch signal was picked up just west of downtown for a second. Callen sees the body in the lake isn’t Hetty. They’re going downtown.

While driving, Sam asks Kensi if Deeks can identify any of the bomb components. C-4, three mercury switches, two batteries from cordless drills. Deeks can’t disarm the bomb. Looking around the warehouse, Kensi sees the walls are lined with bombs. They need the bomb squad now.

As the lights are flickering in Ops, Nell notes that this is what happens when you try to play God in the lives of those you say you love. Eric gets Nell back into what they’re doing. Eric is trying to cross reference Hetty’s last known location with downtown helipads.

The bomb squad is still six-minutes away and still too far away. Kensi is near tears telling Nell that it isn’t good enough as she tries to use an axe on the door with no luck. Deeks has her stop. Explaining that sometimes he wakes up unable to breathe because the world is so terrible, he feels claustrophobic – his chest is caving in and he thinks he’s going to die. Kensi is stunned. But then he looks at her – usually drooling on herself and snoring like a chubby dachshund – and knowing that she’s there and she chose him. That makes him relax, find peace. When he looks at her, he sees the two of them so he can fall asleep. Kensi is crying – this can’t be the end. He tells her it is OK, she’s the best thing that ever happened to him. They share I love yous.

Deeks wants her to leave the warehouse. She suddenly has an idea – telling him not to go anywhere. He’s not sure where he’d go.

Ali pushes the file back at Rogers. The file was provided by the State Department. Laos was the source for the incorrect intelligence about Ali’s father. Laos made her father out to be a high-level target, he knew the family wedding would happen on the day of the bombing. She calls the file lies. Rogers knows now the file was wrong but Laos wrote it. He was the monster who killed her family. Ali thinks everyone involved is a monster. Rogers may agree but there will be no justice for Ali’s family if Laos kills Hetty. Rogers promises justice for Ali if he can spill Laos’s blood and seek justice against Hetty. Ali provides the location – the Century History Museum. Nell calls that in to Callen.

The museum is being renovated. The lions exhibit where Hetty read to Laos as a child is still there, being restored. Laos greets an arriving, hooded Hetty – “home sweet home.” He speaks about the lion – the king – eating his prey – peasants – and wonders if the king has become “a ruined thing.” Laos still has his machete as he asks about the place of a ruined king.

Kensi brings the Audi into the warehouse. She tells Deeks she wants to have kids with him. “What, we’re making babies?” he asks. Taking a rope from the back of the Audi, she wants to sell the house, buy a Sprinter van. They can teach the kids how surf, speak French and pick berries. Deeks doesn’t speak French and worries about poisonous berries. Deeks thinks their kids should be in school. Tying the rope to both the door and the back of the Audi, Kensi explains how they will homeschool the kids in the van.

With just under three minutes left, Deeks thinks this is a terrible plan. The home schooling or the rope, Kensi asks. Both, Deeks thinks. It is a bad plan but a worse plan is “scraping your remains off the celling.” Deeks agrees.

His only happy memories are sitting on the bench with Hetty as she read to him. He asks if she has nothing to say to him. She does – she’s the one who put him on this path and she’s sorry. “A mother doesn’t abandon her child,” Laos says. Hetty claims he was taken from her. Furious, Laos reminds her a mother’s job is to protect. She fed him “to the jackals.” She talks about the number of lives he’s taken – the number of women and children. When she apologizes again, he yells at her to stop saying that. His heart is black.

In an alleyway outside of the museum, Callen and Sam pull up. While Sam exchanges fire with the men, Callen jumps out of the passenger’s seat and into the back of the museum.

Kensi and Deeks exchange one last round of I love yous as Kensi gets into the driver’s seat and revs up the engine. Deeks talks about living in a van before noting this is a terrible idea.

At the lions exhibit, Laos asks why Hetty “enslaved” him in this life. Hetty explains that the life gives them purpose, meaning and gives to others in the world. “That others sleep peacefully in their beds at night because creatures such as you and I stand ready to commit violence on their behalf.” Laos thinks that is a lie Hetty tells the demons she created. Hetty says they are also the lies she tells herself. Laos believes the two of them betrayed humanity. A debt that can only be paid in their blood.

Kensi drives the Audi out of the warehouse, dragging the door and Deeks strapped to it behind her. When the door opens, the bombs in the warehouse start to go off. Deeks tells Kensi to go faster as the fire is all around him. Flattening himself on the door, Deeks misses a few fireballs as Kensi drags him to safety. Once clear of the building, Kensi runs to Deeks, jumping on his as he tries to free himself from the door.

Just as in “Deliverance”, she lands on top of him with explosions all around. Also as in “Deliverance”, Kensi needs to pee and Deeks is pretty sure just did.

Callen goes through the museum, shooting all of Laos’s men and shooting them again just to make sure they are dead. He did this in “Lange, H.” when he and Sam went to rescue Hetty. Walking into the lions exhibit, Callen is knocked off his feet by Laos. Holding the machete over Callen, Laos tells his “brother” that he was warned about rescuing Hetty. As Laos is about to lower the machete into Callen, Hetty stabs Laos several times from behind.

As Laos collapses, he asks Hetty if she’s proud of what she brought into this world. Callen just stares. Hetty cradles the dying Laos and recites from “Dante’s Inferno” with Sufjan Stevens playing. Dying, Laos recites the end of the section Hetty use to read to him. He finally dies.

Ali provides Rogers with all the information Laos made her memorize - missions, ghost hits, illegal trade enforcement and the people who ordered the actives. Rogers promises Ali her cooperation will be considered when she’s sentenced. Looking at the list, Hetty’s name appears several times. Rogers seems pleased.

Finishing a scotch in her office with Callen, Hetty regrets not protecting Laos. Callen asks from who – the military? Fimmel? She thinks herself. Callen believes she did all she could for Laos – someone she loved. Hetty does not know how to instill morality when she is not sure she has her own. She failed him – he was not suited for their life. Maybe it is not the life for Callen. Or for any of them.

Callen talks about Sam’s questions earlier in the day. After a big case, two or three-days later he goes to where it all happened. He watches as real life happens – a guy with a dog, a couple holding hands, kids playing. All the violence and chaos has been replaced by a life Callen helped give them. He thinks that world is worth fighting for – it all makes sense. Callen tells Hetty she never failed him or the team. She is worried she already failed the team – she’s just waiting for the pennies to drop. If that is true, Callen says they will deal with it as family.

Leaving, Callen turns and asks Hetty “how many of us are there?” Hetty doesn’t answer. Callen leaves.

What head canon can be formed from here: There are nice callbacks to past episodes in 250. This is the first real full team episode of the season. Laos isn’t a surprise since season four had Grace, another one of Hetty’s troubled youths turned badass NCIS agents.

There were callbacks to the explosion in “Deliverance” (which sold me on the Kensi-Deeks UST), “Lange, H.” (when Callen rescued Hetty) and “Hit List” (when Rogers was introduced as someone out to get Hetty).

Episode number: 250. That is 23 more than JAG, the show that started this all, 136 episodes fewer than the mothership and 123 episodes more than the New Orleans sibling. It was episode 10 of season 11.

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

18 notes · View notes