NCIS: LA - Active Measures

I don't think I ever paid attention to the title format of this show, what with the colon before the name of the city. I think I just kind of assumed it was like the CSI title format - and it is!

Sorry this is later than usual, as I explained in my Big Bang Theory post from last night, I was watching baseball because the BLUE JAYS RULE. TV premiere night is usually my favourite night of the fall season (my birthday being a close second) but meaningful September baseball is so damn exciting/stressful, especially tonight's game. It won't happen again (it totally might happen again).

If you need a refresher on what happened in the season finale (I know I did) you can find my blog with that recap over here . Now, on with the show!

Callen is walking in a dark alley (side note - the beard is back!) when he comes across a mysterious stranger with a gun - only it's not a stranger, it's Sam! And Sam shoots someone else who looks mysterious and sketchy, and was apparently following Callen.

Kensi and Deeks are running/biking along the beach, he looks like every adorably backwards-hatted frat boy ever. All these random girls keep saying hi to him, as he's convincing Kensi to eat breakfast. Because it's the most important meal of the day! I never miss breakfast! It's an excuse to eat sweet things or bacon or bacon AND sweet things!

*Drools*

But it's cute because Deeks says he loves her and she loves him too and AWWWWWWWWWWW

Callen's taken off on Hetty, without her permission, and slammed the door - rude! You don't slam doors on Hetty Lange! He was doing something on a Chinese computer when she just casually showed up at his house.

Granger doesn't look worried, he looks annoyed. He says Sam wouldn't like to see him when he's angry. I'm guessing Granger has the same range of emotions as Darth Vader:

Eric should not be trusted with a gun, I have the feeling he's going to hurt himself... Sam wants him to keep tabs on Callen, which is sketchy and a little creepy.

The guy who Callen was meeting was Kensi's old pal CIA officer Sabatino. And Callen has gone 100% off the grid. Hetty is worried and kind of sad (because she has facial expressions).

Callen needs to check on the guy Kirken who Deeks helped fake his death last season (remember. the one in the bathhouse?). He said he'd help Callen if Callen steals a painting for him. Granger meets with Sabatino, who says that Callen was asking about Arkady and the dead guy was a bad guy and had actually been following Sabatino.

Funny enough Deeks was what Kirken had asked for initially when making the deal with Callen... But Deeks refuses to go back to the bathhouse. Not that I blame him. That did not look like a good time.

Callen uses some kind of drone to spy on Kirken, which is incredibly convenient because there's a lawnmower going nearby to drown it out. That thing is noisy. Sam breaks into Callen's house, like any good friend would, and talks to him via the security camera, asking him to come back or at least let him in.

Kensi and Deeks have one of those ambiguous conversations that basically goes like this:
"What's bothering you"
"Things"
"What things"
"I don't know"
"Tell me the things"
"I can't"
"Why not?"
"Because I don't think I know them"

He'd seen someone from IA snooping around in his garbage, and also tells her a story about his first day on the job he was paired with an old-school guy who had interrogation methods of questionable legality. Said guy had also shoved his gun in Deeks' mouth for reporting him. Yikes. And then Granger interrupts that conversation (as he does) to get them all back to Ops.

Sam agrees to try to track Callen down, Eric becomes paranoid and thinks Callen has 'snapped' and gone rogue. And then he starts listing movies, because clearly that sounds logical. Sam mocks him by going along with it and then exaggerating so as to make the theory sound ridiculous.

It's ok Eric, I know another adorable nerd who'd be happy to go along with your conspiracy...

OH MY GOD

Hetty just straight-up tasered him!! I knew something was up when she was holding her hands behind her back when she confronted him in that parking lot. But to tase the guy?! Somehow he manages to get up and run away in spite of the tasing, and runs into - you guessed it- Sam.

"I'm working the streets"

"You look like the streets are working you"

A+ banter from Sam in a tense situation. But then he just lets him go! I don't get this, Sam still doesn't know what Callen's doing, or why, or the fact that he'll be ok. 

Hetty and Sam get into an argument and she tells him to 'step off' and in that moment I believed that she could seriously kick his ass. She also told Granger she 'doesn't need any damn tea'. GO HETTY!!! Some typical Nellric awkwardness when they're like the kids trying to sneak away from the table during a fight without finishing their vegetables, and their dad Granger calls them back down. Sorry, guys. Nice try, though. 

Sam gets a big grin on his face and drops the bomb - he put a tracking device on Callen. Clever man!

Callen should not wear hats. They do not look good on him. Somehow he changed the temperature in the other Russian guy's house remotely - I have no clue what this has to do with the whole painting-stealing plan - and he breaks in and takes it. Suddenly Kirken and his goons appear out of nowhere and point guns at Callen. They were planning to take him hostage because someone else wanted him in exchange for the painting. But the team showed up in time and no one got shot or kidnapped or anything. 

Callen knew the whole time that Sam was tracking him, Sam doesn't believe this, and I think I detected some Granger sarcasm! 

I agree, Granger. 

Sam and Hetty made up, she forgives him for not following orders. They hug and Deeks gets inappropriate thoughts that cause Kensi (and me) to cringe. 

Hetty gives Callen a list of Kirken's contacts, and then threatens to fire him if he goes behind her back again. I still don't get why he had to keep all of them out of it... But oh well he's back and everyone's safe and it's all good. Yay!